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Microsoft announced that it will invest $1.7 billion in cloud and artificial intelligence infrastructure in Indonesia over the next four years, The Wall Street Journal reported on April 30. 

Indonesia: Microsoft To Invest $1.7B in AI, Cloud Computing

Cambodia

Malaysia

Myanmar

Philippines

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Energy

Countries across South and Southeast Asia are issuing extreme heat warnings for at least the next three days, though likely longer, as the region grapples with an extended heat wave, portending health risks, business and school closures, and strained electric grids, VnExpress reported on April 29. 

Southeast Asia: Extreme Heat Wave Creates Health and Business Risks, Stresses Energy Grids

Politics

In a pair of 5-3 rulings, Indonesia's Constitutional Court dismissed two separate motions of losing presidential candidates Anies Baswedan and Ganjar Pranowo alleging that President-elect Prabowo Subianto's Feb. 14 election victory was secured via fraud and abuse of presidential authority, The Jakarta Post reported on April 22. 

Indonesia: Constitutional Court Rejects Legal Challenges to Incoming President

United States

Israel

Palestinian Territories

Brunei Darussalam

China

Laos

Slightly over half of respondents in the 2024 State of Southeast Asia Survey published by Singapore's ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute said that out of the world's major powers, they would prefer to partner with China, an increase of 11.6% since 2023 and topping the United States for the first time, Nikkei Asia reported on April 2.

ASEAN: Annual Survey Shows Turn in Favor of China

Military & Security

Indonesia's Election Commission announced that Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto secured 58.59% of the vote in the country's Feb. 14 presidential election, beating his nearest opponent by more than 30 percentage points, The Straits Times reported on March 21

Indonesia: Subianto Officially Becomes President-Elect Amid Challenges, Protests

Representatives from 33 member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, or OECD, expressed support on Feb. 28 for Indonesian membership and estimated that accession could take two to three years, the Jakarta Globe reported the next day.

Indonesia: OECD, Indonesia To Launch Accession Roadmap, Aim for Membership in Two to Three Years

Papua New Guinea

Indonesia and Papua New Guinea ratified a security pact signed in 2014 geared toward securing the two countries' shared border on the island of New Guinea, BenarNews reported on Feb. 27.

Indonesia, Papua New Guinea: Countries Ratify Border Security Deal After 10 Years

Australia

Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto and his Australian counterpart Richard Marles met in Jakarta to discuss what they anticipate to be a "very significant" defense cooperation pact that they will sign "within weeks," Reuters reported Feb. 23. 

Indonesia, Australia: Jakarta and Canberra to Sign Defense Pact 'Within Weeks'

Assessments

An aerial photo taken on Sept. 25, 2022, shows solar panels at the Sao Mai solar energy plant in Vietnam’s An Giang province. 

Several ASEAN countries are on track to develop substantial renewable power capacities in the short term, but technical, political and financial constraints, coupled with incentives to keep burning fossil fuels, will impede long-term decarbonization goals.

The Challenges Facing Southeast Asia's Decarbonization

Columns

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Fiji

Japan

New Zealand

North Korea

South Korea

United Kingdom

A 3D rendering of Southeast Asia from space at night with city lights showing Southeast Asian cities in Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.

U.S.-China Relations

In the Asia-Pacific, countries are increasingly pursuing complex networks of political, economic and defense ties as part of a burgeoning "multi-alignment" strategy that seeks to avoid U.S.-China strategic competition.

Examining 'Multi-Alignment' in the Asia-Pacific

South Africa

Turkey

Europe

An APK rally March 29, 2024, in Istanbul. Nationwide municipal elections occur March 31, in which the ruling AKP will likely try to regain the mayoralties of large cities including Ankara and Istanbul.

A look at what the coming week will bring -- and a list of recommended RANE articles from the week that was.

The Weekly Rundown: Turkish Municipal Elections, Blinken Goes to Europe

Egypt

Iraq

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with its Crew Dragon capsule launches from Launch Complex 39A during Axiom's third private mission at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Jan. 18, 2024.

Israel-Hamas Conflict

The Weekly Rundown: A Vote in Indonesia, U.S.-Iraq Military Negotiations and a U.S. Moon Mission

The three candidates running in Indonesia's 2024 presidential race -- Anies Baswedan (left), Prabowo Subianto (center) and Ganjar Pranowo (right) -- attend a debate in Jakarta on Feb. 4, 2024. 

Outgoing President Jokowi's efforts to consolidate power and his preferred successor's history of authoritarianism risk eroding the rule of law in the world's third-largest democracy.

Previewing Indonesia's Presidential Election

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida delivers a speech at the gala dinner for the ASEAN-Japan commemorative summit in Tokyo on Dec. 17, 2023. 

