Programs & Projects

The Southeast Asia Program
The Southeast Asia Program aims to explain the latest developments in this vital region, inform and influence policymakers, and help build connections across countries and sectors. At a time of intensifying great-power competition in the region, it is more important than ever to understand the diverse nations of Southeast Asia in their own right and how they interact with each other and outside states. We organise regular events, roundtables and online engagements with leading policymakers and experts focusing on Southeast Asia. We also contribute to the Lowy Institute’s core research publications.
Experts
Latest publications
News and media

Commentary
Time for talk is over: Australia must take a greater role in tackling Myanmar crisis
Originally published in The Australian.

Podcasts
Lowy Institute Conversations: Nathan Law on exile, China and the struggle for democracy in Hong Kong
In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, Director of the Southeast Asia Program Ben Bland sits down with Nathan Law to discuss exile, China’s repressive policies and the…

Commentary
Jokowi’s contradictions and the struggle to remake Indonesia
Originally published in The Jakarta Post.

Podcasts
Lowy Institute Conversations: Aye Min Thant and Melissa Crouch on the coup in Myanmar
In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, Ben Bland, Director of the Southeast Asia Program at the Lowy Institute, sits down with Aye Min Thant and Melissa Crouch to…

Commentary
In the defining year of his presidency, Joko Widodo faces an incredibly difficult challenge
Originally published in the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.

Commentary
Indonesia's Jokowi turns politics into a family business
One-time furniture maker who fought his way to the top was meant to be different. Originally published in Nikkei Asia.

Podcasts
COVIDcast: Chatib Basri on Indonesia’s struggle with COVID-19 and its first recession since 1998
In this episode of COVIDcast, Ben Bland, the Director of the Southeast Asia Program at the Lowy Institute, sat down with Chatib Basri to discuss Indonesia’s struggle with COVID-19.

Podcasts
COVIDcast: Ben Bland On Indonesian President Joko Widodo, A Man Of Contradictions
In this episode of COVIDcast, Hervé Lemahieu, Director of the Asian Power and Diplomacy Program at the Lowy Institute, sat down with Ben Bland to discuss his new book.

The (un)making of Joko Widodo
Book Review: Ben Bland, Man of Contradictions: Joko Widodo and the struggle to remake Indonesia (Penguin, Lowy Institute, 2020)
Indonesian President Joko Widodo, a man once…
South China Morning Post
7 May 2023
Australian Financial Review
25 April 2023
South China Morning Post
20 April 2023
The Conversation
31 March 2023
RCTI+ (Indonesia)
14 March 2023
The Sydney Morning Herald
14 March 2023
The Print (India)
23 February 2023