IDSS research also includes studies of countries that could have an impact on regional security and stability through their domestic developments and foreign policies. Such work is currently being done through the China Programme, Indonesia Programme and United States Programme.

China Programme
The China Programme, coordinated by Dr. Shiping Tang, is broadly interested in all aspects of China’s strategic thinking and behaviour. Our staff provided a distinctive regional voice on the issue of the role of China as a rising power. The Programme focused on the following sub-fields:

The Programme’s flagship project in 2006 aimed at studying the dynamic interaction between China and other regional states through an empirical approach, by looking at specific cases of crises and turning points in the interactive process between China and other regional states. In addition to the main project, the China Programme invited Major-General Zhu Chenghu, Professor and Commandant of the School of Defense Studies of the National Defense University, People’s Liberation Army, China, to IDSS from 20-27 August. Maj. Gen. Zhu gave two talks, one on the training of Chinese military officers and another on the modernization of the People’s Liberation Army. His visit was well received by both IDSS and the National Defense University.

Major publications by Programme staff include Tang Shiping, “Projecting China’s Foreign Policy: Determining Factors and Scenarios,” in Jae Ho Chung ed., Chart China’s Future (Boulder, C. O.: Bowman & Littlefield, 2006), and Li Mingjiang, “China Defends its Core Interests in a Unipolar World”, forthcoming, in Edward A. Kolodziej and Roger E. Kanet eds., Consensual or Coercive Hegemon: Either or Neither? American Power and Global Order.

Indonesia Programme
The Indonesia Programme coordinated by Associate Professor Leonard Sebastian focuses on three areas. Firstly, to conduct research on issues pertaining to Indonesia that is of relevance to Singapore; secondly, to contribute to the Institute’s Master’s Programmes by offering quality courses; and thirdly, to provide policy reviews and briefings to assist stakeholders and the policy community to better understand the complex changes taking place in post-Suharto Indonesia. At the regional level, the goal is to network and to engage in collaborative research with like-minded international institutions interested in modern Indonesia, specifically, in post-Suharto Indonesia. In 2006, research encompassed a variety of issues including civil-military relations, developments in the defence and security sector, political Islam, militant Islam, terrorism, intra-state conflict, Indonesian foreign policy and international relations, the Indonesian economy, problems of underdevelopment, local politics and decentralization in the Riau region. The Programme’s primary research focus at this time is in five areas: defence and security, national politics, local politics and political economy, Islam, and intra-state conflict.

In May 2006, a study of the Indonesian military by Dr Sebastian entitled Realpolitik Ideology: Indonesia’s Use of Military Force was published by the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. Ongoing research in 2006 included two book-length studies on Islam in Indonesia, articles on local politics and democratisation, and the regular monitoring of political, economic, security and society-related developments in the Riau Archipelago (KEPRI) and Riau Province. Two monograph-length studies on civil-military relations in the post-Suharto era by Tatik Hafitz and Yuddy Chrisnandi have been completed and a third on Political Islam by Bahtiar Effendy is currently in progress. Professor J. Soedradjad Djiwandono, is currently working on an English language translation of his book Sejarah Bank Indonesia (History of Bank Indonesia) which was published in 2005.

Dr Eric Frecon has been recently appointed as a Post Doctoral Fellow and is currently undertaking research for a book manuscript on piracy focusing on communities in Bangka-Belitung and Riau who have for generations plied their trade as pirates in the Malacca Strait.

Since August 2006, the Programme produces a fortnightly publication entitled the Riau Bulletin. The Riau Bulletin is aimed at providing regular updates for Singapore’s policy and business community on the latest developments in the Riau Archipelago and the Riau province.

The Indonesia Programme also hosted its first Riau Roundtable in June 2007 bringing together policy makers from Riau and Singapore to commemorate the first anniversary of the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between Singapore and Indonesia to establish a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in the Riau Archipelago. Speakers will analyse:

A number of policy-related outputs would be derived from this workshop. A workshop and conference held on 3-4 November 2008 explored the state of Indonesia by examining various political, economic, and social developments that have taken place since the start of the reformasi movement in May 1998 aimed at commemorating 10 years of reformasi and analysing Indonesia’s future trajectory. Entitled “The Future of Indonesia beyond 2014: Prospects and Challenges” The main purpose of this initiative is to offer an alternative future-oriented perspective in looking at Indonesia beyond the 2014 general elections. For the Workshop, twenty emerging leaders and opinion-makers from Indonesia were invited for a closed door meeting where through the use of a future studies framework they explored a variety of scenarios related to Indonesia’s future. The public conference addressed critical challenges and prospects of several key sectors, such as politics, economy, security, judicial, and civil society, which will determine Indonesia’s future in the next twenty to thirty years. More importantly, the conference also aims to provide a platform for potential future leaders and opinion makers in Indonesia to voice their ideas and exchange views with distinguished Indonesian scholars and observers from all over the world. The public conference will be divided into four sessions: first, we will discuss the future of Indonesian national and local politics beyond 2014, second, the future of Indonesian judicial and security sectors beyond 2014, third, the future of Indonesian economy and business sectors beyond 2014, and finally, we will address the future of Indonesian civil society beyond 2014. In each session, there will be 2-3 paper presenters and 2-3 prominent Indonesian scholars and observers as discussants.

Visit our website at http://www.rsis.edu.sg/Indonesia_Prog/

United States Programme
The United States Programme’s research agenda focuses on the foreign, military, and broad strategic policies of the United States, especially since these have impacted on or may potentially impact on East Asia. It has also been investigating the perceptions, expectations, and security strategies of Southeast Asian actors toward the United States in the context of a global environment marked by the rise of China and India, and the threat posed by terrorist outfits. Research has furthermore been undertaken on US energy security policy and maritime strategy, and their implications on Asia, as well as the possible reasons for the revolutionary impulse in the US attitudes/approaches toward the international system. The results of the research have been published as articles, commentaries, and in a policy report.

In 2006, IDSS also hosted a number of distinguished scholars and practitioners from Asia, Canada, Europe, and the United States to seminars and talks in Singapore. They included Mr Richard Lee Armitage, former US Deputy Secretary of State; Dr Gerard Chaliand, former Director, European Center for the Study of Conflicts; Dr Richard A. Falkenrath, Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution, USA; Professor Kal Holsti, Institute of International Relations, University of British Columbia; Dr Changhee Nam, Associate Professor, Inha University, Korea; Lt-Col Mark Shankle, Strategic Command, US Army; Dr Ehsan Ahrari, Defense Consultant and Independent Strategic Analyst; and Professor Stephen M. Walt, Academic Dean, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. These talks have helped to advance the academic and policy communities’ understanding of US foreign and defence policies, and their impact on Asian security.

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