Foreign Policy Blogs

Tag Archives: Indonesia

Should ISIS Fighters be Allowed to Return Home?

Should ISIS Fighters be Allowed to Return Home?

Since preventing terrorist acts is extremely difficult—why take any chances by allowing fighters to return?

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Jakarta in Hunt for an Estimated 1,000 Islamic State Supporters

Jakarta in Hunt for an Estimated 1,000 Islamic State Supporters

One country on the forefront of the battle against the Islamic State is Indonesia, home to the world’s largest Muslim population, which has over the past year successfully crushed militant cells.

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Manila Wins its Day in Court: Will Other Nations Follow?

Manila Wins its Day in Court: Will Other Nations Follow?

Should Beijing refuse to honor a potential ruling against their claims of sovereignty, we can expect China to again attempt to assert its economic muscle to persuade other regional nations to settle the disputes bilaterally.

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U.S. Navy Sails Calmly through Waters Claimed by China

U.S. Navy Sails Calmly through Waters Claimed by China

Tuesday’s voyage of the destroyer USS Lassen through waters claimed by China in the South China Sea had the potential to escalate an already tense situation.

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Pirates of the South China Seas

Pirates of the South China Seas

Last Friday, eight Indonesians were arrested by a Vietnamese coast guard patrol off the southern coast of Vietnam.

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Is Xi Copying Putin’s Strategy?

Is Xi Copying Putin’s Strategy?

The apparent success of Putin’s misadventures in Ukraine could serve as an attractive geopolitical militaristic strategy for other nations with territorial disputes, such as China.

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Vietnam Seeks Greater Defense Ties with India

Vietnam Seeks Greater Defense Ties with India

The disputed waters of the South China Sea have been quiet recently, as a nationalistic Beijing has sought to reassure its neighbors of its peaceful intentions by toning down the rhetoric and hesitating from taking any further aggressive actions.

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The Islamic State and Southeast Asia

The Islamic State and Southeast Asia

The threat the Islamic State (IS) poses to Western nations is very real — witness in recent weeks the thwarting of a public beheading in Sydney, the raids on terrorist cells in Melbourne, raids in The Hague and Brussels, possible threats to subways in Paris and New York, and the recent averting of a terrorist plot in London.

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U.N. Deploys More Peacekeepers in the CAR, But Will It be Enough?

U.N. Deploys More Peacekeepers in the CAR, But Will It be Enough?

Last Monday, in a ceremony at Bangui airport, about 1,800 additional peacekeepers and police joined a mission under U.N. control in the battle-torn Central African Republic CAR), along with the previous contingent of 4,800 African troops and 1,000 international police. The new reinforcements have come from Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Morocco and Bangladesh, joining others […]

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Beijing Balks, Tokyo Talks

Beijing Balks, Tokyo Talks

AP Photo: David Guttenfelder With the official death toll from Typhoon Haiyan topping 4,000 on Wednesday, nations from around the world are ramping up their efforts to help the Philippines deal with over 1,600 missing persons, 700,000 damaged houses and the nearly 10 million people affected.  Australia, Britain and the U.S. have so far each […]

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Those Dictators We Love

Those Dictators We Love

White House press secretary Jay Carney offered a sharp rebuttal of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s op-ed in The New York Times recently by saying, “unlike Russia, the United States stands up for democratic values and human rights around the world.” History paints a somewhat different story. In contrast to President Barack Obama’s contention that the […]

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U.S. Diplomatic, Economic and Security Engagement with the Asia-Pacific Continues

U.S. Diplomatic, Economic and Security Engagement with the Asia-Pacific Continues

  U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel has just returned from his second visit to Asia, only two months after partaking in the Shangri La Dialogue back in June, and his second visit to Asia in six months since becoming secretary of defense. Acknowledging the immense human suffering and tragedy that continues to unfold in Syria […]

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Attracting FDI: Openness Helps, But Opportunity Rules

Attracting FDI: Openness Helps, But Opportunity Rules

    If a country had the most-restrictive regulations on foreign direct investment (FDI) of 55 nations studied, where do you think it would rank among those nations in terms of actually attracting investment from abroad? If you said “First,” you obviously would be flaunting conventional economic theory and engaging in highly counter-intuitive speculation. Further, […]

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Indonesian Haze Raising Regional Human Rights Questions

Indonesian Haze Raising Regional Human Rights Questions

As the slash-and-burn deforestation peat-burning agricultural practices of communities and companies in Southeast Asia continue, their peoples are suffering the worst air quality on record. Particularly hard hit are Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. The fires mainly burn on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, with the smoke travelling across the narrow Strait of Malacca to Malaysia […]

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Obama in Asia

Obama in Asia

Among the many significant aspects of President Obama’s trip to Asia this week are the agreements and programs that are being announced relative to climate and energy.  In India, the headline news was his endorsing India’s quest for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.  But with India being one of the fastest growing […]

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