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Katherine Viella Irwanto

Lead Analyst & Chair of Non-Proliferation Working Group

Katherine Viella Irwanto is Lead Analyst & Chair of Non-Proliferation Working Group at World Order Lab, and a Media & Advocacy Contractor at Embassy of Canada in Indonesia. A natural policy analyst whose work focuses on foreign policy, international security, and Indo-Pacific affairs, she has experience in policy research, political risk analysis, strategic communications, and public diplomacy. Her interests include Indonesian and Chinese foreign policy, as well as East Asian regional security dynamics.

Katherine holds Bachelor's Degree in International Relations from the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Indonesia, where she graduated with distinction and ranked among the faculty's top eight graduates. During her undergraduate studies, she participated in the Indonesian International Student Mobility Awards (IISMA) program at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium, where she earned distinction in courses on the European Union’s institutions and policies.

Professionally, Katherine began her career as a research assistant at Laboratorium Indonesia 45, where she contributed to a monograph titled The Role of the Indonesian Middle Class in Democracy. As a Research Fellow at The Horizon, she conducted research on Indonesia's defense capabilities in collaboration with the Indonesian Air Force and contributed to projects on intelligence and counter-terrorism in collaboration with the Indonesian National Counterterrorism Agency. She later joined Saudi Arabia-based Impetus Strategy as a Junior Analyst, conducting policy research and government liaison for public- and private-sector clients. Currently, she works for the Political and Public Affairs Section of the Embassy of Canada to Indonesia, supporting media analysis, policy research, strategic communications, and public diplomacy initiatives, while also serving as a part-time Research Assistant at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Indonesia, where her research has focused on China-Global South cooperation and Indonesia's threat perception.

Her research focuses on foreign policy analysis, Indonesia's and China’s foreign affairs, Indo-Pacific security, ASEAN regionalism, and international political economy. She is particularly interested in how domestic political dynamics shape foreign policy decision-making and how middle powers navigate strategic competition in an evolving regional order.

Language: Indonesian (Native), English (C1), Korean (B1), French (A2).

Education:

  • Bachelor's Degree, International Relations
    Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Indonesia (2020- 2024)

  • Non-Degree, Liberal Arts and Sciences
    Faculty of Arts, KU Leuven (2023 - 2024)

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Research Interests
Geo Dzakwan ArshaliGeo Dzakwan Arshali
Geo Dzakwan Arshali
Program Manager;
Chair, G-2 Affairs
Working Group
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Regional Focus

  • Anti-Corruption & Good Governance

  • ASEAN

  • Cyber Power & Cyber Statecraft

  • Emerging Technologies in Warfare

  • Geopolitics of the Indo-Pacific

  • Indonesian Domestic Politics

  • Indonesian Foreign Policy

  • Malaysian Political Economy

  • Southeast Asian Security

  • U.S.-China Rivalry in Southeast Asia

  • Indonesia

  • Malaysia

  • The Philippines

  • Vietnam

  • Timor-Leste

  • Southeast Asia

  • East Asia

  • Indo-Pacific

  • Asia-Pacific

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