East Asia is increasingly becoming a region of contradictions. On the one hand, it has become a center of global attention due to the growing significance of the region to…

Once again, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has proven himself to be a man capable of seeing the “big picture”. Standing before the House of Representatives on Aug. 16, he delivered…

The timing could not have been more unfavorable. The day President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono delivered his annual state address (Aug. 16) was just three days before Idul Fitri, the end…

We are celebrating the 67th anniversary of the Proclamation of Independence with the usual pomp and circumstance. There are at least two things evident from the events and ceremonies: First,…

Overshadowed by the US-China rivalry over Asia-Pacific security primacy, Japan over the past few years has begun to quietly but firmly assert its security role in East Asia and the…

Lawyers invented the beautiful structure of the nominee contracts in order to allow foreigners to conduct activities they are legally not supposed to do. The deal calls for the granting…

The failure of ASEAN to issue a joint communiqué at the 45th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM) in Phnom Penh, the first such failure in the group’s history, might have served…

The Sunda Strait Bridge is one of the most ambitious projects in our recent history. With the cost expected to reach Rp 225 trillion (US$24 billion) according to Deputy National…

Former foreign minister Hassan Wirayuda recently launched a quarterly journal called Strategic Review. There was nothing wrong about either the launch or the journal, but I found it distasteful to…

After its success under the chairmanship of Indonesia in 2011, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) now faces a serious setback after the 45th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM) in…