Economics, Politics and Public Policy in East Asia and the Pacific
Author: Yasmi Adriansyah, ANU
Indonesians have reason to be both optimistic and pessimistic coming into 2012. The question is: which outlook is more likely to prevail?
In his New Year message, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) requested that all Indonesians work to maintain order. Read more…
Author: Thee Kian Wie, LIPI
Indonesia’s economic growth remained strong in 2011 despite continued turmoil in the international financial markets, due to the euro crisis, and weakened global growth.
Significantly, this slow down also affected China, which has become one of Indonesia’s major export markets, but Jakarta was able to see off this risk. Read more…
Author: Fitrian Ardiansyah, ANU
Agreements achieved in the early morning of 11 December in Durban, South Africa appeared to salvage the UN climate talks — but have also raised questions about the commitment and capability of countries around the world to urgently tackling climate change.
After two weeks of difficult negotiations, governments involved in the 17th session of the Conference of Parties (COP-17) agreed to extend the Kyoto Protocol and negotiate a binding agreement for all countries to cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Read more…
Author: Arief Ramayandi, ADB
The slow resolution of the European debt crisis has evolved into a liquidity problem which threatens the global financial system.
And these long-drawn-out efforts to address the sovereign debt problems have heightened uncertainties about resolving the crisis and induced speculative activities, threatening the survival of many European banks. Read more…
Author: Fitrian Ardiansyah, ANU
The global climate change negotiations — underway from 28 November to 9 December in Durban, South Africa — have people asking once again whether countries around the world will agree on solutions to tackle climate change.
It is also an appropriate event to assess the involvement of developing countries like Indonesia, and particularly to understand whether their involvement in this UN climate conference will significantly contribute to a successful outcome. Read more…
Author: Vikas Kumar, Bangalore
In the aftermath of the Arab Spring, commentators on East Asia Forum have highlighted the moderate character of Southeast Asian Islam.
Bahrawi argues that contested interpretations of Islam are democratising Islam in Southeast Asia — but similar contests seem to be ineffective in countries like Pakistan. And van Bruinessen argues that large, resilient Islamic organisations are stabilising Indonesian democracy — but comparable organisations are failing to play such a role in other Islamic countries. So are local factors playing a bigger role in Southeast Asia than is usually suspected? Read more…
Author: Suman Bery, IGC
The Indian government presented its National Manufacturing Policy (NMP) to the nation in early November.
Presumably, the announcement was timed to demonstrate that reform is alive and kicking before parliament reconvenes later this month. With the final text now available on the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion website, it is possible to take a considered view of the policy’s goals, the means proposed to achieve them and the probability of success. It is also possible to speculate on the unintended consequences and possible collateral damage.
Author: Ralf Emmers, RSIS
The US recently participated in the East Asia Summit (EAS) for the first time — a decision that has wider implications for US–ASEAN relations.
The decision to join the EAS is part of a recalibration of US foreign policy vis-à-vis ASEAN-led multilateral institutions. This shift in policy reflects a broader attempt by the US to re-engage with Southeast Asia — after years of perceived indifference — and is equally related to China’s growing influence in the Asia Pacific region. Read more…
Author: Maria Monica Wihardja, CSIS, Jakarta
The sixth East Asia Summit (EAS) will take place on 19 November in Bali, with its newest members — the US and Russia — breathing new life into the forum.
While the Summit’s original objective of serving as a forum for dialogue on broad strategic, political and economic issues remains important, the US and Russia’s inclusion has now opened an opportunity for greater geopolitical security dialogue. Read more…
Author: Sunny Tanuwidjaja, CSIS, Jakarta
After a long-drawn-out process, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono finally announced his decision on 18 October to reshuffle the cabinet.
This will be the first and last major reshuffle in his second term as Indonesia’s president. Read more…
Author: Badrus Sholeh, Deakin University
The Indonesian province of Aceh is due to hold its gubernatorial elections in December 2011.
These elections highlight the significant contribution democracy has made to the maintenance of peace since Aceh’s 2006 elections — which were held a year after the peace agreement between the Freedom Aceh Movement (GAM) and the Indonesian government. Read more…
Author: Arjuna Dibley, ANU
Eclipsed by the clamorous debate surrounding a 14 year-old Australian boy allegedly caught purchasing marijuana in Bali recently, some important developments in Australia’s relationship with Indonesia went largely unnoticed.
In Jakarta, 20 Australians and Indonesians met at the inaugural Indonesia-Australia Dialogue (IAD) on 5–6 October. Read more…
Author: Nazry Bahrawi, NUS
A decade after 9/11, the pursuit of ‘moderate Islam’ as the antithesis to ‘radical Islam’ has changed the contours of Islamic theology in Southeast Asia in unimaginable ways.
But, while largely positive, this scramble for moderate Islam can run counter to the progressive ideal of pluralism if touted overzealously. Read more…
Authors: Chris Manning, ANU, and Raden M Purnagunawan, Padjadjaran University
Although there are some uncertainties, the Indonesian economy is well placed for what will now almost certainly be a sharp downturn in the world economy.
Foreign reserves were at a record high at just under US$120 billion at the end of the second quarter, inflation was down to below 5 per cent, investment up significantly, and growth steady at 6.5 per cent year on year. Certainly, macroeconomic policymakers are not ignoring the potential impact of another global recession; but Indonesia seems relatively unaffected by the immediate- to medium-term impacts of the US’s much slower-than-expected recovery in August and the ongoing debt crisis in Europe. Read more…
Author: Martin van Bruinessen, Utrecht University
The idea of Indonesia leading the third world was not only thinkable half a century ago, it even appeared as reality — briefly.
Since that time there has been some attempt at raising Indonesia’s international profile as a leading Muslim nation, and its visibility and global import have increased. But it is not yet a country that other Muslims look to for leadership. Read more…