Indonesia has undergone democratization since 1998. Islamic political parties have re-emerged, but they have failed to gain significant support. National politics in Indonesia today are mainly secular. Yet religious values are held in high regard, and religious sentiments are expressed in books, films, fashions, and television programs, among other media. Why has this enthusiasm for religion not yielded a dominant role for Islamism as a political force? The popularity of Islamic political parties has actually declined. Why? What factors have enabled non-religious parties to maintain political prominence while, at the same time, society has become more pious?

Anies Baswedan, currently president of Paramadina University in Jakarta, is a leading intellectual figure in Indonesia. In 2008, the editors of Foreign Policy named him one of the world’s top 100 public intellectuals. As an advisor to the Indonesian government, he is a leading proponent of democracy and transparency in Indonesia, a creative thinker about Islam and democracy, as well as a charismatic leader in the educational field. Anies Baswedan will be on campus in May 2011 through the International Visitors Program sponsored by the Stanford Humanities Center and the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. He was nominated by the Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies.

Co-sponsored by the Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies, the Southeast Asia Forum, and the Stanford Humanities Center

On January 1, 2010, China and the ten-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) finally, formally launched a China-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) that encompasses nearly two billion people engaged in trade worth some $200 billion. For China the agreement is a way of securing supplies of raw materials, while the ASEAN countries hope the agreement will open opportunities in China's huge domestic market. When CAFTA  was first signed in November 2002, Beijing promised that Southeast Asia would reap an “early harvest” of its benefits. Yet the Southeast Asian response to CAFTA in the agreement’s first year has been less than enthusiastic, especially in the Philippines and Indonesia. Is CAFTA a bonanza? A blunder? Something in between? Prof. Mendoza will assess the agreement, its implementation, and the implications for China’s role and image in Southeast Asia going forward.

Amado M. Mendoza, Jr. is a leading policy scholar in the Philippines, where he also serves as the treasurer of Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ESCR) Asia, Inc., an NGO dedicated to the promotion of socio-economic and cultural rights. He is the Philippines’ lead contributor to the soon-to-be-released 2010 Global Integrity Report on governance and corruption. Other subjects of his current research include Asian regional integration; Asian summitry and economic crisis management; Philippine economic diplomacy; and China-Taiwan relations within a regional context. In addition to his academic career, he has a background in journalism, banking, and development.

It takes guts to lead. Technical skill requirements vary across the private, public, and social sectors, but the essentials of good leadership needed to move any organization forward are the same. In all three sectors, Gita Wirjawan has exercised leadership and achieved results. Based on his knowledge and experience, he will offer advice on how to survive and be effective in one, two, or all three of these dynamic environments--how to succeed wherever your passion takes you.

Gita Wirjawan has been closely and causally linked to Indonesia's rising profile as a dynamic emerging-market economy. As head of his country's Investment Coordinating Board since 2009, he has traveled the world stimulating capital inflows. At home he has worked to improve the policy climate for productive investment. His efforts have contributed to boosting Indonesia's ratings as a place to invest and its current six-percent annual rate of economic growth. His own career in business has included founding and managing a successful private equity fund, Ancora Capital, and serving as a former lead executive in the Indonesian affiliates of JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs. In the social sector he has championed education through his Ancora Foundation, whose grants have enabled talented young Indonesians to study at the world's leading universities. A graduate of Harvard's JFK School of Government, he is a classically trained pianist and a jazz buff proficient on several instruments. Another company he founded, Omega Pacific, has produced more than a dozen albums by young Indonesian musicians.

This event is co-sponsored with the Stanford Graduate School of Business, Center for Global Business and the Economy