ln early 2020, Australia and Indonesia entered an historic high point in their bilateral relationship. The President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, visited Canberra where he addressed the Joint Houses of Parliament, and meetings were held to put the final touches on the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Partnership Agreement (IA CEPA). Since then, tested by the COVID-1 9 pandemic crisis, the strength and depth of the Australia-Indonesia relationship—between governments, also business and community organisations and individuals—has come more clearly into focus. The people-to-people connectivity that has driven the Australia-Indonesia relationship is being re-imagined in creative, digital ways, and in the face of a global economic crisis IA CEPA is a bright spot for potential growth in trade and exchange. ln response to these trends and opportunities for deepening engagement, the chapters in this volume represent research undertaken by Indonesians and Australians working together as part of a collaborative research program initiated by the Australia-Indonesia Centre, with a focus on thematic areas, Youth and Education, and Business and Tourism, Digital Futures and Connectivity. Collectively, the research offers insights into what is driving Indonesia'sfuture with a focus on its young people—those aged 17-35 years are the largest single demographic group in Indonesia—digital technologies and an increasingly mobile middle-class. What is shaping the outlook of young Indonesians on the world and their relations with their regional neighbours, including Australia? How are Indonesians using digital technologies for social and commercial exchange in ways that are making them increasingly open to international connections?What kinds of experiences are Indonesia's increasingly mobile middle-classes looking for when they travel overseas for education or leisure? What does this mean in terms of opportunities for greater connectivity and exchange within the Australia-Indonesia relationship after the crisis has subsided and beyond?

This volume explores the domestic and transnational considerations associated with Indonesia's ascent, referring to its rise in terms of hard and soft power and its likely trajectory in the future. The range of contributors analyse economic resources, religious harmony, security, regional relations, leadership and foreign policy.

Australia's contribution to Indonesia's independence struggle is broadly well-known and this book explores an important part of the story: Australia's leading role in the 1947 UN Consular Commission and the monitoring of the first UN cease-fire order. The commission's military observers were pioneer peacekeepers, and an examination of the commission's activities is useful for understanding the Indonesian independence struggle in the following years. Australia's involvement also played a positive role in long-term Australian-Indonesian relations.

"Australia's relations with Indonesia are currently at a low ebb. The optimistic prospects of the mid-1990s had collapsed almost completely by the year 2000. Senior Indonesian officials were angered after that by the triumphalist tone of John Howard's public statements after the intervention in East Timor, by the megaphone diplomacy resorted to by some Australian ministers to express their displeasure at Indonesian policies or actions, by Howards acquiescence in the use of the term deputy sheriff to the US in our region, and particularly by his assertion of a right to make pre-emptive strikes against terrorists in neighbouring countries if he deemed it necessary. When demands arose in Papua for a greater degree of autonomy and in some quarters for full independence after East Timor achieved it independence, arousing vocal support from pro-Papuan groups in Australia, suspicions arose in Indonesia that many Australians were seeking to detach Papua from the unitary state of Indonesia and perhaps to bring about the fragmentation (or Balkanisation) of Indonesia. Then the new element of terrorism entered into the picture after the war of terror triggered by the 9/11 attacks in New York and Washington, followed by the October 2002 Bali bombing which thrust Jemaah Islamiyahs (JI) terrorists from Indonesia, some with links to Osama bin Laden, into the limelight. Remarkably successful cooperation by the AFP and Polri were not sufficient to offset the frictions that arose over Australian impatience at Indonesian reluctance to take strong punitive action against terrorist suspects and Indonesian reluctance to do so."--Provided by publisher.

Since the end of the Cold War, considerable scholarly debates have been devoted to the nature and scope of international state-building interventions in ‘fragile’, post-colonial states and their effectiveness in instituting democratic rule. By examining the construction of political institutions in East Timor, this book highlights the relationship between the social and political realms during these processes. Focusing on the roles of East Timorese leaders and civil society organisations during the independence movement, it analyses the effectiveness of democracy building in East Timor. It examines the processes of drafting the new constitution, establishing key political institutions (such as the electoral system), and articulating a new vision of citizenship and social justice. The book argues that East Timor offers a relatively successful case of democratic transition, enabled by a consistent set of goals and aspirations, grassroots political legitimacy and participation, and the development of a democratic civil nation. Offering a coherent argument for why democracy has been successful in East Timor and the roles of political leaders and civil society during democratic transition, this book will be of interest to those studying Southeast Asian Politics, International Politics, and Democracy.

