Indonesia
To unchain Indonesia’s commodity reliance
Indonesia’s dependence on commodity wealth has been a prominent feature in its economy. The archipelago’s abundance of minerals and agriculture resources coupled with poor local…
Islands as stepping stones for India-Australia collaboration
As maritime neighbours, India and Australia form the bookends of the Indian Ocean region. At a time of “big power muscle movement”, as Australia’s Navy Fleet Commander Rear…
Getting the narrative right: China’s media reach in Indonesia
As China’s President Xi Jinping arrived in Bali a fortnight ago to attend the G20 summit, Indonesian public network Televisi Republik Indonesia began airing “Classics Quoted by Xi…
Economic diplomacy: Charging up old ties with Jakarta
Mining mates
The lexicon of strained language to accommodate the endlessly complicated relationship between Indonesia and Australia is coalescing around a new phrase for…
The city that throbs with fury
Malang won’t stop grieving, defiantly and messily. Normally this would rile authorities, but their tolerance of the banners of hate draping the historic East Java city suggests…
Putting food at the heart of China-Indonesia relations
As regional leaders gathered for the ASEAN summit in Cambodia last week, a sideline meeting also took place with China. For all the talk about regional rivalries amid growing…
Ashmore Reef resurfaces as a maritime headache
Is Ashmore Reef part of Australia? That should be a relatively simple question to answer. The reef is an area of approximately 583 square kilometres, and encloses three islands –…
Australia must help turn back a regional democratic retreat
Successive Australian governments, for many years now, have not had an explicit policy for fostering and promoting democracy. One is needed, now more than ever.
International…
From Jakarta to Nusantara: making sense of Indonesia’s capital shift
As a nation, Indonesia has a propensity for changing its capital. Over the past three centuries, there has been quite an eventful journey from Batavia (Jakarta), Bandung, and…
Sustainable catch: better Indonesia-Australia cooperation on fishing
This month, Indonesia and Australia signed an agreement on combatting illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing. This is not only a significant step for both countries in…