Jefferson is Associate Research Fellow at the Indonesia Programme. His research mainly covers Indonesia’s parliamentary politics, regional elections, and foreign policy. Prior to joining the Indonesia Programme in September 2019, he obtained an M.Sc degree in Asian Studies at the S.Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) and graduated with first class honours in History at the National University of Singapore. His undergraduate thesis was on Singapore’s early foreign policy entitled “Riding the Israeli Tiger: The Singapore-Israel Relationship (1965-1974)”. He have published articles in various outlets, including New Mandala, The Diplomat, and The Jakarta Post.

RSIS Commentary Series

• The Rise of Nusantara: New Capital, New Strategic Outlook?

  24 January, 2022

• Renewables and Job Creation: Indonesia’s Solution?

  19 February, 2021

• Indonesia’s National Mobilisation Strategy: Growing Deeper Roots?

  09 February, 2021

• Pancasila Guidance Bill: Tweaking Indonesia’s Ideology?

  08 July, 2020

• Jokowi’s New Cabinet: Guiding Two Visions of Indonesia to 2024

  24 October, 2019

• Indonesia’s KPK: Clipping Its Anti-Corruption Wings?

  25 September, 2019

• Reinstating the Broad Guidelines of State Policy: Tipping the Power Balance?

  09 September, 2019

IDSS Papers

• IP24011 | What Is Likely to Happen in Post-14 February Indonesia

  07 February, 2024

• IP23076 | The Indonesian Solidarity Party and Jokowi’s Post-2024 Game Plan

  30 October, 2023

• IP23063 | Indonesia under the Next President: Continuity, PDIP Dominant, or Progressive Change?

  11 September, 2023

• IP23057 | Is Indonesia about to Join BRICS?

  11 August, 2023

• IP23048 | To What Extent Do VP Candidates Matter in Indonesia’s 2024 Elections?

  04 July, 2023

• IP23037 | Indonesia’s 2024 Elections: President Jokowi Brokers a National Unity Coalition

  18 April, 2023

• IP22064 | China's Global Security Initiative: A View from Indonesia

  08 November, 2022

• IP22048 | Three New Provinces: Consolidating Central Control in Papua

  26 August, 2022

• IP21021 | A Litmus Test for Coalitional Dynamics: The Constitutional Court Ruling on Indonesia’s Omnibus Law on Job Creation

  07 December, 2021

Journal Articles

• “The Parliament and Cooperative Oversight of the Indonesian Armed Forces: Why Civil–Military Relations in Indonesia is Stable but Still in Transition” (with Yudha Kurniawan) in Armed Forces & Society, 2022
• “Characterising Independent Candidates in Indonesian Local Politics” (with Dedi Dinarto) in Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs, 2020. 1-27

Op-Eds

• “Expansion Will Test the BRICS’ Cohesion and Effectiveness”, Council of Councils, 31 August 2023
• “Nusantara Capital Plans to Carve Out Jokowi’s Legacy”, East Asia Forum, 18 March 2022
• “Indonesia Parliament to Scrutinise Bilateral Agreements with Singapore”, The Diplomat, 10 February 2022
• “Indonesia Israel Relations: Is a Breakthrough Imminent?”, The Diplomat, 31 January 2022
• “How Indonesia’s Defence Ministry Has Changed under Prabowo Subianto”, The Diplomat, 22 October 2021
• “How Indonesia’s EV Plans will Shape Its Relations with the US and China” (with Dedi Dinarto), South China Morning Post, 7 July 2021
• “4 Reasons Why More Indonesian Military and Police Officers are Running for Regional Elections” (with Dedi Dinarto), The Conversation, 10 March 2021
• “Why the Singapore-Indonesia Reciprocal Green Lane is Necessary” (with Dedi Dinarto), Channel News Asia, 26 October 2020
• “Challenges in Enhancing Indonesia’s Domestic Security” (with Sigit Nugroho), The Jakarta Post, 13 October 2020
• “Indonesia’s COVID-19 Response Pivots to Support Economic Recovery”, The Diplomat, 23 July 2020
• “The Heart of Maritime Asia: Indonesia’s Economic Strategy, the Geopolitics of Development, and an Assessment of its Foreign Policy”, Italian Review of Geopolitics (in Italian), 1 June 2020
• “Can Indonesia’s Fight against COVID-19 Overcome Troubled Central-Regional Coordination?”, New Mandala, 28 April 2020
• “Assessing a Potential Coronavirus Lockdown in Indonesia”, The Diplomat, 26 March 2020
• “Omnibus: Need for Caution in Adopting Chinese Labour-Intensive Model”, The Jakarta Post, 9 March 2020
• “The Natuna Sea Incident: How Indonesia is Managing its Bilateral Relationship with China”, The Diplomat, 15 January 2020
• “Jokowi’s Macron Moment: Moving Fast or Moving Together?”, New Mandala, 1 January 2020
• “Burgeoning India-Indonesia Relations: Beyond Historical Nostalgia and Towards Strategic Convergence” (with Rajeev Ranjan Chaturvedy), The Diplomat, 8 October 2019