Indonesia
The sticky case of Indonesia, a seized Iranian oil tanker, and legal jurisdiction
The two giant freighters floated “dark” in the open ocean not far from Indonesia. Their positioning transponders switched off, neither tanker displayed a national flag – but one…
The Fix: Explaining Indonesia’s silence in the North Natuna Sea
We’re asking contributors to put together their own short collected observations like this one – and as always, if you’ve got an idea to pitch for The Interpreter, drop a line…
Enduring lessons for Indonesia from a wandering scribe in Europe
In crossing the border from Belgium to the Netherlands, a young man named Djamaluddin Adinegoro extracted the contents of his small travel bag. Because there was a border,…
Weeks of living dangerously in Jakarta, all over again
The 1978 novel by Australian author Christopher Koch, titled The Year of Living Dangerously, set primarily in the Indonesian capital Jakarta, describes events leading up to…
The “Jokowi Doctrine”: Indonesia’s vision for international order
Indonesia has been increasingly under a spotlight in international politics. Having successfully hosted the G20 Summit last year, navigating tensions between United States and…
Pipe dreams: Turning an interconnected ASEAN gas market into a reality
The development began in the 1960s when the Southeast Asian natural gas sector grew significantly after discoveries in Indonesia, Brunei and Malaysia. In the decades that followed…
Archipelago angst: How Indonesia and the US differ on air routes over sea lanes
A few weeks ago, Indonesia’s armed forces chief Admiral Yudo Margono revealed interesting data about the countries said to have violated Indonesian airspace. The highest number of…
Economic diplomacy: Hard labour managing geo-economic fragmentation
Catching a wave
The Biden administration’s loosely named Inflation Reduction Act has flowed through the global economy like a tsunami engulfing everything from the reshoring…
Commentary
Indonesia is key to Australia’s regional vision
Indonesia will never join Australia in trying to balance China. But we cannot succeed without paying heed to the broader strategic value of our huge northern neighbour. Originally…
Indonesia’s new capital of power can’t afford the tangled wires of Jakarta
The electricity cable system in Jakarta is estimated to be more than 80,000 kilometres long, which is sufficient to circle the Earth more than twice. With the city’s rapid growth…