Indonesians cast their votes April 9 in what was one of the world’s most complex single-day elections. This year marks the fourth time Indonesians have headed to the polls since the fall of the Suharto regime in 1998. The General…
By Nicole Goldin & Payal Patel With the launch of the Global Youth Wellbeing Index (Index) on April 3, 2014, the policy and development world is reminded of the urgency of tapping into the power, talents, and energy of…
By Ashlee Betteridge Countries in the Asia Pacific have been the biggest beneficiaries of the doubling of Australia’s aid budget in the past decade. However the change of government last year, from the Labor Party to a Liberal-National coalition, has…
By Carl Thayer Lew Stern, writing recently in the East-West Center’s Asia Pacific Bulletin, suggests that Vietnam’s leaders have adopted “an entirely new strategic vocabulary” following a decade of reforms and globalization. Stern cites, in particular, the importance attached to…
By Greg Poling Recent months have seen a steady progression of China’s long-term strategy in the South China Sea, which can be loosely divided into two parts. Beijing is building up its maritime surveillance forces in the area and strengthening…
Jakarta governor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo announced on March 15 that he will run for president of Indonesia this July under the banner of the Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P). The announcement followed months of waiting for party chair and former…
By Brian Kraft The Indonesian parliament on February 11 passed a new and ambiguous trade law that is likely to frighten current investors and deter future ones. The legislation—Indonesia’s first trade law since a 1935 Dutch ordinance—grants the state far-reaching…
By Priscilla A. Tacujan The U.S. State Department has put China on notice: international law will be the sole basis for arbitration the settlement of maritime conflicts in the Asia Pacific. In effect, it has rejected Chinese claims based on…
By Murray Hiebert & Noelan Arbis The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) will publish its annual review of intellectual property rights (IPR) protection problems around the world, called the “Special 301” Report, sometime around May. When…
Over the final two weeks in January the CSIS Asia team hosted more than 1,200 visitors for five public events covering issues directly connected to the Asia-Pacific including tensions in the East China Sea, the U.S.-Australia alliance, the ROK-U.S. alliance,…