In this biography
Quick facts
- Born
- 22 March 1963
- Birthplace
- Bandung, West Java, Indonesia
- Country
- Indonesia
- Nationality
- Indonesian
- Known for
- Indonesia’s 2009–2014 foreign ministry, ASEAN diplomacy and Does ASEAN Matter?
- Education
- London School of Economics, Cambridge and Australian National University
- Earlier representation
- Ambassador to the UK and Ireland; permanent representative to the UN
- Foreign minister
- 2009–2014, under Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
- Regional episode
- ASEAN’s July 2012 communiqué crisis and six-point principles
- Book
- Does ASEAN Matter? A View from Within, 2018
Why this life matters
His career connects bilateral representation, multilateral negotiation and the practical challenge of maintaining regional cooperation when governments disagree.
Timeline
Key moments
Born in Bandung
Born on 22 March in West Java.
Studies and entry into diplomacy
Completed studies at LSE and Cambridge before entering Indonesia’s foreign service in 1986.
Regional and overseas appointments
Worked on ASEAN cooperation and represented Indonesia in London and at the UN.
Security Council working-group chair
The UN records him as chair of its working group on peacekeeping operations.
Foreign minister
Served during SBY’s second presidential term.
ASEAN shuttle diplomacy
Worked to rebuild a common position after the foreign ministers failed to issue their usual communiqué.
Mediation and writing
Joined the UN mediation advisory board and published Does ASEAN Matter?.
From Bandung to a professional diplomatic career
Marty Natalegawa was born in Bandung, West Java, on 22 March 1963. He studied at the London School of Economics and Cambridge before joining Indonesia’s foreign service in 1986. His later academic training included a doctorate at the Australian National University. These were stages of professional preparation, distinct from the honorary doctorate described in the University of Cambodia’s citation.
His work took him through research, public communication and regional cooperation responsibilities inside the ministry. He later represented Indonesia as ambassador to the United Kingdom and Ireland and as permanent representative to the United Nations. The route to cabinet office was therefore a diplomatic career, not a parliamentary election or leadership of a political party.
Indonesia at the United Nations and in ASEAN
At the UN, Natalegawa worked within institutions where national interests had to be argued alongside those of other governments. The Security Council’s historical register names him as chair of its working group on peacekeeping operations in 2008. That is a specific committee responsibility, rather than the leadership of every UN peacekeeping mission.
He became foreign minister in 2009 under Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and served until 2014. His earlier ASEAN cooperation responsibilities provided a foundation for the regional portfolio. The ministry’s task extended from representing Indonesia’s position to sustaining relationships among countries whose priorities did not necessarily align, especially over security and the South China Sea.
What happened during ASEAN’s 2012 communiqué crisis?
In July 2012 ASEAN’s foreign ministers failed to issue their usual joint communiqué amid disagreement over South China Sea language. An ISEAS study describes Natalegawa’s subsequent shuttle diplomacy and the belated six-point statement. The episode made the practical work of coordination visible: ministers needed a shared position even when the dispute itself remained unresolved.
The six-point principles helped restore a measure of collective expression. They were not a settlement of maritime sovereignty claims or proof that all ten governments had identical interests. Natalegawa’s importance in the episode lay in keeping a regional diplomatic process functioning, while the disagreement also exposed the limits of a consensus-based organisation.
Mediation and a view from inside ASEAN
After leaving the foreign ministry, Natalegawa continued in international-policy work. In 2017 the UN Secretary-General named him to the High-Level Advisory Board on Mediation. The appointment drew on his diplomatic experience; it did not restore an Indonesian cabinet post or make him the sole decision-maker in UN peace negotiations.
His 2018 book Does ASEAN Matter? A View from Within examined the organisation through his experience as both an ASEAN official and a foreign minister. Its discussion and documentary material give readers access to the reasoning of a participant. Read alongside outside scholarship and official records, the book helps explain how a regional institution can remain useful despite serious internal disagreements.
Quick answers
Frequently asked questions about Marty Natalegawa
- When was Marty Natalegawa Indonesia’s foreign minister?
- He served from 2009 to 2014 during Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s second presidential term.
- What was Marty Natalegawa’s role in the 2012 ASEAN crisis?
- He undertook shuttle diplomacy after ministers failed to issue a joint communiqué, helping develop the subsequent six-point principles on the South China Sea.
- Did the six-point principles settle South China Sea sovereignty disputes?
- No. They helped restore a shared diplomatic position but did not resolve the underlying sovereignty claims.
- What is Does ASEAN Matter?
- It is Natalegawa’s 2018 book, subtitled A View from Within, on ASEAN and his experience of regional diplomacy.
Keep exploring
Lives connected to this story
- Dahlan Iskan
Explore a different Yudhoyono-era minister’s earlier media and electricity-company management career.
- Retno Marsudi
Continue to the diplomat who led Indonesia’s foreign ministry during the presidency that followed SBY’s.
- Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
Read the president whose second term provided the cabinet setting for Natalegawa’s ministry.
- Ong Keng Yong
Compare work inside ASEAN’s secretariat with a member state’s foreign-minister role.
Sources and further reading
Explore the evidence
These references support the biography and offer further reading. Official records, first-person accounts and independent reporting provide different perspectives; image records document attribution and licensing.
- 1. University of Cambodia · honorary-doctorate citationBirth, early studies and entry into Indonesia’s foreign service
The dated citation supplies the exact birthday and Bandung. The Cambodian honorary award is not confused with his earned academic qualifications.
- 2. United Nations · 2017 appointment announcementForeign-minister career and mediation advisory board
The 2017 board announcement establishes an appointment at that date. Its other present-tense offices are not automatically carried forward to October 2026.
- 3. UN Security Council · historical register2008 working group on peacekeeping operations chair
- 4. ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute · Perspective 2016/8ASEAN coordination and the 2012 communiqué breakdown
The outside analysis describes the shuttle diplomacy and the organisation’s limits. A common statement is not presented as a final settlement of maritime claims.
- 5. ISEAS PublishingDoes ASEAN Matter? A View from Within, 2018
- 6. Wikimedia Commons · Greek Foreign Ministry2010 New York portrait extraction and CC BY-SA 2.0 record
- 7. Wikimedia Commons · reviewed parent photographGreek ministry Flickr source and 24 May 2013 review
The Greek ministry source carries CC BY-SA 2.0 and a Commons Flickr review dated 24 May 2013. The installed portrait is the supplied extraction from the 27 September 2010 meeting, not a new image of a later event.
