Articles by: "Robert Lowry"
The puzzle of security sector reform in Indonesia

In his book on the transformation of the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) Lieutenant General (Retired) Agus Wijojo—now Governor of the National Resilience College in Jakarta—outlined the security sector reforms (SSR) undertaken by the TNI since …

Indonesia’s 2015 Defence White Paper

Indonesia’s latest Defence White Paper was issued in November last year and was publically released on 31 May. It supersedes the 2008 White Paper. Although a replacement paper was produced in the dying days of …

Jokowi—to be or not to be?

Indonesian President Joko Widodo, commonly known as Jokowi, came to power amid great expectations. He was seen as a reforming president, one who would break through the self-serving façades of vested interests hobbling the economy …

Jokowi and Australia–Indonesia relations

On Monday 20 October Joko Widodo (Jokowi) will be inaugurated as Indonesia’s seventh president. Australia–Indonesia relations will shift to a new and more mature plane due to differences in character between Jokowi and his predecessor, …

Reflections on Indonesia’s presidential election

The election of Jokowi is a good result for Indonesia, for Indonesia’s neighbours and for democracies in particular. State visits to democracies by a President Prabowo would have been dogged by protests. It’s also an …

The Jokowi presidency

The anticipated election of Joko Widodo (known as Jokowi) is a John Fitzgerald Kennedy moment in Indonesian history—a change of generations and a herald of hope that Indonesia can take a great leap forward in …

Indonesia: an agenda for reform?

With Indonesia’s presidential election scheduled for tomorrow, it’s already clear the incoming leader won’t suffer from any shortage of advice about priorities and directions. Within Indonesia, a recently-published pamphlet, ‘Memo to the President: Agenda untuk …