Southeast Asia Archive

Indonesia’s new president, Joko Widodo, or Jokowi as he prefers to be called, was sworn in Monday in Jakarta. However, he has yet to announce his Cabinet since Indonesia’s Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) vetoed eight of his 43 nominations owing to their alleged involvement in graft cases and human rights violations. Corruption is a persistent concern in Indonesia and was a key issue during both the parliamentary and presidential elections this year. Writing about April’s parliamentary elections in World Politics Review, Andrew Thornley explained: The primary concern, with Indonesia’s elections and its governance in general, remains corruption, which colors elections […]

In August, as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was about to embark on a trip to Myanmar for a set of regional meetings, more than 70 lawmakers drafted a letter to him warning that disturbing developments in the country called for a “significant recalibration” in U.S.-Myanmar ties. Coming more than two years after the Obama administration eased sanctions in response to historic reforms, the incident is just the latest episode revealing ongoing frictions among the White House, Congress and other actors over evolving U.S. policy in Myanmar. Since the transition from a military dictatorship to a nominally civilian government […]