The archipelagic concept (wawasan nusantara) has been central to Indonesian nation building, because the concept of Indonesia is predicated on clear territorial boundaries that encompass both land (tanah) and water (air). This concept was first articulated through the Juanda Declaration of 1957 (see Chapter 2 by Butcher) and received further legitimacy when Indonesia's status as an archipelagic state was recognized under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Whereas the concept of archipelagic statehood is concerned with ensuring national territorial integrity (that is, it is outwardly oriented), wawasan nusantara is focused on the internal dynamics of national integration in an archipelagic nation characterized by ethno-linguistic diversity. The archipelagic concept and the archipelagic state are nevertheless intrinsically connected, as each relies on the other for its legitimacy. Fundamental to both is the view that the sea unites Indonesia's islands and the people living on them. This idea is expressed in comments such as laut adalah perekat kepulauan Indonesia (the sea is the glue of the Indonesian archipelago) (Adhuri 2003: 4). In other words, the seas located within the territorial baselines that surround the archipelago draw the people of Indonesia together to form one, united nation, just as the international maritime border which marks out the edges of the archipelagic state serves to separate the Indonesian nation and its people from other nations.

The archipelagic concept emerged in the immediate post-independence period as Indonesia's leaders faced the challenge of encouraging Indonesians to think of themselves as a nation. To achieve this goal, the idea of the Indonesian nation was intensified and redeployed through a range of state ideologies, including wawasan nusantara. National development projects have been especially important in realizing the archipelagic concept (cf. Barker 2005). The concept has also been reinforced through official statements and rituals, the media, the education system and the practices of the bureaucracy and the military.