Indonesia’s efforts to make the peace in post-coup Myanmar aren’t just about showing Southeast Asian solidarity, they are a way of showcasing Jakarta’s democratic credentials to the new administration in the United States, experts say.
The coup by the Myanmar military against the democratically elected National League for Democracy party led by Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1 is just the latest in a string of issues to have threatened unity in the 10 member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) bloc.
The bloc has also found itself in the middle of a multi-country power struggle, with China, the US, India and Japan all vying for influence in the region, said Dr Greta Nabbs-Keller, a research fellow for Southeast Asia and the Indo-Pacific at the University of Queensland’s Centre for Policy Futures in Australia.
Please click here to read the full article “Can Indonesia use Myanmar to balance the US and China?" by Resty Woro Yuniar featuring UQ Centre for Policy Futures Research Fellow, Dr Greta Nabbs-Keller published atThis Week in Asia.
