From pandemic and economic slowdown to climate change and food and energy shortages, our world is in an age of turbulence. Unfortunately, the mood is not jubilant for international cooperation now. Great power rivalry and the war in Ukraine have polarized the world into opposing blocs. Trust deficits between countries are pervasive and zero-sum thinking … Read more
Indonesia’s leader Joko “Jokowi” Widodo will tell U.S. President Joe Biden that the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas should be stopped when the two leaders meet in Washington next week. The meeting will take place on Monday, ahead of a summit of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders in San Francisco from November 15-17. Speaking … Read more
Advertisement The current foreign and defense policy discourse in the Philippines is largely focused on issues surrounding the South China Sea and cross-strait relations. These matters continue to dominate the strategic thinking and security logic of Filipino national security administrators, whose eyes and ears are focused overwhelmingly on the country’s northern and western approaches. These … Read more
Advertisement The 43rd Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit and related meetings, which are taking place this week in Jakarta under Indonesia’s chairmanship, might seem like an opportunity teeming with potential for the Southeast Asian bloc. However, the summit is taking place at an intersection of geopolitical challenges and is fraught with the bloc’s … Read more
Advertisement Early this year, Retno Marsudi, Indonesia’s foreign minister, proclaimed that her nation was a part of the community of Pacific nations. Retno’s statement echoed the words of the former Indonesian ambassador to New Zealand, who declared in 2020 that Indonesia was the largest Pacific island nation. Both were examples of rhetoric that betrayed the … Read more
Advertisement Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo somberly acknowledged to fellow Southeast Asian leaders Thursday that no progress has been made to end the civil strife gripping Myanmar and renewed a call for an end to the violence, including a recent airstrike a rights group called an “apparent war crime.” “I have to be honest,” Jokowi … Read more