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ASEAN and Australia beyond 50
ASEAN has achieved much in its 50 years, but it is currently perceived as underperforming and facing difficult challenges ahead. Australia, as ASEAN’s longest-standing partner, should support its...
Do the lessons of Thucydides apply to Singapore?
Recently the Dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore, Kishore Mahbubani, dropped a bombshell. He declared that Qatar’s experience of being embargoed by its neighbouring states...
Simplistic views of Indonesian Islam are limiting Australian diplomacy
A recent survey asked Australians to select words that best represent Indonesia. By far the most popular word was ‘religious’ (68 per cent), which subsequent focus group discussions revealed mainly...
Vietnam is a Promising Partner for the Trump Administration
Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc was the first Southeast Asian head of state — and the third from Asia (after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping) — to meet...
Thailand’s constitutional dispossession
On 6 April 2017, Thailand’s 20th constitution came into force, replacing a temporary constitution that was handed down in the wake of the country’s most recent coup almost three years earlier. The...
Querying Martial Law in Mindanao
Even by Philippine standards, the past week has been a tumultuous one. Militants linked to Islamic State fought security forces in the Islamic City of Marawi, President Duterte cut short a state...
Asean’s response to Chinese militarisation in the South China Sea? Keep quiet and carry on
As far as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations is concerned, the islands in the South China Sea are rising but the sea is sinking. The outcome of the 30th Asean Summit last week in Manila...
Has ASEAN given up on tackling the South China Sea issue?
The outcome of the 30th ASEAN Summit on 29 April in Manila suggests that the Southeast Asian region has moved on from the disputes over South China Sea, despite the fact that no other issue more...
Indonesia 1965: the attempted coup and the rise of Suharto
Early on the morning of 1 October 1965, seven detachments of troops drove through the quiet streets of Jakarta, bound for the homes of the most senior generals of the Indonesian army. On arrival, the...
Race, faith and Ahok’s defeat
After one of the most tumultuous campaigns in Indonesian history, the incumbent governor of Jakarta, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (Ahok) was soundly defeated by former Education Minister and academic,...
