Who is he? Ambassador Walter North is a career diplomat. He has held several high ranking positions in the U.S. Agency for International Development, including Mission Director for Egypt, Indonesia, India, and Zambia. Prior to his career with USAID, North…
Indonesia
Justice Still Eludes Massacre Victims
by cogitASIA Staff • • 0 Comments
By Michael Vatikiotis Modern Indonesian history is a long tableau of violent struggle, first for freedom, then for power, and over much of the past 40 years, over faith and identity. Most of the victims of this long struggle have…
Economics and the EAS: A Second Chance for the United States
by cogitASIA Staff • • 0 Comments
By James Wallar • In November 2011 the United States joined the East Asia Summit (EAS), taking a seat with the leaders of ASEAN member countries and the other major players in Asia: China, Japan and Korea (ASEAN + 3),…
CSIS Asia Team Mega Event Series Recap
by cogitASIA Staff • • 0 Comments
Over the past two weeks our CSIS Asia Team hosted a series of high profile events on developments in the Asia-Pacific and the implications for U.S. foreign policy. Here at cogitASIA On Monday, September 24 CSIS Senior Vice President for…
The Leaderboard: Joko “Jokowi” Widodo
by cogitASIA Staff • • 4 Comments
Who is he? Joko “Jokowi” Widodo is the apparent winner of the 2012 Jakarta gubernatorial elections held on September 20, 2012. Formerly mayor of the central Javanese city of Solo from 2005 to 2011, Jokowi built a reputation of clean…
APEC: Getting Stuff Done
by Matthew P. Goodman • • 2 Comments
By Matt Goodman Speaking to a hall full of CEOs at last year’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Honolulu, President Barack Obama got his biggest applause line when he announced that he had just signed a law approving the…
ASEAN Foreign Ministers Release Statement on the South China Sea
by cogitASIA Staff • • 1 Comment
After failing to reach agreement on a joint communique during the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting consultations last week for the first time in its 45 year history, the ten ASEAN countries released the statement below on the South China Sea following…
By The Numbers: July 20, 2012
by cogitASIA Staff • • 1 Comment
40% The new cap on single ownership of an Indonesian bank. Indonesia released the new regulations on bank ownership July 18, but left some wiggle room for greater ownership by healthy lenders. $7.24 billion The amount the South Korean government…
The Leaderboard: Nafsiah Mboi
by cogitASIA Staff • • 0 Comments
The Leaderboard profiles the people behind the policies of the Asia-Pacific. This post features Nafsiah Mboi, Minister of Health for the Republic of Indonesia. Who is she? Nafsiah Mboi is a pediatrician and health activist who has been deeply involved…
Violence Hits Papua (Again): A Crisis in Need of a Leader
by Gregory Poling • • 2 Comments
By Greg Poling June has probably been the most violent month in years for Indonesia’s Papua province. First, a local mob attacked two soldiers, stabbing one to death, for hitting (or nearly hitting, depending on the source) a young Papuan…