Who is he? Ambassador Robert Blake entered the Foreign Service in 1985 and has since served tours at U.S. embassies in Tunisia, Algeria, Nigeria, and Egypt. Most recently, Blake served as assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian…
Transparency International on July 9 released its 2013 Global Corruption Barometer, which measures citizen’s perceptions of corruption and experiences with bribery in 107 countries. Respondents from six ASEAN countries—Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam—participated in the survey. Many…
By Jack Georgieff The final week of June saw the return of Kevin Rudd as Australian prime minister, ending Julia Gillard’s three year reign and suddenly making the upcoming federal election contestable for the Australian Labor Party again. Gillard was…
Who is he? Sidarto Danusubroto is a senior member of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P). The 77-year-old veteran legislator was a former West Java police chief and an aide to Indonesia’s first president, Sukarno. Sidarto was a member…
By Ernie Bower Secretary of State John Kerry will leave Washington this Friday, June 21, for a trip that has morphed from a South-Southeast Asia affair to another Middle East trip with a Southeast Asia finish. Originally, the secretary planned…
Who is he? Taufiq Kiemas was a highly regarded senior Indonesian politician who served as speaker of the People’s Consultative Assembly of Indonesia from 2009 until his recent passing. He was the husband of former president Megawati Sukarnoputri, who leads…
By Monica Whaley In early October, Indonesia will host the 21st gathering of APEC Economic Leaders – heads of the 21 APEC Economies – which span from Vladivostok to Tasmania, and from Tierra del Fuego to the Aleutians. Indonesia itself…
By Jack Georgieff Perceptions across the Indo-Pacific are of a United States that has rhetorically given lip service to the so called ‘rebalance’ but it is just that: lip service. With the reality of budget cuts looming, it gives rise…
In an effort to win over Indonesian youth, the State Department in December 2010 launched a first-of-its-kind hi-tech cultural center, called @america, in Jakarta under the auspices of the U.S.-Indonesia Comprehensive Partnership. More than two years later, @america’s growing popularity…
Who is he? Muhamad Chatib Basri has served as chairman of Indonesia’s Investment Coordinating Board since June 2012. Prior to that, he was vice chairman of the National Economic Committee, a government think tank, from 2010-2012. He is a highly…
