OUR EVENTS

Month
Filtering by: “Politics”
Lee Kuan Yew Goes Global?
Oct
9

Lee Kuan Yew Goes Global?

  • University of Michigan – Weiser Hall 110 (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

Join the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at the University of Michigan for a talk by Say Jye Quah, Klarman Postdoctoral Fellow at Cornell University. This lecture explores the contradictions of Lee’s global legacy, situating his political thought, movements, and interventions within international trends.  In this approach, his “original sin” is no longer the detention without trial, but his role in legitimizing the Vietnam War.

View Event →
Redistribution Without Institutional Reform: The Political Economy of Ethnic Wealth Redistribution in Malaysia, 1970–2024
Oct
11

Redistribution Without Institutional Reform: The Political Economy of Ethnic Wealth Redistribution in Malaysia, 1970–2024

  • ISEAS - Yusof Ishak Institute – Seminar Room 2 (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

Join the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute for a talk by Dr. Edmund Terence Gomez, Professor Emeritus of Political Economy at the Faculty of Business & Economics, Universiti Malaya. Dr. Gomez will discuss the political economy of ethnic wealth distribution in Malaysia from 1970 to 2024, including the interplay between state institutions, corporate ownership, and market access.

View Event →
Performing Vulnerability: Risking Art and Life in the Burmese Diaspora
Oct
14

Performing Vulnerability: Risking Art and Life in the Burmese Diaspora

  • New York University – 20 Cooper Square, 4th floor (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

Join the NYU Department of Social and Cultural Analysis and the Asian/Pacific/American Institute at NYU for a talk by Dr. Emily Hue, associate professor of Ethnic studies at the University of California, Riverside. Dr. Hue will discuss her recent book on how diasporic Burmese artists navigate the intricate intersections of art, politics, and humanitarianism. Dr. Linda Luu, an interdisciplinary scholar of US empire, race, and therapeutic culture, will moderate the discussion.

View Event →
Southeast Asia Between China, the United States, and a Changing Global Order
Oct
14

Southeast Asia Between China, the United States, and a Changing Global Order

Join the Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI) for a panel exploring how Southeast Asia can navigate intensifying U.S.–China competition while advancing its own economic and strategic priorities. Speakers include Gita Wirjawan, former Indonesian Minister of Trade and Honorary Senior Fellow at the Center for China Analysis (CCA), and Amb. Craig Allen, former U.S. Ambassador to Brunei Darussalam and Non-Resident Senior Fellow at CCA. Kevin Zongzhe Li, Fellow at CCA, will moderate the discussion.

View Event →
Environmental Crisis in Southeast Asia: Politics, Misrule, and Resistance
Oct
22
to Oct 23

Environmental Crisis in Southeast Asia: Politics, Misrule, and Resistance

  • NYU Wagner – Main Event Space, Room 101 (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

Join NYSEAN for a conference that brings together scholars and practitioners to examine the politics of the environmental crisis across Southeast Asia—a region where socio-ecological ruptures are not aberrations but products of longstanding structures of extraction and governance failure.

Speakers include: Naser al Haq, Ward Berenschot, Art Blundell, Pai Deetes, Jessica DiCarlo, Brian Eyler, John Gershman, Erik Harms, Thuy Ho, Sidney Jones, Gwen Latoza, Yifei Li, Munawar Liza, Danny Marks, Dian Patria, Natchaya Pichetsatha, Frances Seymour, Jewellord “Jojo” Nem Singh, Dewi Suralaga, Eve Warburton, Piyaporn Wongruang, and Kevin Woods

View Event →

Expectations and Emerging Structures: Perspectives from Myanmar’s Central Dry Zone
Oct
1

Expectations and Emerging Structures: Perspectives from Myanmar’s Central Dry Zone

Join the Stimson Center for a talk by Tay Zar Myo Win, PhD candidate at Deakin University, and Tint Zaw Hein, Chancellor of Let Pen Community College. Together, they will discuss local perspectives from Myanmar’s Central Dry Zone on the resistance, suffering, and emerging governance structures in the region following the coup.

View Event →
From Demographic Leverage to Democratic Voice: Youth Mobilization and the Future of Philippine Politics
Sep
29

From Demographic Leverage to Democratic Voice: Youth Mobilization and the Future of Philippine Politics

  • ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute – Seminar Room 2 (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

Join the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute for a panel on the potential for engaging the youth in order to promote democratic renewal and resilience in Philippine politics. Speakers include Dr. Elma Laguna, Professor at the University of the Philippines Population Institute; Francis “Kiko” Aquino Dee, Executive Director of the Ninoy and Cory Aquino Foundation, and Rafaela “Paeng” David, President of the Akbayan Citizens’ Action Party.

