1,720,958 research outputs found
Governance and political challenges in Indonesia
No full textSummary
After Indonesia experienced a surge in economic growth between 2010 and 2014, its Gross Domestic Product growth rate has slowed, sinking from 6.2 per cent in 2010 to 4.8 per cent in 2015. While the Indonesian Government can do little to combat external financial factors such as falling commodity prices and shrinking markets for its exports in China, there is an opportunity for President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to deliver on his promises of internal reforms. In addition to economic reforms, Jakarta faces other challenges such as perceived corruption within the government and public services. Growing nationalism and the increasing influence of the military in domestic matters could also play an interesting role in shaping Indonesia’s future.
Key points
The Indonesian parliament continues to be dominated by secular-nationalist parties.
The emphasis on nationalism could undermine the prospect of greater ethnic Chinese representation in the parliament.
The perception of elevated levels of government corruption will continue to pose major economic and social problems and can impede the provision of public services.
A flawed taxation system further hampers the ability of the government to enact requisite financial legislation.
The Indonesian National Armed Forces are seeking to increase their influence in domestic politics through greater involvement in internal security matters
Examining the developing bilateral relationship between the United States and India
No full textSummary: Ties between the US and India are currently upbeat and have set the grounds for a deeper bilateral relationship. President Barack Obama was the first US head of state to attend India’s Republic Day celebrations on 26 January in New Delhi as its chief guest. The US-India relationship has seen an increased level of engagement by US officials as Congress seeks to develop a stronger relationship with India. Like George W. Bush did previously, Obama has endorsed the relationship, declaring the growing US-India relationship to be a ‘defining partnership of the 21st century’.
Key points
Deeper bilateral ties may serve to bolster India’s export market, improve US investor confidence in India, and enable India to develop and manufacture the military technology it requires. The US also has the opportunity to enhance its military exports to India.
A strong relationship with India could help the US, if required, in countering China’s regional influence.
Counter-terrorism is a key area that the US will develop with India, especially given the ambivalent nature of its counter-terrorism operations with Pakistan.
Renewed efforts to address nuclear liability laws mean that nuclear
co-operation looks increasingly promising
Indonesia as a contributor to regional security
No full textAs an emerging maritime power, Indonesia will encounter a variety of considerations in deciding how it will project its power in the region. In the lead up to his election, Indonesian President Joko Widodo promised to strengthen Indonesia’s maritime security, develop regional diplomatic ties and expand the capacity of Indonesia’s navy. In his inaugural speech, Widodo envisioned Indonesia as a global maritime power, aspiring to become an integral part of a world order founded on freedom, eternal peace, and social justice. While an inspiring ambition, Jakarta will need to overcome the challenges ahead, particularly in terms of regional security, for Widodo’s Indonesia Raya (Great Indonesia) to come to fruition. 
Timor-Leste: an uncertain future and an unsettled boundary
No full textSummary
Timor-Leste is the fourth-youngest country in the world, having achieved formal independence on 20 May 2002. The transition to independence was not smooth, as Indonesia claimed the territory for itself while suppressing the independence movement after colonial power Portugal withdrew in 1975. Since independence, the country has come a long way, creating an environment for successful development and achieving lower-middle income status in 2011. GDP has grown strongly since 2006 from 1.88 billion in 2015, averaging an annual growth rate of 13.5 per cent. Despite that strong growth, the country suffers from high poverty rates, poor infrastructure and fragile food security. With billions of dollars’ worth of natural gas and oil on its doorstep, Timor-Leste needs to successfully utilise those resources and invest in sustainable economic growth if it is to continue development in the medium- to long-term future.
Key points
The economy of Timor-Leste is dependent on revenues from oil and gas reserves, which are beginning to run out.
The government will continue to over-withdraw from its petroleum revenues fund to pay for the infrastructure that is needed to grow the non-oil sector, meaning that the fund could be virtually empty by 2027.
The Greater Sunrise area contains oil and natural gas deposits, the income from which will be essential to funding infrastructure needs of Timor-Leste, but there are concerns that the money will be wasted on unsustainable projects.
The termination of the Certain Maritime Arrangements in the Timor Sea agreement means that Timor-Leste and Australia will have to negotiate a maritime boundary and, possibly, negotiate a new revenue split for the Greater Sunrise area.
From a realist perspective, it is in Australia’s economic interests to secure as much of the Greater Sunrise area as possible in future negotiations, but there are other important strategic factors that must also be taken into consideration
Jokowi to visit Australia: what to expect?
No full textIndonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo is expected to visit Australia next month. The visit follows Australian Prime Minister Malcom Turnbull’s meeting with Widodo in Laos on the back of the 2016 Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit. The one day visit in Laos was seen as a positive turning point in bilateral relations following the executions of Australian drug smugglers Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, after which Canberra temporarily recalled its ambassador to Indonesia. During the brief visit, both leaders discussed economic co-operation, maritime co-operation, counter-terrorism and a visit to Australia by Jokowi. It is expected that similar issues will be raised in the upcoming visit. Jokowi is expected to be in Perth on 12 November for an Indonesian business summit as well as visiting Canberra and Sydney for formal talks including a parliamentary address
Yemen: factors behind possible economic and political collapse
No full textRecent political unrest, in conjunction with security and social-economic challenges, presents serious concerns for Yemen’s future.
Summary
Yemen currently faces an array of challenges ranged against its future development. Political unrest continues to plague the government, along with security challenges. Yemen also faces serious economic and water challenges that are raising concerns over its ongoing stability. Since the last FDI publication on Yemen, Houthi rebels have stormed Sana’a and targeted numerous buildings. Subsequently, Prime Minister Abdul-Kader Bajammal stepped down and was replaced by Khaled Bahah. Soon after, the Houthis took control of key parts of the city of al-Hudaydah as well as the city of Ibb. An al-Qaida affiliate, AQAP, has responded with numerous attacks on Shia targets while southern separatists seeking to split from the north have given the government an ultimatum to evacuate its soldiers and civil servants by 30 November. These developments, in conjunction with other security and social-economic challenges, present serious concerns for Yemen’s future.
Key points
Houthi rebels continue to threaten further instability in Yemen, while Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) is simultaneously straining government resources by contesting territory in the country’s south.
Yemen’s economic situation looks dire, with oil reserves running low and production estimated to cease generating income by 2017.
The capital, Sana’a, is estimated to run out of economically viable water supplies by 2017. Coupled with the high growth rate of Sana’a, Yemen faces a potential crisis involving internally-displaced people in the near future.
Iranian involvement with the Houthis should be seen as simply opportunistic and not as part of a Saudi-Iranian proxy war in Yemen.
The situation in Yemen is of concern to Saudi Arabia as the collapse of Yemen could result in the strengthening of AQAP and a refugee crisis for itself.
Saudi Arabia is unlikely to provide adequate aid in the event of a large-scale refugee crisis; the international community, including Australia, may need to contribute the required aid
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
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