Ben Bland's Bio | People | Lowy Institute

People | experts Ben Bland

Director, Southeast Asia Program

Lowy Institute

Areas of ExpertiseSoutheast Asian politics and foreign policy; South China Sea; regional economic trends; China-ASEAN relations; Indonesia; Malaysia; Vietnam; Hong Kong

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Brookings Report: Historical tensions and contemporary governance challenges in Southeast Asia: The case of Indonesia

In this report published by the Brookings Institution, Ben Bland explains why Western nations need to engage with Indonesia in its own right, not as a part of plan to counterbalance China. To do so successfully, they need to develop a much better understanding of the long-running (and ongoing)

By Ben Bland

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Jokowi needs to change strategy

This article was first published in The Straits Times

By Ben Bland

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China has only itself to blame for Australia's move on Hong Kong

The Australian government and its partners had no choice but to recognise the new reality in the territory and offer some of its citizens a way out. Originally published in The Guardian

By Ben Bland

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Indonesia: Still caught between trade and protectionism

There is little evidence Jokowi sees trade deals as a way to drive liberalising domestic economic reforms at home.

By Ben Bland

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National security law cannot erase Hong Kong's political awakening

Demosisto may have disbanded and Nathan Law fled but struggle will continue for generations. Originally published in the Nikkei Asian Review

By Ben Bland

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Beijing crackdown will squeeze business

Investors will make a grave mistake by ignoring how much China's new national security law will change Hong Kong. Originally published in the Australian Financial Review

By Ben Bland

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Emerging From COVID: Policy Responses To The Pandemic

In this new feature, Lowy Institute experts provide policy recommendations for Australia to address issues that are critical to our nation’s — and the world’s — successful emergence from the pandemic

By Alex Oliver, Natasha Kassam, Richard McGregor, Roland Rajah, Ben Scott, Sam Roggeveen, Hervé Lemahieu , Stephen Grenville, Alyssa Leng, John Edwards, Ben Bland, Alexandre Dayant, Shane McLeod, Jonathan Pryke

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Investors will lose as Beijing squeezes Hong Kong

Originally published in the Australian Financial Review

By Ben Bland

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Why Beijing feels compelled to destroy Hong Kong’s freedom

Originally published in the Sydney Morning Herald.

By Ben Bland

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Hong Kong's new 'Basic Law' is that whatever China says, goes

Judges alone cannot protect territory from Beijing's heavy-handed interventions. Originally published in Nikkei Asian Review

By Ben Bland

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New crackdown will deepen dividing lines in Hong Kong

Both the Chinese Communist Party and the Hong Kong democracy movement are settling in for a long and painful struggle.

By Ben Bland

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COVIDcast Episode 6: Geopolitics and the pandemic

The latest episode in a podcast to discuss the implications of coronavirus for Australia, the region, and the world.

By Ben Bland, Hervé Lemahieu

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The World After COVID‑19

How will the coronavirus pandemic change the world? Lowy Institute experts provide their analysis

By Michael Fullilove, Richard McGregor, Bonnie S Glaser, Roland Rajah, Stephen Grenville, Hervé Lemahieu , Ben Bland, Jonathan Pryke, Annmaree O’Keeffe, Natasha Kassam, Lydia Khalil, Alex Oliver

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COVIDcast Episode 6: Geopolitics and the coronavirus pandemic

COVIDcast is a Lowy Institute pop-up podcast for anyone interested in understanding the effect of coronavirus on global politics. Each week for the next few weeks, Lowy Institute experts will sit down to discuss the implications of coronavirus for the world. In episode 6, the Director of Lowy

By Hervé Lemahieu , Ben Bland

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COVIDcast Episode 4: Crisis looms in Southeast Asia

The latest episode in a podcast to discuss the implications of coronavirus for Australia, the region, and the world.

By Michael Fullilove, Ben Bland

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COVIDcast Episode 4: Crisis looms in Southeast Asia

By Michael Fullilove, Ben Bland

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Indonesia: Covid-19 crisis reveals cracks in Jokowi’s ad hoc politics

The world’s fourth most-populous country has a long way to go to get a grip on this challenge, its president especially.