Over the next year, Tokyo will provide ASEAN countries with military equipment and more infrastructure investment, which will raise threat perceptions and further deteriorate Japan's ties with China.

The Implications of Japan's Growing Interest in Southeast Asia

Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (R) delivers an opening address at the start of a bilateral meeting with Laos' Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone (L) at the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo, Japan, on Dec. 16, 2023.

Laos' vulnerabilities will weaken its ASEAN chairmanship, although the bloc's economic interconnectivity will likely continue to grow.

Laos' Limitations Portend a Lukewarm Year for ASEAN

U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Indonesian President Joko Widodo in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 13, 2023.

The U.S. and Indonesia are bolstering critical mineral trade and defense cooperation, but this will run up against U.S. concerns about the Indonesian nickel sector's ESG standards, as well as Jakarta's desire to maintain ties with China.

The Promise of, and Limits to, Upgraded U.S.-Indonesia Ties

Snapshots

Supporters of presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto and vice presidential candidate Gibran Rakabuming Raka attend an event in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Oct. 25, 2023. 

Victory for a ticket that includes the current president's son would portend policy continuity, though Jokowi may find himself with less influence over the new administration than he had hoped for.

What To Watch for as Indonesia's 2024 Presidential Campaign Kicks Off

Rare earth elements. Malaysia's recently announced plan to ban exports of rare earth elements is the latest example of the deepening regional trend of resource nationalism.

Malaysia's move will negatively impact its international partners in the sector, but give Malaysia a strategic advantage in the marketplace.

With a Rare Earth Ban, Malaysia Is Poised to Join the Regional Resource Nationalism Trend

Saudi Arabia

Ukraine

A door at the U.N. headquarters Sept. 15, 2023, in New York ahead of the 78th session of the General Assembly. The 78th U.N. General Assembly will occur Sept. 18-26 against a backdrop of deepening global divisions.

Russia-Ukraine Conflict

The Weekly Rundown: The U.N. General Assembly, Zelensky's U.S. Visit

Regional leaders pose for a group photo before the ASEAN-Australia summit, held as part of the 43rd ASEAN summit in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Sept. 7, 2023. From left to right stand the Philippines' President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Thailand's Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Sarun Charoensuwan, Vietnam's Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Indonesia's President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, Laos' Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone, Brunei's Prime Minister Hassanal Bolkiah, Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Manet, Malaysia's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and East Timor's Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao.

ASEAN's most recent summit underscored chronic passivity within the bloc that will only worsen in 2024. 

Amid ASEAN's Inaction, the Block's Members Look to External Partners for Security

The geopolitical foundation of modern Indonesia is the seas and ports that integrate the country's islands that stretch from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific. Of Indonesia's more than 17,000 islands, about 6,000 are populated by more than 300 ethnolinguistic cultures. The Dutch first consolidated large parts of modern Indonesia by the 19th century, and maintaining political unity of its culturally diverse islands poses the nation's primary geographic challenge. Indonesia's main island, Java, is home to about 60 percent of the country's population, with its largest ethnic group being the Javanese. Java is also Indonesia's agricultural heartland, producing coffee, sugarcane, rubber and rice. A spine of east-west volcanic mountains runs along the southern reaches of the island. These mountains orient Java's population to the north, toward the Java Sea. The Java Sea is the core of Indonesia, with the Karimata Strait, the Makassar Strait and the Flores Sea linking the main island of Java to its outer islands, stretching from Sumatra to Sulawesi to western New Guinea. These islands have been critical sources of oil, natural gas, copper and tin. Indonesia's disconnected landmasses and vast maritime stretches present difficulties and limitations to centralized control, as seen with the independence of East Timor in the 1990s and ongoing separatist concerns in Aceh and Irian Jaya. Holding this island nation together has required a strong central authority to balance regional aspirations and national interests &mdash; although it has tried to balance tight control with empowerment of regions in recent decades. Ultimately, Indonesia is burdened by the conflicting requirements of managing the populations of each island while expending resources to control its maritime core.

SITUATION REPORTS

Indonesia: Microsoft To Invest $1.7B in AI, Cloud Computing

Southeast Asia: Extreme Heat Wave Creates Health and Business Risks, Stresses Energy Grids

Indonesia: Constitutional Court Rejects Legal Challenges to Incoming President

ASEAN: Annual Survey Shows Turn in Favor of China

Indonesia: Subianto Officially Becomes President-Elect Amid Challenges, Protests

Indonesia: OECD, Indonesia To Launch Accession Roadmap, Aim for Membership in Two to Three Years

Indonesia, Papua New Guinea: Countries Ratify Border Security Deal After 10 Years

Indonesia, Australia: Jakarta and Canberra to Sign Defense Pact 'Within Weeks'

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