Indonesia is the third largest democracy in the world, and on February 14th national elections were held including to replace the extremely popular outgoing president Joko Widodo. The current defense minister Prabowo Subianto won those elections and will be Indonesia's next president. He's a controversial figure who has been credibly accused of human rights abuses during Indonesia's long Suharto dicatorship. He was also a former rival of Joko Widodo, but received the popular president's backing while tapping the president's son as to run as his presidential nominee. 

Indonesia is a massive democracy in an increasingly stragegic region. So what does Prabowo Subianto's election mean for Indonesia's foreign policy, its relationship to the United States and China, and for broader global trends like climate change? To answer these questions and more I speak with Prashanth Prashanth Parameswaran, a fellow at the Wilson Center and Founder of the Asean Wonk Newsletter. We kick off discussing Prabowo's background before having a longer conversation about how this change in government may impact Indonesian foreign policy.