Jackson grad Dira Fabrian represents her native Indonesia with a regional organization that promotes economic, social, and cultural progress across southeast Asia.
Better Together
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Indonesia is the fourth-most populous country in the world, with more than 275 million people. It’s a member of the G20, the international group comprised of the world’s largest economies. It has modern cities like Jakarta and Bandung that serve as hubs of business and technology, and the archipelago is home to vast natural resources and agricultural exports.
Even so, says Dira Tiarasari Fabrian MA ’16, “we see ourselves as still developing.”
This is a sentiment shared by most of the 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), an organization that promotes economic growth, social progress, and cultural development across the region. Fabrian has worked at Indonesia’s Permanent Mission to ASEAN since 2021, currently serving as First Secretary for political affairs.
In her role, Fabrian works within one of ASEAN’s three pillars: political-security. (The other two are economic and socio-cultural.) The ASEAN Political-Security Community, as it is referred to, promotes stability in the region, aiming to ensure that countries in the region live at peace with one another and with the world in a just, democratic, and harmonious environment. It also establishes relationships with other countries — called “external partners” — in an effort to place dialogue and cooperation above other foreign policy approaches.
“We in Indonesia and in ASEAN don’t see other countries as threats or rivals,” says Fabrian. “We want to have as many friends as we can.”
It’s a “rising tide lifts all boats”-style approach—and it appears to be working. In July 2023, the Asian Development Bank projected ASEAN’s GDP growth at 4.6%, firmly ahead of the world’s largest economies. The organization is also promoting technological innovation, sustainable development and human welfare, all seen as investments in the region’s relatively young population.
And, perhaps most importantly, the independent approach to foreign policy is creating strong alliances with world powers who see an opportunity to work together rather than another challenger in the ring.
“The U.S., China, and India are not able to take the role of driving the region because they have no common agenda,” Singaporean diplomat Tommy Koh said in Foreign Affairs. “ASEAN is able to drive precisely because the three great powers cannot agree. And we can continue to do so as long as the major powers find us neutral and independent.”
“We’re strategically located, we’re economically booming,” says Fabrian. “Our partners see our potential.”
Common objectives
It’s been a busy year for Fabrian, for Indonesia, and for ASEAN. “A bit hectic,” she laughs.
Each year, a different member country chairs ASEAN and 2023 was Indonesia’s turn. In addition to the usual work that the organization takes part in, the Indonesian Mission to ASEAN has been required to lead negotiations, set agendas, prepare events, and create reports from meetings. In her role this year, Fabrian chairs the working groups of the Committee of Permanent Representatives to ASEAN (CPR), made up of ambassadors from the 10 member countries; the Group of the East Asia Summit Ambassadors in Jakarta, a group consisting of ASEAN member states and eight other major countries that include the U.S., China, and India; and the CPR Plus Three, a group consisting of ASEAN nations as well as China, Japan, and South Korea.
“There is definitely added pressure,” Fabrian says. “Of course, my main focus is on Indonesia. But when you’re the chair, there are common objectives to be attained. That requires navigating the perspectives and opinions of others that may differ from yours.”
In a way, though, Fabrian is uniquely suited to do just that. She often harkens back to a lesson she learned as a student at Jackson — “to do something for more than just yourself.”
“That idea still resonates with me and it’s only grown more important as I’ve moved forward in my career,” she says. “What makes me the most proud from the past year was how we improved processes at ASEAN, making everything more efficient, and improving collegiality among friends in the organizations.
“At Jackson, there is a dream to make the world a better place; ASEAN has that same dream.”
From Jackson to her ‘dream job’
As a child, Fabrian always pictured her future self in a large room with various diplomats, sitting with an Indonesian flag or a nameplate that says “Indonesia.”
“As a kid, I was enticed by the special passports they had, the privileges and immunities,” she says. “But really, working for my country and for the people was always my dream.”
Fabrian graduated from the University of Indonesia in 2009 with a degree in international relations, after which she pursued internships at the Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia in Mumbai. She then joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia in late 2010 where, after 9 months of training, she did a short stint at Indonesia’s Permanent Mission to the UN in New York. In 2012, she took a position at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Indonesia; it was entry-level, but the ministry encouraged her to pursue further education, with scholarship funding available for civil servants in light of Indonesia’s bureaucratic reform.
Fabrian chose Jackson, she says, for the small class size and flexible curriculum. Because she was already employed at her “dream job,” she was able to turn Yale into an “intellectual playground.”
“I didn’t feel that I needed to tailor my studies to the job market or a PhD program,” she recalls. “I took anthropology classes, I learned two additional languages — Korean and Filipino. It ended up being way more than I ever expected it to be.”
She also recalls a personal email from Dean Jim Levinsohn after she choose to enroll at Jackson, as well as the mentorship of senior lecturer Justin Thomas, who sharpened her abilities in research and data analysis.
After Jackson, Fabrian returned to Indonesia and worked with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs until 2018, then spent three years as second secretary for political affairs at Indonesia’s Permanent Mission to the UN, WTO, and Other International Organizations in Geneva, Switzerland. In 2021, she assumed her role with the Permanent Mission of Indonesia to ASEAN, headquartered in Jakarta.
“It’s been a rewarding experience,” says Fabrian, who works on issues ranging from maritime issues to human rights to intergovernmental relations. “And [ASEAN] is so unique. The region has democracies, republic, and kingdoms. We promote our religious diversity and our unique geographies.
“There can be challenges because of how different we all are, but we see it as an opportunity to grow stronger together.”