At about the midway mark of Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s first term, a group of international relations experts who were gathered at the presidential palace asked him what his foreign policy priorities were. Without pausing, …
Articles by: "Donald Greenlees"
Originally published 2 March 2019. Just over 20 years ago, a letter from Australian prime minister John Howard to the president of Indonesia, B.J. Habibie, set in motion a chain of events that would lead …
President Joko Widodo has expressed frustration to his economic advisers in recent months over Indonesia’s failure to attract a ‘fair share’ of the foreign investment dollars going into Southeast Asia. Even as foreign investment into the …
Joko Widodo begins his second term contemplating the legacy he will bequeath as Indonesia’s seventh president and with precious little time to do it. His inauguration on 20 October marked the start of what, according …
Joko Widodo has taken a big gamble that he can run a more effective second-term administration by bringing in his strongest opponent. His political strategy, and possibly the success of his administration, will be defined …
Wang Jen-shu, the first ambassador to Indonesia of the People’s Republic of China, spent a troubled couple of years as Beijing’s man in Jakarta in the early 1950s. He clashed repeatedly with a prime minister, …
The Hong Kong protests have Xi Jinping in a bind. For all the talk of China’s power and the power of the president-for-life within China, he has faced no good choices in the Hong Kong …
The Hong Kong government has scrapped the extradition bill that’s been at the heart of mass public protests. The backdown on plans to allow criminal suspects to be turned over to Chinese courts might dissipate …
For months, the biggest subject of cable traffic back home from the Indonesian embassy in Washington was a US law placing sanctions on any country that breached comprehensive US sanctions on Russia. Then either late …
It wasn’t quite up to the standard of the gilets jaunes of Paris. To suggest that it was the ‘worst’ rioting since May 1998, as some have, risks gross exaggeration. It only serves as a …
When Joko Widodo came to power in 2014, he promised as Indonesia’s seventh president to usher in a different style of politics to anything the country had seen before. He exuded humility. The son of …
Just over 20 years ago, a letter from Australian prime minister John Howard to the president of Indonesia, B.J. Habibie, set in motion a chain of events that would lead to East Timor’s passage to …