Indonesia
The danger of anti-Chinese sentiment in Indonesia’s election campaign
While economic issues are expected to dominate Indonesia’s presidential election campaign ahead of a ballot next year, there are signs that the country’s political elite are not…
First Nations diplomacy can transform Australia’s relationship with Indonesia
In 1994, then-Australian prime minister, Paul Keating famously said that “no country is more important to Australia than Indonesia”. Yet the relationship has also been a rocky one…
Indonesia’s dilemma as China pushes a “Global Security Initiative”
China’s vision for a “Global Security Initiative” was first set out by President Xi Jinping at the Boao Forum in April last year. While promising ambitious change, especially for…
How Indonesia can afford to cut coal-fired power – and faster
At the COP26 global climate talks in Glasgow, Indonesia’s state-owned electricity utility company PLN declared its roadmap to achieve net zero emissions by 2060. The state-owned…
Strategic divergence with Indonesia: an Australian perspective
In his essay for The Interpreter, Evan Laksmana set out three key sources of divergence between Indonesia and Australia: views of the United States, tensions between the role of…
Embracing the different ways Indonesia and Australia view the region
Many policymakers tend to ignore the points of fundamental strategic divergence between Indonesia and Australia. Public disagreements – say, over the AUKUS nuclear-powered…
Indonesia-China: a smart city can make for clever politics
China is one of Indonesia’s largest investors and for President Joko Widodo this amounts to a capital idea – quite literally, with his plan to move the seat of Indonesia’s…
Can ASEAN forge a political solution in Myanmar?
Since the military coup in February 2022, the people of Myanmar have been subjected to unrelenting violence including indiscriminate airstrikes, mass burning of villages,…
Could Indonesia legally stop transit by nuclear-powered AUKUS subs?
Indonesia, a nation that controls vital maritime chokepoints, finds itself at the epicentre of an unfolding geopolitical drama. As rivalry builds between the United States and…
Indonesia’s nickel superhighway
Indonesia currently has the most significant nickel deposit in the world, putting it in a prime position to build advanced industries such as renewable energy, in which rare…