Southeast Asia
Borneo oil spill costs Indonesia’s poor
“We believe this is the worst oil spill to catch fire since the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster,” said Fathur Roziqin Fen, Director of WALHI East Kalimantan. WALHI is Indonesia’s…
Amal Clooney no match for Trump and China in Southeast Asia press clampdown
Australia must be feeling more lonely in its part of the world as increasingly authoritarian governments across Southeast Asia use claims of fake news to clampdown on media…
Indonesia’s fishy furore
“Indonesia’s fishing industry was broken for many years,” says Amhar, who, like many Indonesians, goes by only one name. “Then Susi came along and she fought for us.”
Amhar…
Indonesia: millennials’ party
The young in Indonesia are finding a voice. The Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI), formed to win over a generation of millennial voters, is a response to what is seen as…
Timor Trough: the rumpled carpet on the sea floor
John Carlson says Australia approached maritime boundary negotiations with Indonesia in 1972 by arguing the Timor Trough was the meeting point of two geologically distinct…
Indonesia: countering a message of hate
After the Bali bombings of 2002, security forces within the Government of Indonesia, like their Western counterparts, worked towards incorporating “ideological” or “soft”…
Myanmar: no country for young men
After two years in the job, Myanmar’s President U Htin Kyaw resigned last Wednesday. The 71-year-old has been in poor health for some time. A close confidante of Daw Aung San Suu…
Najib makes electoral hay from ASEAN-Australia Summit
“Cak!” says the Malaysian meme circulating on Twitter since Monday. The Malay expression is often used with children, and means something like “Surprise!”, or, better, …
Indonesia’s “Islamic diplomacy” seeks to broker an Afghan peace
Indonesia is set to host talks among Indonesian and Afghan Islamic clerics in Bogor, south of Jakarta, at the end of March. This dialogue, part of Indonesia’s bid to…
What DFAT really thinks of Australia joining ASEAN
Ahead of Malcolm Turnbull’s weekend confab for South East Asian leaders, Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo reportedly thought it would be a “good idea” if Australia joined ASEAN.
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