Our good friend Alex Chandra has just published his much awaited book on the interplay of nationalism and regional integration in the context of the Indonesian experience. Order the book online here or here (for european customers)
Indonesia and the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement: Nationalists and Regional Integration Strategy
By Alexander C. Chandra

“This book, which is extremely well researched, helps clarify critical issues of the day. So-called nationalists will need to realize that regionalism can never replace, but will enrich, nationalism. Proponents of regionalism and negotiators of regional trading arrangements (RTAs) will need to understand that nationalism has to be weaved into any regional arrangement to produce meaningful regionalism.”—Hadi Soesastro, Centre for Strategic and International Studies, Indonesia

Indonesia and the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement analyzes the relationship between Indonesian nationalism and regional integration, with specific reference to the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (AFTA). Alexander C. Chandra challenges prevailing arguments that nationalism and regionalism cannot coexist, and argues that the two ideologies can stand in a symbiotic relationship to each other. Chandra provides an in-depth discussion of the 1992 AFTA trade agreement, including an analysis of the attitudes of Indonesians toward the trade agreement, a political history of the formation of the agreement, and a review of the effects of the wave of democratization in 1997. Indonesia and the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement will be of interest to upper-level students and researchers of Asian studies and economics.
Alexander C. Chandra is the senior policy advisor on ASEAN for Oxfam International.