How has Iran become the most serious foreign policy issue in Indonesian politics? Since democracy was restored to Indonesia in 1999, governments there have had to balance public demands for a strong, independent foreign policy against the reality that the economic and political crises of the past decade have limited Jakarta's influence in global politics. Earlier in this period, presidents and foreign ministers faced little more than sporadic challenges over issues that stood little chance of affecting Indonesian foreign policy beyond Southeast Asia. More recently, however, Iran has actively courted Indonesian legislative and civil society leaders, and they, in turn, have pressed their government to oppose international efforts to curb Tehran's nuclear programs. They sharply criticized the Yudhoyono government for failing to oppose a motion in the International Atomic Energy Agency to refer Iran to the UN Security Council in 2006. This year they triggered a heated debate by opposing the government's decision to join a unanimous Security Council vote that broadened sanctions on Iran. Prof. Malley will examine these trends and assess their implications for Indonesian foreign policy and international security.

Michael Malley teaches comparative and Southeast Asian politics at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey. Before joining the School in 2004, he taught at Ohio University. He earned a PhD in political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, an MA in Asian Studies at Cornell University, and a BS at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service.

This is the Southeast Asia Forum's fifth seminar of the 2006-2007 academic year.

At the end of the 1990s, Indonesia seemed on the brink of state collapse and fragmentation. The specter of collapse has subsided. But the country has undergone fragmentation of a less obvious and more incremental sort: a proliferation of sub-national jurisdictions. Since 1999 the number of provinces in Indonesia has increased from 26 to 33 and the number of districts has risen from 290 to nearly 450. In light of the previous and long-standing relative stability in the numbers of provinces and districts, this trend is quite puzzling. What is the source of this newfound territorial reorganization? What are its implications? Ehito Kimura will argue that the fracturing cannot be explained in exclusively national or local terms. He will focus instead on what he calls "vertical coalitions" tied together by political actors moving up and down across national, regional, and local levels.

Ehito Kimura is working on a manuscript based on his doctoral dissertation on the changing political geography of Indonesia. He lived in Indonesia from 2004 to 2005 and in Thailand from 1997 to 1999. His Ph.D is from the Department of Political Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He also has degrees from Georgetown University (BSFS) and Yale University (MA).

This is the Southeast Asia Forum's sixth seminar of the 2006-2007 academic year.

Up-and-coming Stanford entrepreneurs must think and act globally. Critical resources, markets and opportunities are around the world, including the dynamic hotbed of China. Come meet trailblazers breaking ground in China. Hear how they got started, challenges they are wrestling with right now, their outlook for entrepreneurs in China, and their best advice. Then, take the opportunity to meet in break out groups with each leader for informal discussion, followed by a Chinese appetizers and networking.

This event, co-sponsored by the Asia-Pacific Student Entrepreneurship Society (ASES), is open to students, the Stanford community and the general public and is part of Entrepreneurship Week at Stanford University. Full details on panelists are below.

Throughout the week of February 24 - March 3, communities around the country will be celebrating EntrepreneurshipWeek USA, as designated by the U.S. House of Representatives, and Stanford will be no exception. In fact, the national organizers will be launching the national program from Stanford on February 24 during the opening ceremony. The theme of the week is "What is Your Big Idea?"

Stanford University has big plans for the week. Events hosted by entrepreneurship groups across campus will enable you to network with entrepreneurial students, venture capitalists (VCs), entrepreneurs and others; hear thought leaders, and share stimulating ideas. All events are free and most are open to the public.

You can see the entire Entrepreneurship Week agenda at eweek.stanford.edu, including information about the Innovation Challenge for student teams.

Featured panelists for "Global Entrepreneurship: Stanford Trailblazers in China":

• Jack Hong: Principal and Founder of SN38, an incubation fund focusing on social-networking startups in China and the US. Prior to SN38, Hong was VP of Information Technologies at SINA Corporation (NASDAQ:SINA), heading SINA's enterprise IS infrastructure development in Beijing. Hong co-founded the Chinese-language portal SINANET.com in 1995 with fellow students while a PhD candidate at Stanford, and held the title of CTO until it merged with Beijing SRS International to form SINA in 1999.
• Derek Ling: A serial entrepreneur with strong corporate background focused primarily in the IT and Internet industries. Ling is the founder and CEO of Tianji.com, the leading social networking service for professionals in China. Prior to starting up Tianji.com, Ling held senior management positions at Motorola, Apple Computer (Director of Business Development for Greater China) and SINA.com (Vice President); in 1999 he co-founded the Beijing-based startup Qzone.com, a youth entertainment community in China revolving around homepage and music.
• Min Zhu: Co-Founder of WebEx Communications, Inc., a NASDAQ-listed company with 2006 revenues over $400 million; after co-founding the company in 1996 he served as President and CTO before being named "Chief WebEx" in 2004; Zhu is a Venture Partner in New Enterprise Associates (NEA), a leading venture capital firm. He serves on a number of Silicon Valley boards and is an advisor for the San Jose Municipal Government. In 2005 he founded Cybernaut, a Hangzhou-based company that aims to create a platform to support real-time multimedia communication applications and services.