Bama Andika Putra’s research while affiliated with University of Bristol and other places

One of the lingering environmental issues faced in Southeast Asia is transboundary haze due to peatland fires. The issue is primarily evident in the Southern sub-region of ASEAN but affects the entirety of the Southeast Asian region. Recent spikes in haze since 2023 and ASEAN’s inability to adopt enforcing pronouncements and mediate the political ‘blame game’ between ASEAN member states lays the foundation for alternative approaches to curtail the environmental crisis. This empirical explanatory study utilizes primary and secondary data between 2014 and 2024 relevant to the political dynamics of haze pollution regulation in Southeast Asia. It is recommended that an ASEAN code of conduct be introduced to elevate the importance of transboundary haze regulations in Southeast Asia. A moderate level of its implementation grants ASEAN member states the freedom to determine the time period and form of domestic regulations to be practiced. In ensuring greater stakeholder accountability and participation, it is also recommended that ASEAN member states provide incentives for private entities adopting sustainable management practices of peatlands and sanction stakeholders who display non-compliance.

Digital activism in Southeast Asia is on the rise. The Milk Tea Alliance, known as a collaboration of netizens voicing human rights concerns in Asia, has now reached the citizens of Southeast Asian autocratic regimes, including Myanmar. Having faced decades of human rights oppression and undemocratic rule, the Milk Tea Alliance of Myanmar has been vocal in disseminating the post-2021 military coup domestic situation and reimagining what a democratic Myanmar would consist of in the future. This perspective article argues the significance of digital activism for Myanmar by tracing what the existing literature misses in assessing this phenomenon and the nexus between Myanmar’s Milk Tea Alliance and the prospects of change in the state’s democratic landscape. Taking into consideration the development of digital activism in Myanmar between 2020 and 2024 and adopting the theoretical frameworks of “legislative opportunism” and “liberation technology,” this study concludes several possibilities: (1) the massive following of Myanmar’s Milk Tea Alliance could establish the foundations for offline movements mimicking the Arab Spring; (2) the harnessing of democratic thoughts among citizens; and (3) changes from within are feasible through digital activism compared to externally imposed actions such as through the regional organization of Southeast Asia, ASEAN.

The presence of a mining company in an area affects the living conditions of the surrounding community from an environmental, social, and economic perspective. This research aims to contribute to the literature on social perceptions concerning mining company operations by assessing the local societies’ rate of rejection or acceptance of a mining company’s extension of operating permit, along with reasons that justify the decision. We conducted semi-structured interviews with seven interest groups in four sub-districts in East Luwu Regency, comprising 79 participants. This research uses a combination of quantitative data collection and in-depth qualitative interviews to strengthen the sources’ reasons for providing answers. The results show a high rejection rate expressed by communities living in the sub-districts where mining companies operate, alongside a strong preference for extending operating permits for sites that are of greater distance to the smelters. If the business permit is ultimately transferred to the existing company, it may exacerbate community tensions and resistance. In that case, the local community wants several priority improvements, namely, increasing the number of workers working in the factory, further boosting economic growth and empowerment programs carried out in affected areas, and improving post-mining environmental management. Therefore, this study contributes to the discourse of local community perceptions in mining areas, which may affect mining operations in the future.

Why do states respond non-coercively in the face of crisis? Existing scholarship within international relations has stagnated in its conclusions regarding understanding this occurrence. This perspective article attempts to bridge the self-control theory of social psychology to provide a more nuanced understanding of why states self-refrain themselves from taking aggressive retaliatory foreign policies in state-to-state crises. It argues the importance of cognitive-affective units, such as encodings, expectancies, beliefs, goals, values, and self-regulatory plans, as the sociological interpretation of why states are committed to pursuing delayed rewards. It builds upon existing sociological theories adopted in international relations scholarship, such as state identities and role conceptions, and further considers the social psychology variables detrimental in self-control theories, and argues for its relevance to decompose the ability of a state to prioritize delayed gratification over immediate awards in tensions faced.

Despite the rapid development of AI, ASEAN has not been able to devise a regional governance framework to address relevant existing and future challenges. This is concerning, considering the potential of AI to accelerate GDP among ASEAN member states in the coming years. This qualitative inquiry discusses AI governance in Southeast Asia in the past 5 years and what regulatory policies ASEAN can explore to better modulate its use among its member states. It considers the unique political landscape of the region, defined by the adoption of unique norms such as non-interference and priority over dialog, commonly termed the ASEAN Way. The following measures are concluded as potential regional governance frameworks: (1) Elevation of the topic’s importance in ASEAN’s intra and inter-regional forums to formulate collective regional agreements on AI, (2) adoption of AI governance measures in the field of education, specifically, reskilling and upskilling strategies to respond to future transformation of the working landscape, and (3) establishment of an ASEAN working group to bridge knowledge gaps among member states, caused by the disparity of AI-readiness in the region.

