In mid-October 2018, Vietnam scholar Carlyle A. Thayer reported that Vietnam quietly cancelled fifteen defence engagement activities with the United States scheduled for 2019 involving army, navy and air force exchanges. Given the robust strategic rapprochement between the two countries in recent years, despite the uncertainty generated by the Trump administration, Vietnam’s decision raised questions. What accounted for this sudden change in Vietnam’s attitude?
Dr Sarah Tiffin spoke at a Politics of Arts in Southeast Asia seminar on the depictions of the ruins of Java by British artists. In particular, the seminar examined the illustrations of ruined Hindu and Buddhist candis which appeared in the book by Sir Stamford Raffles, The History of Java (1817), and how the depiction and production of these illustrations reveal his aspirations for British imperial rule in the region.
“Islamist Mobilization and Cryptic Campaigning in Indonesia” by Quinton Temby