Tag: Indonesia

Given their proximity to the initial epicentre China, South East Asian nations reside in the first line of vulnerability... In the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, the apparent lack of preparedness portends an unfolding disaster.

Reflexive hostility towards Israel and sympathy for the Palestinians has been institutionalised into the foreign policies of Malaysia and, in a different way, Indonesia for several decades... There was a certain predictability in the response to the release of the Trump Administration’s peace plan for the Middle East.

From Surabaya to Cirebon, in Rembang and Jakarta, I was the first Jewish person ever encountered by nearly everyone whom I met. 

Indonesia can use Islam as a source of diplomatic “soft power” diplomacy by promoting moderate, tolerant, humanitarian Islam.

Amid the pomp and ceremony of Jokowi’s inauguration for a second term as President, many analysts conclude that despite trouncing his opponent, Prabowo Subianto, by an 11-point margin in April, the irony is that Jokowi has never appeared weaker – increasingly beholden to powerful vested interests and remnants of the oligarchy with their own agendas.

Indonesia’s struggle to combat Islamic extremist terrorism and the ideology that fuels it requires a multi-layered approach, encompassing military, law enforcement, political and religious/cultural spheres.

Although Indonesia’s election was decisively won by a moderate Muslim, incumbent President Joko Widodo, the divisive campaign and its aftermath revealed underlying currents that may portend trouble for the long-term.

Survey results show nearly 45% of 1,116 Indonesian respondents say they receive fake news and hoaxes every day, and that some 30% of respondents say they have difficulty checking the truth of such reports.

Young people constitute aged from 17 to 35 years represent more than half of all potential Indonesian voters. But in the previous presidential and parliamentary elections of 2014, high percentages of those under 30 didn’t exercise their right to vote. 

The app issue occurs in the context of an ongoing debate about the Islamisation of national political debates.