October 21, 2026, 9:01 am
AIIA ACT invites you to join us for a presentation by Dr Greg Fealy, Emeritus Professor of Indonesian Politics in the Department of Political and Social Change at The Australian National University.
Prabowo Subianto is now in the second year of his five-year presidency and assessments of his effectiveness vary widely. Diplomatically, he has been the most active and ambitious president since Sukarno, enthusiastically embracing a broad array of bilateral and multilateral relationships while proclaiming commitment to Indonesia’s traditional non-alignment.
Despite tight budget constraints he is determined to lift dramatically the capability of the Armed Forces to give Indonesia greater strategic heft. He has also set about re-centralising Indonesian politics, undermining the devolved system of government that has been a hallmark of Reformasi. In the process he has greatly expanding the role of former and serving military officers in the bureaucracy, state-owned enterprises and the private sector.
Prabowo has asserted his dominance by frequently making major policy decisions with little consultation and often scant preparation. Initiatives such as his massive ‘nutritious free meals’ program and his Red and White Village Cooperatives scheme are off to troubled starts and have led many commentators to question the soundness of his decision making. Nonetheless, Prabowo remains in a politically strong position and his presidency is shaping as one that will bring significant change to Indonesia’s governance and strategic role.
Content Creator – Australian Institute of International Affairs
