Sandra Hamid

The year is still young, but our country representatives are looking ahead to the trends and developments that will affect the course of peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific in 2022.

From a pandemic that quickly swept the globe, to the storming of the U.S. capital, 2020 was a year that defied prediction. So, what can we say about 2021? After a year that derailed development trajectories across Asia, our experts look to the year ahead.

Australian National University’s Development Policy Centre blog co-publishes an analysis with The Asia Foundation on the increase of domestic violence due to shelter-in-place policies and what needs to be done to protect women’s safety. Unintended consequences of policy responses are only ‘unintended’ when no-one could have foreseen them. The incre… Read more

Happy New Year, and welcome to the first edition of InAsia for 2020. To herald the new decade, our country representatives this week survey the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for a dynamic and rapidly changing Asia. Here, to kick off the new year, are perspectives from The Asia Foundation’s 18 country offices. 

Friday, October 10, 2019. Mingling with the roar of airplanes, Azan, the call to prayer, pours forth from the Jami’ Al Akbar Mosque at the Yogyakarta International Airport complex. Amidst the congregation of Friday worshippers, Bahrul Fuad sits quietly in his wheelchair. Until recently, a scene like this was almost impossible to imagine: Bahrul’s w… Read more

On April 17, Indonesia will hold its sixth democratic election since the Reformasi protests brought down the authoritarian government of President Suharto. On streets thick with election posters, a mix of hope and trepidation fills the air. Development has begun to move faster in this complex archipelago of over 260 million people, particularl… Read more

Happy New Year, and welcome to the first edition of InAsia for 2019. In our last issue we looked at some of our top stories from the year just ended, stories that chronicled the successes and failures, the triumphs, and the tribulations of 2018 through the eyes of our experts in Asia. This week, we invite you to look ahead with us to a still-young… Read more

The stunning, 2017 electoral defeat of Jakarta’s popular, non-Muslim governor, and his subsequent imprisonment for blasphemy, caught most Indonesians off guard. Indonesia was built on the premise of pluralism, writes Asia Foundation country director Sandra Hamid, and appeals to Islam had been largely ineffective in past elections. But as politician… Read more