View Event →
Governing from the Margins: The Philippine Vice Presidency and the Road to City Hall
Sep
28

Governing from the Margins: The Philippine Vice Presidency and the Road to City Hall

  • ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute – Seminar Room 2 (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

Join the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute for a talk by Atty. Leni Robredo, the 14th Vice President of the Philippines, serving from 2016 to 2022 and current mayor of Naga City in the province of Camarines Sur. Dr. Aries Arugay, Visiting Senior Fellow and the Coordinator of the Philippines Studies Programme at ISEAS, will moderate the discussion.

View Event →
Engineered Distrust: How Authoritarian Regimes Fragment and Weaken Pro-Democracy Movements from Within
Sep
18

Engineered Distrust: How Authoritarian Regimes Fragment and Weaken Pro-Democracy Movements from Within

  • Northern Illinois University – Peters Campus Life Building, Room 100 (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

Join the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at Northern Illinois University for a talk by Dr. Mai Truong, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Marquette University. Dr. Truong’s research examines the interaction between movements, states, and publics in authoritarian regimes, namely in Vietnam and Malaysia.

View Event →
Indonesia Update: Islamic Diversity in Indonesia
Sep
17
to Sep 19

Indonesia Update: Islamic Diversity in Indonesia

  • Australian National University – Coombs Lecture Theatre (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

Join the Indonesia Project and the Department of Political and Social Change at the Australian National University for the 2026 Indonesian Update Conference, which explores Islamic diversity in Indonesia, examining the diversity, complexity and changing role of Islam in contemporary Indonesian society. Keynote speakers include Greg Fealy, Alwi Shihab, Nava Nuraniyah, Jenny Gordon, and Firman Witoelar Kartaadipoetra.

View Event →
Weight of Sentences: Political Prosecutions in Thailand Since 2020
Sep
17

Weight of Sentences: Political Prosecutions in Thailand Since 2020

  • 210 Bogart Street Brooklyn, New York, 11206 United States (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

Join Engage Thailand and 112WATCH for a typographic poster exhibition and fundraiser regarding political prosecutions in Thailand since 2020. This event features a thought-provoking art exhibit and a fireside chat with Pavin Chachavalpongpun on the state of political prosecutions in Thailand in the aftermath of the 2020 pro-democracy mass movement.

View Event →
Five Years after the Youth Protests: The Thai Monarchy Strikes Back
Sep
15

Five Years after the Youth Protests: The Thai Monarchy Strikes Back

  • NYU Wagner – Mulberry Conference Room, 2nd Floor (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

Join NYSEAN and the Master’s Program in International Relations at NYU for a talk by Pavin Chachavalpongpun, professor at the Centre for Southeast Asian Studies at Kyoto University. He will discuss the Thai monarchy’s strategic response to the 2020 youth-led protests that called for reforms to the royal family’s place in national life.

View Event →
Making Orders in Contestation: Civil War and Online Scams in Myanmar’s Borderlands
Sep
14

Making Orders in Contestation: Civil War and Online Scams in Myanmar’s Borderlands

  • NYU Wagner – Lafayette Conference Room, 2nd Floor (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

Join NYSEAN and the Master’s Program in International Relations at NYU for a talk by Kota Watanabe, Visiting Scholar at the NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. Dr. Watanabe will discuss the shaping of local orders behind the civil war and the expansion of online scamming in the borderlands of Myanmar.

View Event →
Understanding Malaysia’s Public Administration and Elite Appointments
Sep
9

Understanding Malaysia’s Public Administration and Elite Appointments

Join the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute for a talk by Chan Xin Ying, PhD candidate in Political Science at the National University of Singapore, and Ooi Kok Hin, Visiting Fellow with the Malaysia Studies Programme at the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute. The speakers will explore the dynamics of Malaysia’s federal public administration by comparing Malaysia’s two Pakatan Harapan-led administrations: the Mahathir Mohamad government of 2018–2020 and Anwar Ibrahim’s Unity Government from 2022.

View Event →
Challenges Confronting Philippine Democracy
Sep
9

Challenges Confronting Philippine Democracy

Join Sulo: The Philippine Studies Initiative at NYU; NYSEAN; and Team Pinas for fireside chats on China’s role in the West Philippine Sea and Duterte’s War on Drugs and impeachment. Panelists include Dr. Gary Ador Dionisio, Carlo Flores, Dr. Ederson Tapia, Dr. Sherwin Ona, Professor Richard Heydarian, Atty. Dino De Leon, Prof. Cleve Arguelles, and Professor Sofonias Gabonada.

View Event →
Does She Lift as She Climbs? Female Mayors and Women’s Representation in District Legislatures in Indonesia
Jun
1
to Jun 2

Does She Lift as She Climbs? Female Mayors and Women’s Representation in District Legislatures in Indonesia

  • ANU Crawford School of Public Policy – Miller Theater (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

Join the Indonesia Project at the Australia National University (ANU) for a talk by Dr. Nurina Merdikawati, Lecturer at the Indonesia Project, Crawford School of Public Policy, ANU. This seminar will examine whether electing female mayors increases women’s representation in district legislatures in Indonesia.

