Senior Research Fellow
Australia-Indonesia relations
Hangga Fathana
Hangga Fathana is a scholar and policy analyst focusing on Indonesian perspectives on Australian foreign policy, Indonesia–Australia relations, and Indo-Pacific strategic affairs. He is a faculty member in International Relations at Universitas Islam Indonesia and has taught and researched Australian politics and foreign policy for over a decade.
His work engages Australian strategic and policy debates, with particular attention to how Australia’s regional choices are understood in Indonesia and Southeast Asia. He publishes commentary across Indonesian national media and Australian policy outlets on Australia’s foreign and strategic choices, Indonesia–Australia relations, and the evolving Indo-Pacific regional order.
In addition to his academic work, Hangga is engaged in higher education governance and institutional policy in Indonesia. His research examines higher education diplomacy as a channel of soft power and long-term engagement, and how knowledge institutions contribute to Australia’s standing and influence in Southeast Asia.
Publications
From Export to Engagement: Australia’s Knowledge Diplomacy in the Indo-Pacific
In an era of profound global uncertainty, Australia’s foreign policy is under renewed scrutiny. Higher education stands out as Australia’s most consistent and recognisable instrument of soft power, and an important diplomatic tool in a challenging strategic landscape. But Australia’s international education system stands at a crossroads. To sustain influence in the Indo-Pacific, it must evolve its education from an export industry into an instrument of knowledge diplomacy.