One of the prominent mining companies in Indonesia, PT Vale, have invested in vast corporate social responsibility programs in the fields of environment protection, social livelihood, employment, and economic resilience towards locals in mining areas. However, a common perception held among stakeholders have concluded that PT Vale could display greater care for its social programs, which would incorporate the interests of the community. Utilizing contemporary studies on stakeholder theory, this research provides insights of the mining industry, which have been expressed by vast stakeholders including government and Non-Government Organizations, in relation to aspects to consider before granting mining business licenses in the future. In doing so, it compares social programs between the current mining company (PT Vale) and the past (PT Inco), and determines what practices were favored by interest groups. After the distribution of questionnaires to four mine-affect areas in East Luwu Regency, Indonesia, government elites, community leaders, women figures, indigenous people, fishermen, local contractors and PT Vale employees perceived that in 2023, PT Vale have shown great progress in social, environmental management, and economic conditions compared to past mining companies. However, it founds that locals perceive a major deficiency, which is the low rate of local worker absorptions. This study contributes to the discourse of corporate social responsibility, and reveals community perceptions towards mining companies in affected areas.

The importance of safeguarding Malaysia’s Kasawari gas field in the South China Sea has reoriented Malaysia’s maritime diplomatic strategies vis-à-vis China’s growing assertiveness in this semi-enclosed sea. China’s increased sea infringements through its coast guards and maritime constabulary forces have led Malaysia to adopt what this article coins as “triadic maritime diplomacy,” a combination of coercive, persuasive, and co-operative maritime diplomacy. Malaysia’s maritime diplomatic strategies thus act more as a set of contradictory policies rather than a decisive attempt to defend Malaysia’s sovereignty at sea. This article engages in qualitative inquiry to address two central empirical questions: Firstly, how has Malaysia managed the delicate balance between safeguarding its sovereignty at sea and maintaining close economic ties with China? Secondly, what accounts for Malaysia’s persistent “downplaying” stance despite the escalating intrusions around the Luconia Shoals, particularly concerning the Kasawari gas field? The findings of this study reveal three key aspects: Firstly, Malaysia’s prioritization of developing the Kasawari gas field has necessitated the adoption of seemingly contradictory policies, employing coercive maritime measures utilizing its naval assets while simultaneously adopting rhetoric that downplays crises. Secondly, Malaysia’s maritime diplomacy can be aptly characterized as “triadic” strategies, encompassing the adoption of coercive, persuasive, and co-operative approaches. Lastly, these seemingly inconsistent policies are a strategic response aimed at accommodating both immediate and prospective economic opportunities involving China, all while signaling its nonaligned stance to major global powers.

Studies in maritime diplomacy have treated the development of oil and gas explorations in the South China Sea as taken-for-granted events. On the contrary, this study argues that assessing the maritime diplomatic properties inherent in energy reserve explorations can reveal unique insights, motivations, and significance of maritime diplomatic events. It assesses Malaysia's oil and gas explorations in the Luconia Shoals, informed by the analytical framework of Le Mière's maritime diplomatic properties. Utilizing secondary data from the Asian Maritime Transparency Initiative between 2020 and 2023 related to Malaysia's oil and gas project developments in the Luconia Shoals, this article concludes that the maritime diplomatic events consist of the following characteristics: (1) pre-emptive and sustainment, underlining Malaysia's long-term plan of fulfilling the growing domestic energy demand, (2) explicitness of the messages transmitted to Chinese officials in order to repel any possibilities of adversaries misconstruing Malaysia's actions at sea, and (3) moderate kinetic effect due to the lethal weaponry at the disposal of the hard power assets deployed to handle occurring crisis. Evaluation of Malaysia's maritime diplomatic properties also reveals two worrying conclusions: (1) the existence of reactive events, which can cause disruptions at sea due to the lack of planning related to the actions taken by the Royal Malaysian Navy, and (2) asymmetrical power relations between China and Malaysia, predicted to cause China to continue its power projections at sea and aggravate Malaysian policymakers.