The Asia Foundation

Expertise: Governance, political reform, economic development, and social change in Indonesia and Southeast Asia. Expertise on institutional strengthening and technical assistance in law reform, legislative development, local government, business policy, elections, gender and development, the role of Islam and religion in development, and aid effectiveness.

 Douglas E. Ramage is The Asia Foundation's Country Representative in Indonesia where he directs the Foundation's governance, economic and business policy reform programs. As the Foundation's Representative Dr. Ramage manages an international staff of over 80 and a grants and technical assistance portfolio of over $60 million.

Prior to joining the Foundation's Indonesia office in 1996, Dr. Ramage was Research Fellow in Southeast Asian Politics at the East-West Center and Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Hawaii. He spent two years (1991-93) as a Fulbright Scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Jakarta and was previously Research Fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore in 1989. The author of numerous works on Indonesian politics, his most recent publications are "A Reformed Indonesia," in the Australian Financial Review, October 12, 2007; "Indonesia in 2006: Democracy First, Good Governance Later," in Southeast Asian Affairs 2007 (Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, 2007); "Autonomy for Aceh," co-author with Sandra Hamid, The Wall Street Journal, July 18, 2006; "Democracy: The New Order's Ironic Legacy," in Indonesia in the Soeharto Years: Issues, Incidents, and Images (Editors: John McGlynn, Oscar Motuloh, Suzanne Charle; Lontar, Jakarta, 2005 and 2007); Indonesia: The Challenge of Change (co-editor with Baker, Soesastro, and Kristiadi, New York: St. Martin's Press, 1999), and Politics in Indonesia: Democracy, Islam and the Ideology of Tolerance (Routledge, London, Second Edition, 1997).

Douglas Ramage is a frequent commentator on Indonesian affairs in the international news media and in the period since 1983 has worked in Indonesia and Southeast Asia for 15 years.

Education: Douglas Ramage began his studies on Indonesia and Southeast Asia at the Australian National University in 1981-82, and later received his Ph.D. in International Studies from the University of South Carolina in 1993. He also holds an M.A. from the University of South Carolina and a B.A. from the University of Maryland.