The visits of Indonesian President Joko Widodo to China and Japan conducted in a temporary tandem mode at the end of July this year seem to be a single important event that significantly characterizes the situation in the sub-region of Southeast Asia as a whole. At the same time, it should be noted that, in…
Indonesia has enormous strategic potential in the New Cold War and especially within the new Non-Aligned Movement (Neo-NAM) that its Indian partner hopes to assemble, which is why it would have been contrary to its objective national interests to comply with Western demands to choose Kiev’s side in the Ukrainian Conflict. Indonesian President Joko Widodo,…
Indonesia is the largest country in South East Asia (SEA), with a population of over 270 million. It is one of the leading states in the region, with considerable weight within ASEAN, and the world powers vying for influence in South East Asia are forced to pay a great deal of attention to Indonesia. The…
Long banned, Christmas has finally, at least tacitly, arrived in Saudi Arabia; just don’t use the name in marketing or be ostentatious about your tree. Coffeeshops serving beverages in red cups with snowflakes on them are ok. So is the sale of soap bars named ‘Tis the Season and Vanilla Bean Noel. Christmas trees that…
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held meetings with several of his Southeast Asian counterparts to discuss enhancing cooperation and jointly safeguarding security in the region. The talks took place shortly after the landmark China-ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Summit held on November 22. The participants of the summit officially raised the relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership. Diplomatic contacts…
A major Muslim and Evangelical organization joined forces this week to significantly advance hitherto state-backed ceremonial inter-faith dialogues that seldom go beyond platitudes and lofty statements. This week’s launch at a Washington DC mosque of an inter-faith alliance and a book published by the Institute for Humanitarian Islam and the Germany-based World Evangelical Alliance (WEA)…
