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Dr Leonard C. Sebastian

Senior Fellow
Education
BA Hons, Grad Dip Strategic Studies; MA (York University); PhD (ANU)
: [email protected]
: +65 6790 4402
: IDSS
All Eyes on Prabowo’s Next Steps After Jokowi’s Deft Balancing Act
RSIS Commentaries

Dr Leonard C. Sebastian

Senior Fellow
Education
BA Hons, Grad Dip Strategic Studies; MA (York University); PhD (ANU)
: [email protected]
: +65 6790 4402
: IDSS

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Biography

Leonard C. Sebastian is Senior Fellow at the Indonesia Programme, Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies (IDSS) at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) at Nanyang Technological University (NTU). Since January 2023 he has taken up a new appointment in the research track of RSIS having served in the NTU Faculty as Associate Professor since 2006. He served on the RSIS Management from April 2006 to April 2014. During his service for the RSIS Management, he raised over $3.7 million worth of donations for RSIS. Dr Sebastian was the inaugural Coordinator, Indonesia Programme from July 2003 to June 2024. His academic training is in History and International Political Economy (York University, Toronto) and in Strategic and Defence Studies (The Australian National University). His latest book, co-authored with Syed Huzaifah Alkaff, is Indonesia and Islam in Transition published in the Palgrave Macmillan’s Global Political Transitions book series in May 2024. He is author of Realpolitik Ideology: Indonesia’s Use of Military Force (Institute of Southeast Asian Studies and Cambridge University Press, 2006 and 2015) and his refereed articles have been published in International Politics, the Journal of Strategic Studies, Asia Policy, Indonesia, TRaNS: Trans-Regional and -National Studies of Southeast Asia, South East Asia Research, Defence & Security Analysis, Soccer & Society, Education About Asia, China International Strategy Review, Cambridge Review of International Affairs, Southeast Asian Affairs, and Contemporary Southeast Asia. He is a contributor to International Relations in Southeast Asia: The Struggle for Autonomy (Rowman & Littlefield, 2005). He is a co-author with Jonathan Chen and Adhi Priamarizki of Indonesia Beyond Reformasi: Necessity and the ‘De-Centering” of Democracy, Maryland Series in Contemporary Asian Studies, no. 3 – 2014 (218), Carey School of Law, University of Maryland. With Jonathan Chen, and Emirza Adi Syailendra he authored an IDSS/RSIS Monograph titled Pemuda Rising: Why Indonesia Should Pay Attention to its Youth. Together with Finn Laursen and Imtiaz Hussain he is a founding Editor of Global Political Transitions – a book series of Palgrave Macmillan. With Christopher Roberts and Ahmad Habir, he co-edited Indonesia’s Ascent: Power, Leadership and the Regional Order (Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015). This book project and the accompanying policy report which studied different aspects of Indonesian Foreign Policy was funded by the National Security College, The Australian National University. His recent edited books are two co-edited volumes Rising Islamic Conservatism in Indonesia: Islamic Groups and Identity Politics and The 2018 and 2019 Indonesian Elections: Identity Politics and Regional Perspectives published by Routledge on January 2021 respectively. He recently co-edited a December 2021 special issue of the peer-reviewed Journal of Asian Security and International Affairs where contributing authors applied models of decision making, actor-specific theory and Neoclassical Realism to the theme “Indonesia’s Foreign and Maritime Policies: Domestic and External Determinants”. Dr Sebastian is currently working on his next book which is a co-authored volume with James Guild titled State, Market, Society, and the Political Economy of Indonesia. Having completed a 5-year scholarship bond at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) where he served as Fellow from February 1995 to September 2000, he joined RSIS or as it was then called the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies as Senior Fellow in October 2000. He received his PhD from the Australian National University in 1997 where he was affiliated to the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre. Over the course of his RSIS career, he has received grants from the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Home Affairs and the Temasek Foundation for his research and networking initiatives. In October 2003, Dr Sebastian was awarded a research grant from the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) after an open international competition to study militant Islamic movements in Indonesia. Research undertaken resulted in a report titled “Contesting Islam in Indonesia: A Contextual Study of Muslim Militancy”. As a member of the NTU Faculty, he has received the following grants: 1) Ministry of Education AcRF Tier 3, Type B, “Integrating Volcano and Earthquake Science and Technology (InVEST) in Southeast Asia”. Grant was awarded to The Earth Observatory of Singapore where research aims at revolutionizing the way we understand the processes and relations between the natural systems of volcanoes, faults, and associated phenomena such as tsunami and landslides. Grant was awarded in February 2022 with the official start date being 16 January 2023. As a Co-Principal Investigator, Dr Sebastian is responsible to produce policy relevant research outputs for dissemination to Indonesian and Singapore Government entities; 2) Social Science & Humanities Research (SSHR) 2025 Seed Grant Call 2021, “Steering a Middle Way: Great Power Technological Competition in Indonesia and Vietnam”. Awarded SGD 18,000. January 2022. Principal Investigator: project duration -2022-2023; 3) Ministry of Education AcRF Tier 1 Project Grant awarded in December 2014. Principal Investigator, “Growing of Religious Intolerance and Democratic Consolidation in Indonesia: The Role of Government and Kyais” (to August 2017). Award amount: SGD 67,525 (Project completed in August 2017). In April 2005, Dr Sebastian was a Freeman Fellow with The Asia Foundation. He was awarded the Fulbright Research Award in 2005 and was a Visiting Fulbright Scholar at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University in 2005. In 2007, Dr Sebastian participated in the inaugural Program of the Presidential Friends of Indonesia hosted by Kementerian Luar Negeri Republik Indonesia. From 2008-2010 he served as consultant to Kementerian Pertahanan Republik Indonesia advising on the establishment of the Indonesian Defence University (UNHAN, Universitas Pertahanan). He also serves as Member, Board of International Advisors, SBY Presidential Center, Honorary Advisor to the Board of the Ancora Foundation and the Bakrie Center Foundation. Since October 2010 he has served on the Advisory Panel for Programme for the Bachelor of Management and Security Studies (BMSS) and the Bachelor of Management and Security Studies with Honours (BHMSS) at the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS). In January 2011, as consultant to The Asia Foundation, he served as International Policy Advisor to the Timor-Leste Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation (Ministério dos Negócios Estrangeiros-Timor-Leste) and assisted the Ministry in organizing its first ASEAN meeting. Between February 2015 and February 2016, he was Consultant to the ASEAN Secretariat undertaking a study assessing Timor-Leste’s ASEAN membership application and its implications for the ASEAN Security and Political Commu¬nity pillar. He was Professor (Adjunct) at the Institute for Governance and Policy Analyses, University of Canberra (until August 2022) having previously held an appointment as Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of New South Wales (UNSW Canberra at the Australian Defence Force Academy from July 2016 to July 2018). From May 2024, Dr Sebastian has joined the Advisory Panel of the Kementerian Luar Negeri Republik Indonesia’s peer-reviewed journal – Jurnal Hubungan Luar Negeri. Since 2002, he has served as a member of the Advisory Panel to the Government Parliamentary Committee on Defence and Foreign Affairs (GPC-DFA). A regular visitor to Indonesia where he lectures at Universities, NGO organisations and Think-Tanks, his talks are aimed at bridging the gap between academic and policy relevant research. He lectures regularly at various government and security agencies, both in Singapore and abroad.

