In recent years, China has emerged as Indonesia’s most influential strategic partner across the board, from trade, investment to education and beyond. The US, instead, has held on to its competitive edge built around its institutionalized relationship with the Indonesian defense establishment. Can the US-Indonesia defense relations turn the tide in the broader US-China rivalry in the Indo-Pacific? How central is US-Indonesia defense relation within Indonesia’s broader strategic outlook? Can US-Indonesia defense relations shape the broader bilateral ties? The webinar seeks to address these questions by examining how Indonesia formulates its post-authoritarian grand strategy and the role of US-Indonesia defense relations within it.
Presenter:
Dr. Evan A. Lasksama is a senior researcher at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Jakarta, Indonesia. As a political scientist, he has held research and visiting positions with the National Bureau of Asian Research, the University of Sydney's Southeast Asia Centre, the Lowy Institute for International Policy, the German Marshall Fund of the United States, and Nanyang Technological University’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.
Discussant:
Donald K. Emmerson heads the Southeast Asia Program in the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center at Stanford University, where he is also a faculty affiliate of the Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies and the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law. An edited book, The Deer and the Dragon: Southeast Asia and China in the 21st Century, (2020). Work published in 2017-19 includes ASEAN @ 50, Southeast Asia @ Risk (as co-ed./author), The South China Sea Disputes (ed. Yang Razali Kassim), and pieces in outlets such as Asia Policy, Asia Times, Contemporary Southeast Asia, The Diplomat, IPP Review, The Jakarta Post, Journal of Democracy, PacNet, RSIS Commentary, TRaNS: Trans-Regional and –National Studies of Southeast Asia, and YaleGlobal.
Moderator:
Ann Marie Murphy is a Professor at the School of Diplomacy and International Relations, Seton Hall University, Senior Research Scholar at the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University, and 2019-2010 ASEAN Research Program Fulbright Scholar. Dr. Murphy’s research interests include international relations and comparative politics in Southeast Asia, U.S. foreign policy toward Asia, and governance of non-traditional security issues. Dr. Murphy is a founding partner of the New York Southeast Asia Network and is currently completing a book on the impact of democracy on Indonesian foreign policy with the generous support of the Smith Richardson Foundation.
This event is part of the Southeast Asia Views America: Perceptions, Policies & Prospects virtual conference.
This event is organized by the Weatherhead East Asian Institute at Columbia University and cosponsored by the New York Southeast Asia Network (NYSEAN), the School of Diplomacy and International Relations at Seton Hall University and the Columbia-Harvard China and the World Program at Columbia University.
