ASEAN in Focus 2023

Managing Political Crisis in ASEAN

Thursday 24 August 2023, 3:00-5:30pm AEST

In person and livestreamed on Facebook

Social Sciences Building (A02) Room 650, University of Sydney

 Sydney Southeast Asia Centre

The Sydney Southeast Asia Centre is forging Australia’s

relationship with one of the world’s fastest growing regions
by educating students and building new partnerships with
academics and governments based on research excellence.

With more than 400 academics across all faculties and

schools at the University of Sydney working on and in
Southeast Asia, the University of Sydney has one of the
highest concentrations of regional expertise in the world.
Managing Political Crisis in ASEAN
The question of how to navigate political crisis remains at the core of ASEAN
diplomacy and manifests itself vis-à-vis internal conflict in member-states or
geopolitical tensions between global powers. While non-alignment has been a
core principle for ASEAN, mounting internal and external pressures are calling for
new and more forceful directions in navigating political crises in the region. The
situation in Myanmar has already prompted ASEAN to forge an exceptional
deviation from its non-interference principle, when ASEAN leaders agreed to the
Five-Point Consensus on Myanmar in 2021. Moreover, now more than ever, it
seems that ASEAN can play a substantive role in channelling diplomatic efforts
between the US and China.

Are there signs that Indonesia, as current chair of ASEAN, can step into this
mediating role? How can ASEAN reach a new modus vivendi while remaining
committed to non-interference? And finally, as the promises of the new Australian
government to increase political attention and economic investment in Southeast
Asia take shape, where does Australia sit in these diplomatic efforts? The ASEAN in
Focus roundtable will engage these questions by bringing together experts on and
from the region.

All videos recorded as part of this event will be made available for public viewing
on our Facebook page and our YouTube channel.

Register here
Program
Time Session Details

3.00pm Welcome and Introductions Prof Sonja van Wichelen

Sydney Southeast Asia Centre
Social Sciences Building (A02) University of Sydney
Room 650

3.10pm Moderated Panel: Dr Avery Poole

Managing Political Crisis in Monash University
ASEAN
Dr Siswo Pramono
Chair: Indonesian Ambassador to
Prof Sonja Van Wichelen Australia

Mr Thomas Soem
Asia Society Australia

4.00pm Discussion and Q&A

4.30- Drinks and refreshments

5.00pm
Dr Avery Poole
School of Politics and International Relations, Monash University

Dr Avery Poole is an Affiliate in the School of Politics and

International Relations at Monash University. Her research
explores topics relating to regional cooperation and policy
coordination, with a focus on Southeast Asia. She has also
published in the areas of East Asian multilateralism and
Australian engagement in the Indo-Pacific region, particularly
in regard to Australia-Indonesia relations.

Avery is the author of Democracy, Rights and Rhetoric in

Southeast Asia (Palgrave, 2018). She has published journal
articles in Contemporary Politics, Democratic Theory and
Contemporary Southeast Asia. She is also the co-editor, with
Professors Sara Bice and Helen Sullivan, of Public Policy in
the ‘Asian Century’: Concepts, Cases and Futures (Palgrave,
2018).

She holds a PhD and a MA from the University of British

Columbia, Canada, and a BA(Hons) and BComm from The
University of Melbourne.

Dr Siswo Pramono
Ambassador of Indonesia to Australia and Vanuatu

Dr. Siswo Pramono, LL.M. is the Ambassador Extraordinary

and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Indonesia to Australia
and the Republic of Vanuatu. Prior to this position, he was
Director General/Head of The Foreign Policy Strategy
Agency, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of
Indonesia.

He attained Ph.D degree from the Australian National

University, and LL.M degree from Monash University,
Australia. Dr. Pramono completed his professional diplomatic
training in the diplomatic schools of Indonesian Foreign
Ministry, Jakarta, and the Clingendael Institute of
International Relations, The Netherlands. As a career
diplomat, he served in various Indonesian diplomatic
missions abroad.

As a scholar, Dr. Pramono is a non-tenured Professor in

various universities, namely Airlangga University, Cendrawasih
University, as well as a fellow at the The Indonesian Institute
of Science (LIPI) and Charles Darwin University, Australia.
Mr Thomas Soem
Asia Society Australia

Thomas Soem is Executive Director, Sydney and head of

business development at Asia Society Australia. He has over
15 years’ experience working on Australia-Asia relations in the
non-for-profit, think-tank and international higher education
sectors.

Prior to Asia Society, Thomas held several senior roles at the

University of Sydney, most recently as the Head of
International Research and Development in the DVC
(Research) Portfolio. In this role, he managed international
research and development projects for the University and
gave strategic advice on international funding opportunities
and global partnerships in Asia. Thomas also worked as
International Programs Manager at the Research Institute for
Asia and the Pacific, leading the institute’s executive
education program with China.

Thomas is a graduate from the University of Oslo, Norway and

the University of Sydney where he studied political science
and international relations with particular focus on
multilateral cooperation and regional integration in Asia.

Professor Sonja van Wichelen

Sydney Southeast Asia Centre, University of Sydney

Professor Sonja van Wichelen is Deputy Director of the

Sydney Southeast Asia Centre and Professor of Anthropology
and Sociology in the School of Social and Political Sciences.
Her research takes place on the cross-disciplinary node of
law, life, and science in a globalizing world. At the moment
she is working on the postcolonial politics of bioscience
governance in Southeast Asia, with a particular focus on
Indonesia.

Sonja received numerous fellowships, including a DECRA

from the Australian Research Council, a SOAR Prize from the
University of Sydney, a Rubicon Fellowship from the Dutch
Research Council, and a Membership with the Institute for
Advanced Study in Princeton. Before moving to Australia,
Sonja lived in the Netherlands, Indonesia, Singapore, and the
United States.
Sydney Southeast Asia Centre
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