Dewi Fortuna Anwar straddles the world of academia, political activism and government. She is a Research Professor at the Research Centre for Politics-National Research and Innovation Agency (PRP-BRIN), formerly known as the Research Centre for Politics-Indonesian Institute of Sciences (P2P-LIPI). She has written widely on Indonesia’s foreign policy, Indonesia’s democratization as well as on ASEAN and regional political and security issues. She is an Academician of the Social Science Commission-Indonesian Academy of Sciences (KIS-AIPI), Chairman of the Board of Directors of The Habibie Center (THC), and co-founder of the Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia (FPCI). She served as the Deputy Chairman for Social Sciences and Humanities- Indonesian Institute of Sciences (IPSK-LIPI) from 2001 to 2010. She was the Pok Rafeah Chairholder at the Institute of Malaysian and International Studies, National University of Malaysia (IKMAS UKM) from April to October 2025. She was the Kippenberger Visiting Chair at Victoria University, Wellington from 1^st October to 30^th November 2018. Between August 2017 and August 2018, she was Distinguished Visiting Professor at the RSIS, NTU, Singapore. From October 2010 to February 2017 Dewi first served as Deputy Secretary for Political Affairs and then Deputy for Government Policy Support to the Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia (Vice President Boediono and Vice President M. Jusuf Kalla). Dewi was Assistant for Global Affairs to Vice President B.J. Habibie and then Presidential Spoke-person/ Assistant Minister State Secretary for Foreign Affairs (1998-1999) under President B.J. Habibie.

Dewi sits and has sat in a number of national and international advisory boards. She is currently a member of the International Advisory Panel of the ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute, a member of the Advisory Board of La Trobe Asia, a Nonresident Fellow of the Lowy Institute, an Advisory Board member of the UWA Public Policy Institute, University of Western Australia and a board member of the Centre for Policy Development (CPD) in Australia. She was a member of the Foundation Board of the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD) based in Geneva in 2019-2025, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore in 2021-2024, a Governing Board member of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) in2010-2020 and a Board Member of Shift Project promoting business and human rights based in New York in 2014-2020. She served as a member of the Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission (WMDC) in 2004-2008, and a member of the UN Secretary General’s Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters in 2008-2012. Dewi is a member of the Asia Pacific Leadership Network (APLN) on Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament.

Dewi obtained her PhD from Monash University, Melbourne in 1990 with a thesis entiled “ASEAN as an Aspect of Indonesian Foreign Policy”. She obtained her M.A. and B.A. (Hons) were from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London in 1982 and 1981 respectively.