Southeast Asia
The Ahok witch-hunt in Jakarta
While Saturday’s rally in Central Jakarta celebrating the tenet Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (‘Unity in Diversity’) failed to pull a crowd as large as the rally calling for Jakarta’s…
Jakarta rally exposes division among Islamic State loyalists
By Nava Nuraniyah, an analyst at the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC), Jakarta.
Extremist groups have failed to exploit the 4 November Islamist…
Commentary
More Indonesian maritime co-operation remains an elusive goal
Jakarta is only very slowly responding to Canberra's overtures for more joint security at sea. We have no choice but to persevere, writes Euan Graham.
Originally published in The…
China drives Australia and Indonesia into a closer embrace
Australia holds so-called 2+2 meetings of foreign and defence ministers with a steadily expanding number of nations, Germany having joined the A-list last September. Getting…
Why Indonesian extremists are gaining ground
If anyone wonders why Indonesia has been ineffective in curbing extremism, the anti-Ahok campaign provides an object lesson. In the name of demanding that the Jakarta governor be…
Dien Bien Phu: Digging into history
The French strong-points at Dien Bien Phu in northwest Vietnam are falling again. Not, as in 1954, to Viet-Minh attacks, but rather to the bulldozers of progress.
The entrenched …
What the Philippines and Australia can learn from Vietnam about living with China
It is early days, granted, but the Philippines' crude and crass new president Rodrigo Duterte appears increasingly intent on reversing his predecessor's plucky South China Sea…
Commentary
Jokowi now Stronger, but Reform Agenda Narrower than Ever
Originally published in the Australian.Aaron L Connelly
Reports
Shifting waters: China’s new passive assertiveness in Asian maritime security
In this Report, Ashley Townshend and Lowy Institute Nonresident Fellow Professor Rory Medcalf examine China’s evolving maritime security conduct. They argue that China’s less…
Journal Articles
Joko Widodo's Indonesia: Control and reform
In this paper for The Economist Intelligence Unit's Hopes and doubts: Perspectives on the long road to Indonesia' economic development, Aaron L Connelly examines…