This backgrounder examines the South Asian minority group that the UN has described as, ‘one of the most persecuted minorities in the world.’

Forty-five years of continuous tradition came to an abrupt end last week when the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Phnom Penh closed without agreeing on a joint declaration.

The following is a brief overview of the historical, political, military, and economic issues that Indonesia faces on the road to becoming a regional power.

It has been almost 15 years since Suharto stepped down as President of Indonesia. The country has since boasted unprecedented economic growth, maturing democratic values and a steady rise in living standards.

The terrible floods that followed tropical storm Nock-ten, though grave in their own right, foreshadow the far more catastrophic disaster of a city of 12 million people sinking into the Gulf of Thailand. 

ASEAN could provide the leverage that smaller South East Asian countries need in their border negotiations with China in the South China Sea.

A radical Muslim cleric who was arrested in the wake of the 2002 Bali bombings and then released has once again been arrested on terror charges in Indonesia.

Threats, carrots, and sticks have all failed to dislodge red shirt protestors from central Bangkok. As violence continues to harden positions on both sides of the barricades, widespread civil strife is becoming more and more likely.

Bomb explosions rocked the Thai capital, Bangkok, with multiple injuries, as anti-government protesters continue their occupation of the Prime Minister’s compound and Bangkok International Airport.