AEGIS | Vol. I No. 2, March 2017 210 INDIAN OCEAN RIM ASSOCIATION (IORA) AS STRATEGIC FACTOR IN SHAPING INDONESIA’S IMAGINED COMMUNITY AS AN ARCHIPELAGIC COUNTRY Teuku Rezasyah teukurezasyah@president.ac.id School of International Relations, President University, Cikarang, Indonesia Abstrak Naskah ini dirancang untuk menelaah pentingnya Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) bagi perkuatan ide „Imagined Community‟ dari Indonesia guna menjadi sebuah Negara Kepulauan. Ide ini semakin mengemuka sejak Presiden Joko Widodo memerintah, dan terus menggaungkan kebijakan nasional yang bermuatan maritim. Telaah dalam naskah ini akan memuat unsur-unsur sejarah dan hukum internasional, sebagai penguat ide Indonesia menjadi kekuatan maritim. Naskah ini selanjutnya meninjau nilai penting dari IORA sebagai perpanjangan pemikiran strategis Indonesia, guna menggapai harapannya membangun sebuah „Imagined Community‟, atau Masyarakat Bayangan‟. Kata Kunci: IORA, Imagined Community, dan World Maritime Fulcrum Abstract This paper aims to analyze the importance of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) in strengthening Indonesian imagined community as archipelagic country. The idea has become more important following the rise of President Joko Widodo, who constantly pursuing maritime-oriented policies. This research will rely on official documents or literature that emphasize the status of Indonesia as an archipelagic country, as well as the international law that legitimizes Indonesia as an archipelagic country, along with historical factors and policies of World Maritime Fulcrum in the current administration. This paper will then reveal Indonesian long hibernation as an archipelagic nation. It is through IORA Indonesia works strongly to implement its imagine community, in line with capacity to bridge the ideas leading to the world maritime fulcrum. The results of this study indicate that there are interconnections surrounding the legitimacy of international law, the historical factors, the ongoing state policy, as well as state involvement in help establishing IORA. All ideas support the Indonesian dream of establishing its own imagined community. Key words: IORA, Imagined Community, and World Maritime Fulcrum