View Event →
Authoritarianism and Intellectual Freedom: Lessons from Southeast Asia
May
28

Authoritarianism and Intellectual Freedom: Lessons from Southeast Asia

At the AIFIS-MSU Conference on Indonesian Studies, join NYSEAN and SEACAF for a roundtable that will explore the relationship between authoritarianism and threats to academic and intellectual freedom in a way that puts attacks on higher education in the United States in conversation with Southeast Asia. The Roundtable includes the following scholars: Bencharat Sae Chua of the Institute of Human Rights and Peace Studies at Mahidol University in Thailand; Herlambang Wiratraman of the Research Center of Law and Social Justice at Universitas Gadjah Mada in Indonesia; Sol Iglesias of the University of the Philippines-Diliman’s Political Science Department in the Philippines, Sidney Jones of NYSEAN and New York University’s International Affairs Program, and Rianne Subijanto of Baruch College, City University of New York. Margaret Scott, a founder of NYSEAN and a journalist with the New York Review of Books, will chair.

View Event →
Vietnam-U.S. Reconciliation: Addressing the Humanitarian Consequences of War
May
12

Vietnam-U.S. Reconciliation: Addressing the Humanitarian Consequences of War

Join the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute for a webinar by Alex-Thái Đình Võ, Research Assistant Professor at the Vietnam Center, Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive at Texas Tech University, and Phan Xuân Dũng, Senior Research Officer at ISEAS and PhD candidate at the Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs, Australian National University. They will explore U.S. government–supported initiatives that are part of the process of Vietnam–U.S. reconciliation: the Vietnam Wartime Accounting Initiative, which supports the search for Vietnamese wartime missing persons, and programs assisting people with disabilities linked to Agent Orange/dioxin exposure.

View Event →
Democracy Under ‘Green’ Extraction: Comparative Lessons From Indonesia
May
12

Democracy Under ‘Green’ Extraction: Comparative Lessons From Indonesia

  • NYU Wagner – Lafayette Conference Room, 2nd Floor (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

Join NYSEAN for a talk by Dr. Eve Warburton, visiting fellow at NYU Wagner and research fellow at the Department of Political and Social Change at Australian National University. Dr. Warburton will discuss how Indonesia's declining democracy, weak state capacity, and state-business entanglements, created an ideal environment for fast-paced upstream extraction and large-scale downstream foreign investment.

View Event →
It Takes a Village Election: Turnover and Performance in Local Bureaucracies
May
11
to May 12

It Takes a Village Election: Turnover and Performance in Local Bureaucracies

  • ANU Crawford School of Public Policy – Miller Theater (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

Join the Indonesia Project at Australian National University for a talk by Masyhur Hilmy, Lecturer at the School of Economics, University of New South Wales–Sidney. Professor Hilmy will discuss how leadership changes affect local bureaucratic performance in Indonesia.

View Event →
East Malaysia and the Federal Government: Sharing Natural Resources
May
5

East Malaysia and the Federal Government: Sharing Natural Resources

Join the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute’s Malaysia Studies Program for a talk by Amalina Anuar, Senior Director at FMT Business and Visiting Fellow at ISEAS, and Dr. Jason Chuah, Professor of Commercial and Maritime Law, City University London. They will analyze the contentious resource-sharing between East Malaysia and the federal government along with the potential implications of the Petronas-Petros case heading to the Federal Court.

View Event →
Nguyễn Modern: Imperial Vietnam and its Multicultural Futures
Apr
30

Nguyễn Modern: Imperial Vietnam and its Multicultural Futures

Join the Southeast Asia Program at Cornell University for a talk by Dr. Bradley Camp Davis, Professor of History at Eastern Connecticut State University, who will discuss reforms to the administration of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and its parallels with the imperial Vietnamese state.

View Event →
Disinformation and Influence Operations on South China Sea Issues in the Philippines
Apr
29

Disinformation and Influence Operations on South China Sea Issues in the Philippines

Join the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute for a webinar that brings together journalists and researchers to examine the nature, mechanisms, and impact of disinformation and influence operations related to the South China Sea. Speakers include Janina Santos, Analyst for Doublethink Lab; Giano Libot, former journalist, and Regine Cabato, an independent journalist.

View Event →
Imagining Borders: Nationality, Mobility and Belonging
Apr
29

Imagining Borders: Nationality, Mobility and Belonging

Join the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (UH Mānoa) for a webinar exploring how Southeast Asian borderlands live, negotiate, and challenge national boundaries. Speakers include Gading Gumilang Putra, National Information Advocacy Officer, Jesuit Refugee Services Indonesia; Lian Bawi Thang, Political Science PhD Candidate, UH Mānoa, and Prista Ratanapruck, Chiangmai University in Thailand and Singapore University of Social Science, Singapore. Ariel Mota Alves, Political Science PhD Candidate at UH Mānoa, will moderate the discussion.