Collision between Australia and SE Asia began in the Early Miocene and reduced the former wide ocean between them to a complex passage which connects the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Today, the Indonesian Throughflow passes through this gateway and plays an important role in global thermohaline flow. The surrounding region contains the maximum global diversity for many marine and terrestrial organisms. Reconstruction of this geologically complex region is essential for understanding its role in oceanic and atmospheric circulation, climate impacts, and the origin of its biodiversity. The papers in this volume discuss the Palaeozoic to Cenozoic geological background to Australia and SE Asia collision. They provide the background for accounts of the modern Indonesian Throughflow and oceanographic changes since the Neogene, and consider aspects of the region's climate history--

Troubled Transit considers the situation of asylum seekers stuck in limbo in Indonesia from a number of perspectives. It presents not only the narratives of many transit migrants but also the perceptions of Indonesian authorities and of representatives of international and non-government organizations responsible for the care of transiting asylum seekers. Fascinated by the extraordinary and seemingly limitless resilience shown by asylum seekers during their often lengthy and dangerous journeys, the author highlights one particular fragment of their journeys — their time in Indonesia, which many expect to be the last stepping stone to a new life. While they long for their new life to unfold, most asylum seekers become embroiled in the complexities of living in transit. Indonesia, a vast archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, is more than a location where people spend time waiting; it is a nation state that interacts with transiting asylum seekers and formulates policies that have a profound impact on their experience in transit there. Troubled Transit tries to explain the complexities faced by the transiting migrants within the context of the Indonesian government and its political challenges, including its relationship with Australia. The Australia-centric view of recent asylum seeker issues has tended to ignore the larger socio-political context of the migratory routes and the perspectives of transit states towards asylum seekers stuck in transit. This book hopes to direct the Australia-centric gaze northwards to take Indonesian policies and policymaking into account, thereby giving Indonesia more relevance as a transit country and as an important partner in regional protection schemes and migration management. Even though some Indonesian policies and practices are less than favourable for asylum seekers, and even reprehensible from a human rights perspective, more attention must be paid to ongoing developments that impact on transiting asylum seekers in Indonesia if any of the hardships they suffer there are to be alleviated.

Recent years have seen dramatic shifts in the nature of Australian-Indonesian relations, and this in turn has had a great impact on the strategic partnership that had gradually come into existence between the two regional powers. Against the backdrop of rapid strategic, political, economic, social, and technological changes occurring on a global scale, Australian foreign policy efforts at cooperation with its largest and nearest Asian neighbor have changed as well—largely as a result of domestic political considerations. Reaching a high point under Prime Minister Keating, defense relations soured considerably and suddenly after 1999. Singh provides a non-partisan account of the shift from partnership to cold peace and an examination of how it has affected the bilateral, regional, and global security environment. The Indonesian public and political elite have become hostile toward Australia as a result of her perceived role in the birth of an independent East Timor. Indonesians are also increasingly suspicious of Australian intensions toward their own country, with many believing that Canberra would like to repeat its East Timor success in Papua, thereby leading to the disintegration of Indonesia itself. John Howard's pro-Western policies are also viewed as a return to Australian projection of itself as a Western outpost on the fringes of Asia. As the strategic cooperation between the two nations has faltered, it has had tremendous implications for the defense and security outlook of both powers. The world cannot afford to ignore this possible threat to regional stability.

A U.S.-Indonesia Partnership for 2020 explores avenues to boost cooperation in all three of these pillars. Political and security relations between the United States and Indonesia have grown more robust in recent years. Trade and economic relations, while growing, remain contentious. This study assesses progress on these two pillars, along with the under-resourced field of people-to-people collaboration, and offers recommendations to take the partnership to the next level in each area.