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Areas of Expertise

  • Indonesian Politics
  • Indonesian Defence and Security Policy
  • Indonesian Foreign Policy Trends
  • Political Islam and Militant Movements in Indonesia
  • Indonesian Counter-terrorism Strategy
  • Indonesian Political Economy and Decentralisation
  • Singapore-Indonesia Relations
  • Regional Security Developments in Southeast Asia with special reference to normative structures, the ASEAN Political and Security Community concept, and neo-classical realist approaches including the impact of domestic policy on foreign policy decision making
  • Democratic Transitions in Asia
  • Civil-military Relations in Asia.

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Professional Activities

  • Freeman Fellow, The Asia Foundation, 2005
  • Fulbright Research Award, 2005
  • Visiting Fulbright Scholar, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University, September-December 2005
  • Resource Panel Member, Government Parliamentary Committee for Defence and Foreign Affairs (GPC-DFA) since 22 May 2002
  • Consultant for the Singapore Trade Development Board (now known as International Enterprise Singapore), June 2000-2001
  • Consultant, Centra Technologies, Burlington, Massachusetts, U.S.A. November 2008-August 2009
  • Consultant, Golkar Party Chairman, Mr Aburizal Bakrie, Golkar Party Analysis and Key Recommendations, June 2010
  • Member, Advisory Board, UNISCI Discussion Papers, Research Unit on International Security and Cooperation, Universidad Complutense Madrid, Spain since January 2006
  • Inaugural Program of the Presidential Friends of Indonesia, Department of Foreign Affairs, The Republic of Indonesia, 13-18 August 2008
  • Consultant to Indonesia’s Ministry of Defence advising on the establishment of the Indonesian Defence University (UNHAN, Universitas Pertahanan), 2008-2010
  • International Policy Advisor, Ministerio Dos Negocios Estrangeiros Timor-Leste (Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Timor-Leste) – consultancy sponsored by The Asia Foundation, San Francisco, from 22 January to 4 February 2011
  • Honorary Advisor of the Board of the Ancora Foundation and the Bakrie Center Foundation in Jakarta, Indonesia
  • Board of International Advisors, SBY Presidential Center, Sentul, Republic of Indonesia since 1 April 2016
  • Resident Indonesia analyst for Channel News Asia since 2013
  • Advisory Panel for Programme for the Bachelor of Management and Security Studies (BMSS) and the Bachelor of Management and Security Studies with Honours (BHMSS) at UniSIM from 14 October 2010 to 31 December 2016
  • External Examiner for the Bachelor of Management and Security Studies (BMSS) and the Bachelor of Management and Security Studies with Honours (BHMSS) at Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) since 1 January 2017
  • International Policy Advisor to the Timor-Leste Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation (Ministério dos Negócios Estrangeiros-Timor-Leste), 2011
  • Consultant, ASEAN Secretariat: Assessing Timor-Leste’s ASEAN membership application and its implications for the ASEAN Security and Political Commu­nity pillar, February 2015 and February 2016
  • Guest Editor, Special Focus: Political Parties and Democracy in Indonesia, South East Asia Research, December 2012
  • Editor, Global Political Transitionsseries, Palgrave Macmillan since 2016
  • International Editorial Board, Walisongo Jurnul Penelitian Social Keagamaan since 2017
  • July 2016-July 2018: Adjunct Associate Professor at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Canberra campus, University of New South Wales
  • September 2018-August 2021: Professor (Adjunct) at the Institute for Governance and Policy Analysis, University of Canberra
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RSIS Publications

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External Publications

Authored Books

Journal Articles

Edited Books / Special Issues

Chapters in Edited Books

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