While the recent eruption of unrest in Nepal is not uncommon for a region that remains in perpetual crisis, it does represent a dangerous new trend. For India, the challenge is not only to maintain strategic autonomy, but to promote its vision of a more inclusive, rules-based, and connected South and Southeast Asia. Read More […]
As China, India and others vie to be the Global South’s champion, Southeast Asia’s complexities challenge the one-size-fits-all narrative. Read More Here
A long-ruling party sees vulnerability as key to its own security and power. Read More Here
Views from Australia, Japan, the Philippines, South Korea, and Taiwan. Read More Here
Covid-19 remains a concern for some, even as many people spare no expense to celebrate while others mull cost-cutting measures for festivities. Retailers expect a boost as consumers snap up pre-Lunar New Year purchases even as some are caught between raising prices and absorbing them. Read More Here
Within the Indo-Pacific theater, the Bay of Bengal — situated at the intersection between South and Southeast Asia — is a divider, a connector, and one of the prime battlegrounds. Read More Here
As a policy pronouncement marking six months since the February 1 coup d’etat, Myanmar’s military chief and head of the State Administration Council (SAC) Senior General Min Aung Hlaing exhibited the same strained relationship with the real world since he seized power. Read More Here
The Biden administration held its first summit-level meeting with Quad allies in March but is only now stepping up its ASEAN-related diplomacy, notably with less robust senior-level engagement. Washington has paid lip service to “ASEAN centrality” in recent statements, but in practice is it really aiming for “Quad centrality?” Read More Here
Are the dams on the upper Mekong a far-sighted effort to secure a supply of water and electricity against future need? Or, considering the devastating downstream social and environmental effects of these dams, are they part of a strategy to develop a “hydraulic empire,” maintaining regional power through control over access to water, while also […]
The Sydney Opera resumed live performances and the city of Melbourne recently hosted the Australian Open tennis tournament with fans (mostly) in attendance. Japan is back to planning the delayed 2020 Summer Olympics, while China focuses on the Beijing 2022 Winter Games. Having been hit by COVID-19 first, Asia is also recovering first. At the pandemic’s […]
looking beyond borders 