Although there is currently no operational nuclear power plant in the ten countries comprising the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), regional governments have begun investing seriously in such programs. They have been motivated by several factors ranging from rising electricity demands to the perceived need to seek energy security, energy autonomy, and the diversification […]
An eerie silence has descended on Phnom Penh as strategists within the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) digest the results of last Sunday’s election, which handed an embarrassing and uncomfortable win to Prime Minister Hun Sen. Read Here – DIplomat
Southeast Asia has four monarchies, each with its own unique traits. Brunei is an absolute monarchy, while Thailand, Malaysia, and Cambodia have the constitutional form…It remains to be seen if these institutions will play a prominent role in shaping the future of their societies, and whether they will coexist with greater democracy and transparency. Read […]
Oil and gas have long held the promise of untold riches for Southeast Asian countries. Yet, success in the region has been mixed: Brunei has flourished and Malaysia has seen steady progress, but Burma, Cambodia, the Philippines, Vietnam and East Timor have struggled to exploit their reserves. Read Here – The Diplomat
The remote district of Rovieng was once a battleground between Cambodian government troops and Pol Pot‘s genocidal Khmer Rouge. Unexploded bombs still lurk in its fields and forests. So does something more desirable – iron ore – and supposedly in such huge quantities two Chinese companies have an $11-billion plan to extract it. Their proposal – […]
Two years ago this month, Burma’s current government took office amid broad international condemnation for the rigged election — replete with fraud and intimidation — that put it there. Despite this inauspicious start, Burma politics have opened in the last year and a half, and the country’s economy has liberalized more quickly than any other […]
Abe Shinzō visits Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia in his first overseas trip after becoming prime minister and lays down ground rules for engagement with the region. Read Here – Nippon
Whether East Asia’s politicians and pundits like it or not, the region’s current international relations are more akin to nineteenth-century European balance-of-power politics than to the stable Europe of today. Witness East Asia’s rising nationalism, territorial disputes, and lack of effective institutional mechanisms for security cooperation. While economic interdependence among China, Japan, South Korea, and […]
Cambodia has never enjoyed the kind of political clout its neighbors Thailand and Vietnam have been able to assert on the international stage. This issue does not sit well with Prime Minister Hun Sen, who wants to see his country’s standing improve significantly. But the key to raising Cambodia’s stature is Hun Sen’s own success. […]
The heads of nine of the ten member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations traveled to New Delhi two weeks ago to celebrate 20 years of ties between their organization and India. At the two-day “Commemorative Summit,” ASEAN leaders toasted Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and signed a free-trade pact covering services and […]
looking beyond borders 