As the leaders of 17 countries gathered in the Philippines Wednesday for the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, Chinese President Xi Jinping stated the obvious. “The Chinese economy is a concern for everyone,” he said. “We will work hard to shift our growth from just expanding scale to improving its structure.” Read Here – BloombergView
It’s been a long time coming. Aung San Suu Kyi has been waiting for this for more than a quarter of a century, the jubilant crowds in Yangon and across Myanmar have sensed it over the past weeks of campaigning, and now the electoral commission has confirmed it: Myanmar is returning to democracy. Read Here […]
A rare occasion on which Xi Jinping, Barack Obama and Ma Ying-Jeou agree is about to take place in Singapore, as the meeting between Xi and Ma is intended to balance the growing “independence” sentiment in Taiwan, something that is bothering all three political leaders; for different reasons. Read Here – China Daily
Burma goes to the polls on November 8 in what will a chance for Aung San Suu Kyi to demonstrate the true extent of her support. Whatever the outcome, however, the military will still control the commanding heights of the polity. Read Here – The Wire
Africa is experiencing greater productivity, stability and trade than ever before. Seven of the world’s fastest growing economies are now from the continent. All of this means Africa’s engagement with the world is an opportunity for better, more equal relations. Read Here – The Wire
Five years ago, Myanmar’s ruling junta under General Than Shwe began a cautious but promising move away from a nearly five-decade old military dictatorship, loosening control, opening the country’s economy, and releasing political prisoners, as well as Aung San Suu Kyi, an opposition leader and chairman of the National League for Democracy (NLD), from house arrest. […]
The British Marxist historian Eric Hobsbawm once called the epoch stretching from the French Revolution of 1789 to World War I’s outbreak in 1914 as the “long 19th century.” A little over a decade ago, people began to speculate about an emerging “Asian century,” driven by an unstoppable China and enabled by America’s supposed inevitable […]
Recent developments in the South China Sea have lumbered U.S. strategic planners with a number of pressing quandaries. Should the United States send warships through sea lanes claimed by China as territorial waters? How can Washington signal resolve and reassurance to its allies in the region without unduly antagonizing China’s political and military leaders? What […]
We may be entering a period in which India’s tighter embrace of the United States brings Russia closer to Pakistan, and Russia’s bolstering of ties with Pakistan brings India closer to the United States. Read Here – The National Interest
The US ‘rebalance’ to the Asia–Pacific has been under way since late 2011. Then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wrote in October 2011 of a “strategic turn to the region…to secure and sustain America’s global leadership”, and President Obama’s speech to the Australian parliament in November 2011 gave a presidential imprint to the policy. So, almost four years […]
looking beyond borders 