South-East Asia is crying out for regional leadership
Joko Widodo, Indonesia’s president, is unlikely to provide it
Last november, as the war in Ukraine raged, there were fears that the G20 summit in Bali would be ruined by no-shows and walkouts. But the talkfest was a modest success. China’s leader Xi Jinping met Joe Biden for the first time in person since he had become America’s president. The 20-member club issued a joint statement (the most debated paragraph, about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, declared that most members condemned the war). Can Indonesia work the same magic as the new chair of the ten-member Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN)?
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This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “South-East Asia’s leadership deficit”
From the March 4th 2023 edition
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