The Burmese military-derived government has released hundreds of political prisoners, signed a ceasefire with the country’s largest ethnic rebel group and allowed the opposition National League for Democracy to re-form.
Articles by Damien Kingsbury 
Ibrahim, not guilty, could shake up Malaysian politics
The handing down of a “not guilty” verdict on sodomy charges against Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim indicates a tectonic shift in Malaysian politics.
Report on Sri Lanka war crimes exonerates SL government
The Sri Lankan government of Mahinda Rajapaksa has worked out how to get away with murder.
Gillard adds ‘ballast’ to shore up Indon relationship
Australia’s relationship with Indonesia is continuing at its all-time high following the conclusion of the East Asia Summit in Bali.
Death of Gaddafi: winning the war, but what about the peace?
Muammar Gaddafi’s death brings to a close the war for liberation that has wracked Libya for much of this year, but pushes to the forefront a host of new issues.
Dark forces still at work in Aceh, Indonesia
In a couple of weeks, Aceh will hold its second gubernatorial elections since the 2005 peace agreement that ended almost three decades of separatist war.
Kingsbury: East Timor and Indonesia are odd bedfellows
The announcement by East Timor’s prime minister, Xanana Gusmao, that his country will begin military to military links with Indonesia has caused widespread surprise.
My enemy’s enemy is my friend: fragile US-Pakistani relations
Pakistan needs to retain a strong alliance with Afghanistan, no matter who is in power, more than it needs the US.
Spy versus spy … when even the closest allies have secrets
The world of intelligence is, by definition, shrouded in secrecy, so that often what we know is limited or partial and the rest is, hopefully, what makes sense based on a longer-term picture of events.
East Timor solution dying the death of a thousand cuts
East Timor asylum seeker solution has not yet been killed outright, but only an unreconstructed optimist would now suggest its fate is other than sealed.
Lies, damned lies and human development indicators
The line attributed by Mark Twain to British PM Benjamin Disraeli that there are “lies, damned lies and statistics” might be held to be true when assessing the value of indicators.
It’s official: Australia is the No.1 place to be
While nobody was noticing, late last year Australia pipped Norway to achieve the highest standard of living in the world.
If Gaddafi survives, expect an external ‘intervention’
There is increasing discussion and hand-wringing about the pros and cons of direct intervention in the carnage that is now Libya. What seems certain is that without a circuit breaker, forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi will continue to wreak havoc on the Libyan people.
Hey Tony, funding Indonesian schools works
As Julie Bishop and Tony Abbott fight over foreign aid cuts, Crikey examines why his proposal to cut $400 million from Australia’s aid budget to Indonesia’s schools program is a desperate measure, and one that won’t see the light.
Burma rebrands: a dictatorship, without the uniforms
Saturday’s Burmese election was, in reality, just the junta’s mechanism for shifting away from an overt military dictatorship to a slightly more covert form — dictatorship without so many uniforms.
Rudd’s East Timor challenge
New Foreign Affairs Minister Kevin Rudd will know there won’t be any quick or easy “East Timor solution”, and there may not be one at all. So what will he do?
Australian forces remain in Afghanistan. Why no WikiLeaks coverage?
Australia is a party to the Afghanistan war and sustains — and causes — casualties. So why the lack of interest from the local media?
Julia might be ‘going forward’, but East Timor is standing firm
The vote by East Timor to oppose an Australian off-shore asylum seeker processing centre should not have come as a surprise. Only Labor wants to “move forward” on this one, writes Damien Kingsbury.
Someone forgot to tell East Timor
The view within Dili on Gillard’s border protection proposal, and East Timor’s role, was one of surprise — no one seems to have been forewarned, much less consulted about this proposal.
Rudd and Yudhoyono to dine over the ‘new’ Indonesia
As Australia and Indonesia increasingly move down the same political path, the “misunderstandings” are disappearing. The visit to Australia by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono marks an important step.
A confused government’s way forward
Trying to turn the Howard-era foreign policy sow’s ear into a Rudd government silk purse is doomed to policy failure, writes Damien Kingsbury.
Myopia and forgetfulness the preferred direction on foreign policy
When the Rudd Labor government was elected two years ago, there were high hopes that it would leave behind the more negative foreign policies of its predecessor Howard coalition government. What we have, though, is a foreign policy shambles.
Oops, there goes the relationship with Indonesia
The roller-coaster that is the Australia-Indonesia bilateral relationship is again plummeting.
Howard and Kelly rewrite history on East Timor
Damien Kingsbury wonders why former PM John Howard finds it necessary to create a palpable fiction over his commitment to East Timor’s independence.
East Timor’s media ‘blackout’ or just a lack of research?
There isn’t a ‘media blackout’ occurring in East Timor, rather lots of factually incorrect stories that ignore the East Timorese government’s focus on anti-corruption campaigns.