View Event →
China’s Strategic Intervention in Post-Coup Myanmar
Apr
28

China’s Strategic Intervention in Post-Coup Myanmar

  • Cornell University – Rockefeller Hall, 374, Asian Studies Lounge (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

Join the Southeast Asia Program at Cornell University for a talk by Visiting Scholar Aung Thura Ko Ko, former research fellow at the Pacific Forum, a U.S. policy think tank based in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi. This talk explores how China’s strategic intervention in post-coup Myanmar presents a complex mix of geopolitical ambition, economic necessity, and security entanglement.

View Event →
A Conversation with Maria Ressa
Apr
20

A Conversation with Maria Ressa

  • NYU Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute, 7th Floor Commons (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

Join the NYU Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute for a conversation with Maria Ressa on journalism in the age of disinformation, AI, and social media, and the growing use of the legal system against journalists and the press. Maria Ressa is the Co-Founder and CEO of Rappler, Professor of Professional Practice at Columbia School of International and Public Affairs, and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate with decades of working experience as a lead investigative reporter.

View Event →
Thailand’s 2026 General Election: Machines Over Movements?
Apr
15
to Apr 16

Thailand’s 2026 General Election: Machines Over Movements?

  • ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, Seminar Room 2 (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

Join the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute for a seminar that examines what the outcomes of the Thai 2026 General Election mean for the political landscape, government formation, coalitional politics, and the democratic trajectory of Thailand. Speakers include Dr. Duncan McCargo, President’s Chair Professor of Global Affairs at Nanyang Technological University and NYSEAN Co-Founder; Dr. Punchada Sirivunnabood, Dean and Professor in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at Mahidol University; Dr. Kanokrat Lertchoosakul, Assistant Professor in the Department of Government, Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University; Dr. Janjira Sombatpoonsiri, Research Fellow at the German Institute for Global and Area Studies and research professor at Chulalongkorn University’s Institute of Asian Studies; Dr. Jacob Ricks, Associate Professor of Political Science at Singapore Management University, and Dr. Napon Jatusripitak, Visiting Fellow and Coordinator of the Thailand Studies Program at ISEAS.

View Event →
State Perspectives: Selangor and Penang in Today’s Malaysia
Apr
13

State Perspectives: Selangor and Penang in Today’s Malaysia

  • ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, Seminar Room 2 (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

Join the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute for a seminar on how Malaysia’s multi-leveled governance structure enables and constrains economic governance and policy innovation. Speakers include YB Tuan Dr. Mohammad Fahmi Bin Ngah, State Assemblyman for Seri Setia, and YB Encik Zairil Khir Johari, State Assemblyman for Tanjong Bunga (Penang).

View Event →
Toward Decolonizing Research on Digital Authoritarianism: Reflections from Studying Big Tech-mediated Politics in Southeast Asia
Apr
10

Toward Decolonizing Research on Digital Authoritarianism: Reflections from Studying Big Tech-mediated Politics in Southeast Asia

  • Northern Illinois University – Peters Campus Life Building, 100 (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

Join the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at Northern Illinois University for a talk by Dr. Mai Van Tran, Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science. Dr. Tran will examine the extent to which pro-democracy platform advocacy might affect Big Tech’s practices and curb platform-mediated repression in Southeast Asia, with a focus on Myanmar, Thailand, and Cambodia.

View Event →
Brown Bag Roundtable: Gen-Z and Resisting Authoritarianism in Burma
Apr
9

Brown Bag Roundtable: Gen-Z and Resisting Authoritarianism in Burma

  • New York University – 19 University Place, Great Room (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

Join NYSEAN and the Program in International Relations at NYU for a brown bag roundtable on Gen-Z and resisting authoritarianism in Burma, hosted by Professor Frances O'Morchoe. Featured speakers include Morgane Dussud, PhD graduate of SOAS University of London with a professional background in human rights, and Kota Watanabe, Visiting Scholar at NYU Wagner studying civil wars and transnational organised crime in Southeast Asia.

View Event →
Challenges to Indonesia’s Party Cartel System
Apr
7

Challenges to Indonesia’s Party Cartel System

  • ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute – Seminar Room 2 (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

Join the Indonesia Studies Program at ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute for a webinar on challenges to Indonesia’s political party cartel system, which aims to increase the role of negotiations within increasing coalitions. Speakers include Dr. Maxwell Lane, Visiting Senior Fellow at ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, and Professor Leo Suryadinata, Visiting Senior Fellow at ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute and Professor (Adjunct) at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University.

View Event →