Last year, the ASEAN chair was occupied by the regional Goliath, Indonesia. This year sees the first of three David’s take on the role. Cambodia holds the tiller in 2012, Brunei in 2013 and Myanmar in 2014.
Heading into this year, ASEAN watchers wondered whether these small countries could pull off regional leadership given the complexity

Democracy remains the Holy Grail for political systems around the planet. The winds of freedom blowing through the Middle East over the past year and in Myanmar highlight this.
Indonesia, which itself has gone through remarkable democratic transition over the past twelve years, has for four years now hosted the Bali Democracy Forum to allow countries to

Many readers will not have heard of ERIA, the Economic Research Institute of ASEAN and East Asia, but those with an interest in policy-making and research in East Asia should take the time to find out more. ERIA is on track to be the lynchpin of strategic research and analysis, focused on integration and partnerships in

Bill Russell is a Kiwi who runs Education Network Indonesia to promote New Zealand education services. He invited me recently to visit Pusat Rehabilitasi Yakkum (PRY), a centre in Jogjakarta that provides assistance to disabled children and young adults.
Bill explained that PRY was founded by the late Colin McLennan in 1982 following a visit he

The Holy Month of Ramadhan has just ended with the Lebaran break, following the sighting of the new moon. 
For four weeks, Muslims have not taken food or drink during daytime, consistent with Islamic beliefs and practices. That takes a good deal of fortitude in Indonesia ’s humidity while also juggling normal work and family demands. 
Along

Indonesia is now over half way through its term as chair of ASEAN. From where I sit, looking at its work on the international agenda, it’s been a good year to this point.    
At the regional level, the Russian Federation and United States have joined in East Asia Summit processes prior to full admission at the

For those that follow developments in ASEAN (the Association of South East Asia Nations), integration is one of the big buzz words of the moment.
ASEAN aims to become an economic community by 2015. This means making ASEAN a single market and production base that is more productive and competitive with free movement of goods, services,

Kupang, Rambang and Surabaya are not known as important stopovers for international flights these days.  But back in the 1930’s these Indonesian towns, along with Batavia (now known as Jakarta),were vital to New Zealander aviator Jean Batten in her bid to make the world’s first direct flight from England to New Zealand.
One of the most

Would you pack up your bags, jump on a bike, and cycle 31,000 km to watch a game of rugby?
Not perhaps any old game of rugby but the Rugby World Cup final on 23 October this year.
The final happens to be in Auckland, New Zealand, as we will be hosting the World Cup this year.

Indonesia had a key role in the founding of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) with the Bandung Conference of 1955.
This led to the establishment of the NAM in 1961.
In this 50th anniversary year, Indonesia hosted the 16th NAM Ministerial meeting in Bali in late May.
New Zealand participated as a guest of Indonesia at the NAM (New Zealand is