ASEAN is ever beset by existential angst. The ‘A’ in ASEAN stands for Angst as well as Association. Regard this as more description than criticism. The Angst-Association of South East Asian Nations always has lots to worry about. Angst and anxiety are rational responses. The questions are constant: can the association hold together? Can it actually […]
After one year in power, Aung San Suu Kyi has gone all but missing from the public ear. Her voice, long known for inspiring her people, is heard in only a handful of public appearances or daily private meetings with officials and foreign dignitaries, while there is nearly no interaction with the media. Read Here […]
The timing of Suu Kyi’s China trip and how both the Chinese “dragon” and the Indian “peacock” have together flocked around the “Lady” is noteworthy. Read Here – The Indian Express
Myanmar’s GDP may be growing at more than 8 percent. But the economic challenges in this country, where 70 percent of the population is employed in low-yield agriculture, are rendered formidable by crumbling and non-existent infrastructure, archaic laws, unskilled workers, low tax revenues, budget deficits and high inflation. Read Here – Bloomberg
Leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations unveiled with fanfare another road map to a common community for the next decade even as the bloc missed targets for economic integration this year. Read Here – Bloomberg
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 […]
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
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. […]
India and Australia will focus on anti-submarine warfare in their first ever joint naval exercises, signaling a growing strategic relationship to counter China’s increased activity in the Indian Ocean. Read Here – Bloomberg
With Burma, Cuba, and now Iran, the Obama administration has sought to put old fights behind it, freeing the U.S. government to focus on emerging challenges in Asia and the rise of China. Read Here – The Atlantic
looking beyond borders 