
Jokowi will likely be a leader whose biggest imprint will be improvement in the quality, effectiveness, integrity and inclusiveness of government rather than in dramatic economic reforms.
Convergence, the narrowing of the income gap between poor and rich countries, is one of the great stories of our time. A recent report shows that convergence has slowed in recent years, and that productivity in developing countries is not rising rapidly enough in key sectors.
According to the World Bank’s standard poverty measure, one in five Asians live in extreme poverty. However, a recent Asian Development Bank (ADB) report, asserts that this standard measure does not capture the true extent of extreme poverty in the region.

The historic political and economic transition under way in Myanmar is a strategic opportunity for the United States and Japan that requires closer alliance coordination.

Faced with heavy expectations, Indonesia’s president-elect Joko Widodo must develop a plan of actions even before his October 2014 inauguration.

The probability is growing that a relatively minor incident in the proximity of an unimportant, remote and barren islet in the East China or South China seas could plunge Asia, and perhaps even the world, into another confrontation.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will attend several summits in Southeast Asia in a bid to ease regional tensions with China. However, expectations on any breakthrough should be tempered.

The downing of the Malaysia Airlines MH17 plane over Eastern Ukraine catapults the crisis there onto the global plane. The tragic and sudden loss of so many innocent lives should put a final point to the armed conflict—or it may put the international conflict over Ukraine on a much higher and more dangerous level.

The UK’s future in Asia extends far beyond China. Going beyond mutually beneficial bilateral relations, the UK is focused on reinforcing a multi-faceted approach encompassing business, security, and values.

Tensions between the presidential candidates will test not only Indonesia’s democratic institutions but also the democratic credentials of its leaders and their followers.