Suchergebnisse

Peace negotiations between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) have resulted in the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) ultimately ending a three-decade-long struggle for independence. Through a historical comparative analysis, this article explores the changing nature of Acehnese nationalism. It explores how Acehnese ethnicity and nationalism are constructed and how they have transformed over the decades in conflict with the Indonesian government. Acehnese ethnicity and nationalism, which are political in nature and ethnic in character, have ideologically shifted throughout time. Historical junctures and myths were utilised to legitimise these changing ideological goals. Despite the transformation of Acehnese nationalism and consequent changes in its ideological basis, a strong Acehnese identity still remains a constant. Adapted from the source document.

Indonesia's first ever direct presidential election marked another phase in the country's transition to democracy. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (known as SBY) was elected as Indonesia's sixth president. Despite claiming an overwhelming electoral triumph, the president is supported by medium-sized parties whereas the electorate had voted for the larger and more established parties in the 2004 parliamentary election. These parties have vowed to pose as ''an extra-critical balance'' to the president's leadership. Thus, whilst the President won the election, the battle in parliament (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat, DPR) had just begun.

Peace negotiations are shaped not only by the agents of conflict, but also by the structures in which they interact. From a comparative perspective, this article examines how both structural and agential factors have influenced the trajectory of the peace processes in Aceh and in Thailand's southern border provinces.

This article assesses the knowledge of, attitudes towards, and aspirations for ASEAN among Thai university students, who are set to enter the ASEAN Community labour market and are among those most in touch with ASEAN issues. It uses data obtained from a countrywide survey and focus group discussions to identify variables that affect knowledge, attitudes, and aspirations and to explore the relationships between knowledge, attitudes, and aspirations. The quantitative analysis conducted here uses students' fields of study, academic performance, and exposure to both ASEAN-related courses and also information and discussions about ASEAN in the mass media and public forums as predictors of their level of knowledge about ASEAN. The paper's results confirm that positive attitudes towards ASEAN lead to positive aspirations for ASEAN. They also reveal that significant knowledge about ASEAN cannot, in isolation, adequately explain students' attitudes towards ASEAN and does not always lead to positive attitudes. These findings and those obtained from the focus group discussions suggest that a high level of knowledge and understanding of fellow ASEAN member countries and their people – whether attained through formal or informal education or social interaction – is needed for students to develop positive attitudes and become aspiring members of the ASEAN Community.

In 2014, almost 190 million Indonesian voters participated in the legislative elections in April followed by the presidential elections in July. While Indonesia has arguably made a smooth transition from authoritarianism to democracy since the downfall of Suharto in 1998, many were concerned that the process was in danger of being reversed as the election was a tight race between two stark choices: the former general Prabowo Subianto, who has indicated a preference for a strong presidency and Joko Widodo (Jokowi), governor of Jakarta who had been commended for a series of governance reforms. Though Jokowi eventually emerged as victorious, many challenges lay ahead, most notably political corruption. [Copyright Elsevier Ltd.]