Ben Bland
Director, Asia-Pacific @ChathamHouse. Ex @LowyInstitute in ๐ฆ๐บ & @FT in ๐ฎ๐ฉ ๐ป๐ณ ๐ญ๐ฐ ๐จ๐ณ. Author:๐Man of Contradictions & ๐Generation HK. @BrentfordFC fan
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THREAD Some initial thoughts on the UK's refresh of its Integrated Review of security and foreign policy, which I think is a positive step for British engagement in the Indo-Pacifi...
Some thoughts on Rishi Sunak's first foreign policy speech: there's not much new substance there, which isn't surprising. But there's a clear shift in emphasis away from Liz Truss'...
THREAD Southeast Asia has delivered an impressive record of development and economic growth over recent decades but will the solutions of old suffice for the world of tomorrow? Man...
Check out new paper from @Kyunghoon_Kim_ on Indonesia's sovereign wealth fund, which I commissioned with @RolandMRajah. The Indonesia Investment Authority is a classic Jokowi init...
Excited to see @LowyInstitute project that I developed with @AlexandreDayant and @Teesta_P moving ahead. As they write, there's a real need for more transparency on international a...
๐งตOur Indonesia poll has some important insights for Washington & Beijing. Overall, Indonesians are wary of both great powers, but are more concerned about China. However, they don'...
๐งตFrom the US to China, many states are trying to woo Indonesia. Just see how many high-profile visitors flew to Jakarta during the pandemic. But few outsiders think about how Indon...
๐งตFew will miss Carrie Lam as she resigns as Hong Kong leader after five torrid years. My 2018 interview with her was one of the strangest encounters I've had with a senior official...
In first speech, new head of MI6 repeated Western warnings about China's "debt traps" (https://t.co/RUEqT5Gpti). Speaking at @LowyInstitute event today, @RollandNadege said debt-tr...
THREAD Enjoyed talking to Philippine foreign secretary Teodoro Locsin. Highlights: he backed AUKUS, arguing that it "strengthens deterrence" because "really deadly weaponry... focu...
This seems like a big deal although it's got no mainstream international media coverage yet: Indonesia cancels REDD+ deal with Norway, which was meant to pay $1bn to Jakarta to cur...
Analysing @LowyInstitute poll data on Australian attitudes to Indonesia can be dispiriting exercise but I've done it so you don't have to. Upshot is despite some year-to-year turbu...