As the 2022 G20 Chair and last year’s chairman of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Jakarta has been at the forefront of several important discussions around current world affairs. On 14 February 2024, the country will hold its general elections.
We present some of our most insightful pieces looking at various aspects of Indonesia’s internal dynamics and its engagement with the external world.
Read MoreWritten by Drake Long
Rather than celebrating each time a country publicly cancels a Chinese project, the US, Australia, the EU, and other nations competing for influence at the expense of Beijing should keep in mind the wider picture — Manila and other capitals like it are shopping around for alternatives.
Read MoreWritten by Blake H. Berger
If Trump prevails in the 2024 election, and if his first term indicates what the region can expect from a second one, hold tight because it will get ugly.
Read MoreWritten by Andreyka Natalegawa
Prabowo’s controversial proposal, borne out of his efforts to refashion himself as a statesman even while contradicting his own government, underscores the fact that Indonesia will face serious growing pains in its pursuit of a more active regional and global role.
Read MoreWritten by Sana Jaffrey and Eve Warburton
After years of debate, protest, and delay, the Indonesian parliament passed a new criminal code that gives the state new tools to punish a wide range of ideological, moral, and political offences. The new provisions of the code threaten political dissent with prison sentences and have the potential to muzzle public debate about the purview of the state in citizens’ private and political lives.
Read MoreTake this opportunity to review some of our most-read analyses from the past year on the evolving strategies of several countries toward the Indo-Pacific.
Read MoreWritten by Sabrina Moles
Tensions in the South China Sea are creating a dangerous, competitive pattern in the relations among the countries involved. Sovereignty claims, together with the urgent demand for food, energy resources, and profits are all defining a set of priorities that are increasingly disregarding environmental damage.
Read MoreWritten by Susannah Patton
The mixed picture for the death penalty in Southeast Asia, especially in countries where the death penalty is being actively debated, such as Malaysia, suggests that further advocacy by Australia and other like-minded countries would be timely.
Read MoreWritten by Jefferson Ng
The Makassar Strait is likely to grow in prominence as Indonesia’s new capital emerges as a centre of economic activity alongside Jakarta, and defence policymakers in Indonesia will want to better control the flow of maritime traffic passing through the Strait.
Read MoreWritten by Elli Pohlkamp
This behaviour of inactivity and standing on the sidelines has changed now, driven by the concern that one day Japan might need help from its Western alliance partners should the security situation around Japan change.
Read MoreWritten by Ahmad Rizky M. Umar
While Indonesia’s capital relocation is mostly related to the country’s domestic development priorities, it carries regional security implications that must be addressed as tensions in the Indo-Pacific region increase.
Read MoreAlthough Indonesia, which accounts for half of ASEAN’s size and wealth, is the natural leader of the grouping when it does not actively lead, the group is further weakened.
Read MoreWritten by Lucentezza Napitupulu, Mulia Nurhasan, John F McCarthy, Yusuf Bahtimi Samsudin and Amy Ickowitz
Focusing on locally-based food systems could enable people to regain power over their food systems, deliver healthy diets, restore the environment, and assist vulnerable people across the archipelago.
Read MoreWritten by Hunter Marston
Until some sort of political solution is achieved, Myanmar’s civilian population will remain torn between the current chaos of poverty and armed conflict on the one hand, and an as-yet-unrealised future built on principles of democracy and federalism towards which they are striving.
Read MoreWritten by Nava Nuraniyah
The attack on an Ahmadiyah mosque in Sintang, West Kalimantan on 3 September is but one indication that the existing anti-radicalism campaign has merely served as a political weapon to target government enemies, rather than defending minorities.
Written by Tuvia Gering
If, over the last decade, Israel sought to diversify its global focus away from the US and Europe toward China and India, it now must go a step further and strengthen its integration with Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and ASEAN countries, particularly by normalising relations with Indonesia
Read MoreWritten by Farlina Said
Southeast Asian states aim to uphold the principle of ‘technological neutrality’ which ensures the right to choose technology most appropriate for a specific need. Thus, when oversight initiatives such as the Blue Dot Network or Trump’s Clean Network Initiative are pushed, ASEAN member states can avoid choosing sides or technology.
Read MoreWritten by Sreeradha Datta
Consolidated subnational efforts can enable safer ground conditions that would end the discrimination and persecution faced by the Rohingyas and would allow them a future that is not tainted by violence and hostility and the possibility to live with dignity and safety.
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