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David Fettling

David Fettling

David Fettling’s work focuses on Australian relations with Asia, historical and contemporary. His first book is Encounters with Asian Decolonisation (Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2017). His work has appeared in The Guardian Australia, the Jakarta Post, and Griffith Review 56 and 57. He was educated at the University of Melbourne and the Australian National University.

David Fettling reviews 'Strangers Next Door? Indonesia and Australia in the Asian Century' edited by Tim Lindsey and Dave McRae

September 2018, no. 404 23 August 2018
During World War II, thousands of Indonesians arrived in Australia, brought by the colonial Dutch as they fled Japan’s military advance through Southeast Asia, and Molly Warner wanted to get to know them. She and other Australians established an association that sought ‘[t]o promote cultural relations with Asia … educate Australia about Asia and Asia about Australia, [and] improve the woeful ... (read more)

David Fettling reviews 'Blood and Silk: Power and conflict in modern Southeast Asia' by Michael Vatikiotis

March 2018, no. 399 22 February 2018
Australians, Chris Bowen lamented recently, pay lip service to Asia. While millions of us visit every year, it is too easy to skim across the region’s surface. Few Australians speak Asian languages; most know little about our colossal neighbour Indonesia, let alone other ASEAN countries. Making matters worse, there is an astonishing dearth of quality books about Southeast Asia for a general audi ... (read more)

David Fettling reviews 'Easternization: Asia’s Rise and America’s decline: From Obama to Trump and beyond' by Gideon Rachman

December 2017, no. 397 24 November 2017
Competing with Middle Eastern wars, terrorist attacks, and presidential tweets, Asia still tends to receive less attention than it merits. Furthermore, while geopolitical tectonic-shifts are occurring in the Indo-Pacific, it can be difficult to step back from daily headlines to assess the current transformation in its entirety. In Easternization, Gideon Rachman, a Financial Times journalist, argue ... (read more)