By Ben Bland

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COVIDcast - Episode 1: The global response to the coronavirus

By Michael Fullilove, Richard McGregor, Ben Bland, Natasha Kassam

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Jokowi’s Canberra trip: A step ahead on a long road

The Indonesian president’s visit demonstrated the two countries’ progress together, as well as gaps that remain.

By Ben Bland

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Anchoring the Indo-Pacific

A report by Premesha Saha, Ben Bland, and Evan A. Laksmana published by the Observer Research Foundation.

By Ben Bland, Evan A Laksmana

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In conversation: Malaysia’s Foreign Minister on great power rivalry

From the South China Sea to the Rohingya crisis, Saifuddin Abdullah speaks to Lowy’s Ben Bland on Asia’s big challenges.

By Ben Bland

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Beijing's tactics are driving spiral of violence in Hong Kong

If China is trying to drive wedges between the protest movement and mainstream citizens, it seems to be failing. Originally published in the Australian Financial Review

By Ben Bland

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China’s Demands for Loyalty Are Bad for Business

Beijing has successfully muscled foreign companies in Hong Kong, but at what cost? Originally published in Bloomberg

By Ben Bland

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The real reason Hong Kong’s violence is a problem for the government

Originally published in the Washington Post

By Ben Bland

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An island of freedom in a stormy communist sea

Originally published in The Australian

By Ben Bland

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Australia-Indonesia ties: escaping the beefs about boats or Bali

Don't jinx it, but a few promising signs suggest bilateral ties could be entering a new period of relative stability.

By Ben Bland

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Don’t Write Off Hong Kong’s Radicals

Beijing can’t afford to demonize and repress the young activists on the extreme edge of the city’s massive protests. Originally published in Bloomberg Opinion

By Ben Bland

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Uneasy lies the head that wears Hong Kong's rented crown

Originally published in the Sydney Morning Herald

By Ben Bland

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Hong Kong climbdown eases external pressures on China

Beijing is fighting many fires at once, so taking the heat out of Hong Kong will suit Xi Jinping.

By Ben Bland

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The battle for Hong Kong's soul

This is not just about a law. It is the identity of an exceptional city that is at stake. Originally published in the Australian Financial Review

By Ben Bland

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The Hong Kong protests are an expression of years of pent-up anger

Originally published in The Telegraph

By Ben Bland

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Hong Kong’s Moment of Reckoning

China’s encroachment on the former colony’s autonomy threatens to undermine the foundations of its economic success. Originally published in Bloomberg Opinion

By Ben Bland

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Indonesia: don’t over-react to Jakarta violence

The taint of riots shouldn’t undermine what was a free, fair and peaceful election.

By Ben Bland

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Hong Kong is Set for a U.S.-China Showdown

A controversial extradition bill has exposed the region’s autonomy as a fiction. Originally published in Foreign Policy

By Ben Bland

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Jokowi - business as usual will not be enough

Originally published in Nikkei Asian Review

By Roland Rajah, Ben Bland

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Indonesian strongman lost, but identity politics won

Originally published in the Australian Financial Review

By Ben Bland

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The World’s Most Complicated Single-Day Election Is a Feat of Democracy

Indonesia’s ability to hold free and fair polls illustrates many of the oft-hidden processes that, beyond the simple act of casting ballots, underpin democratic societies. Originally published in The Atlantic

By Ben Bland

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Four men, three Indonesian contradictions

The choice of running mate by both candidates illustrates their efforts to overcome Indonesia's size, diversity and difficulty to govern. Originally published in the Australian Financial Review

By Ben Bland

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Politics in Indonesia: Resilient elections, defective democracy

The pressures on Indonesian democracy are not likely to abate under a second-term Jokowi or a Prabowo presidency

By Ben Bland

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The mind-boggling challenge of Indonesia’s election logistics

800,000 polling stations, six million election workers, and the most complicated single-day ballot in global history.

By Ben Bland

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Indonesia's Incredible Elections

On 17 April, Indonesia is holding one of the most complicated elections the world has ever seen. While India, the world’s most populous democracy, takes six weeks to complete its election, Indonesia does it all in a single day. In the main presidential contest, incumbent Joko Widodo is taking on

By Ben Bland