Séance du 17 décembre, 18h : Bruno Jetin sur Borneo dans les nouvelles routes maritimes de la soie

La prochaine séance du séminaire BRICS aura lieu à la Maison de la Recherche de l’Inalco, 2, rue de Lille Salle Silvestre de Sacy (et en ligne), mercredi 17 décembre 2025 à 18h. 

Elle recevra : 

Bruno Jetin

Laboratoire Analyse, crise et transition (ACT), Université Sorbonne Paris Nord

Sur le thème : 

Borneo: l’industrialisation d’une île périphérique à la confluence des routes maritimes de la soie.

La séance sera modérée par Elsa Lafaye de Micheaux (CASE, Inalco)

Résumé :

Since the decline of the Sultanate of Brunei at the end of the 16th Century, Borneo has become a peripheral island submitted to changing cores. First to colonial powers and later to Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta when they became the capital cities of newly independant states. Borneo remained overspecialised in primary resources whose export revenues financed the industrialisationof peninsular Malaysia and Java. East Malaysia and Kalimantan’s industrialisation was truncated and their social development lagged behind.

Brunei was the only sovereign state on the island which was able to use its export revenues for local development. This situation is now changing due to two major factors.

First, large industrial projects are being implemented, both in East Malaysia and Kalimantan, and for the first time land transport is crossing the island and connecting the territories of the three countries.

Second, Indonesia is moving its capital city to East Kalimantan, at the centre of Asia-Pacific region, close to maritime routes and the Strait of Makassar that are strategic for China’s Belt and Roads Initiative. Our presentation will explore the geopolitics of these changes for Indonesia and position in the international arena.