Thailand  / United States
The Dangerous Implications of Paul Chambers’ Article 112 Arrest
April 14, 2025

Charges under Thailand’s strict lese-majeste law used to be rare, both for Thais and foreigners. When foreigners were charged, it made public headlines, and such was the case of a drunken Swiss man, who defaced the portraits of King Bhumibol (Rama IX) and Queen Sirikit on December 5, his birthday. On the same day, however he was not only given a reduced sentenced, but was pardoned by the King after offering an admission of guilt. A few years later, an Australian novelist was also charged a convicted for defaming the Crown Prince in his novel, but was pardoned seven months later. Public remorse and admissions of guilt were often keys to early release.


China  / Myanmar  / Southeast Asia  / Thailand
Thailand’s Cooperation With China on Cross-border Crime Comes at a Cost
February 25, 2025

During Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra’s recent meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, one of the main topics of discussion was the proliferation of scam centers close to Thailand’s borders in Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos. Recently, under Chinese pressure, Thailand has initiated a number of measures to combat scam operators in eastern Myanmar, such as tightening visa rules and cutting electricity and fuel from Thailand into Myanmar. After her meeting with Xi, Paetongtarn agreed to “strengthen law enforcement cooperation with China” and take steps to address the crisis of cross-border crime, including online gambling and fraud.


Uncategorized
Americans Will Pay For Donald Trump’s Tariff War on China
February 12, 2025

In the first few weeks of his second term, President Donald Trump has resumed his advocacy for a renegotiation of trade deals, namely with Canada, Mexico and China. While the tenor of Trump’s discourse on trade is ideological, the justification for trade protectionism and the subsequent levying of punitive tariffs on imported goods is based on their potential ben efit to American workers, manufacturers, and consumers.However, with the bluster and pace of policy changes combined with a lengthy history from his first term as evidence, were tariffs on China in alignment with America’s national interests? I argue that what is past is prologue.


China  / Indo-Pacific  / United States
B-21 Raider: Future of Stealth Bombers or Costly Air Force Mistake?
January 30, 2025

After more than three decades in service with the United States Air Force, the Northrop-Grumman-built B-2 Spirit is set to retire, along with its older sibling, the B-1, replaced by the new B-21 Raider. Also manufactured by Northrop, the sixth-generation bomber represents an evolution in technological advancement, with an open architecture that allowed for rapid inclusion of new weaponry, and advanced digital manufacturing (AM) that is claimed to help mitigate the substantial risk of production.


Thailand
Making the Most of Paetongtarn’s Visit to Thailand’s Deep South
January 23, 2025

On January 14, two border patrol officers in Narathiwat province, in Thailand’s south, were killed when a homemade bomb detonated on their pickup truck on the way to Tua Ngo Border Patrol Police School where they worked. A day earlier, nine Thai police officers and village defense volunteers were injured when a bomb planted in a parked motorcycle exploded at a police station in Pattani. While the Malay-Muslim population of southern Thailand has become albeit uncomfortably normalized to flareups in violence, the two incidents made national headlines as they occurred just prior to Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra’s visit to the southern provinces last week.


Japan  / Middle East  / Saudi Arabia
Human Rights Key as Tokyo and Riyadh Mark Bilateral Milestone
January 17, 2025

Recently, Japan’s Parliamentary Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs, Matsumoto Hisashi, went to Riyadh to visit to the Saudi Judo Federation in hopes of strengthening bilateral relations. He also met with Saudi officials to discuss opportunities under Riyadh’s “Vision 2030,” a restructuring and modernization of the Saudi economy under the leadership of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. For Riyadh, the strategy is of critical importance given its growing need for outside investment. Many countries are making a transition away from fossil fuels, thus reducing global oil demand.


Central Asia  / China  / South Asia  / Tibet  / United Nations
China’s Stranglehold on Tibet Extends Far Beyond Human Rights
November 18, 2024

The phrase “Free Tibet” is so ubiquitous to so many, that it has almost lost its meaning. Why does Tibet need to be freed, and from whom? Tibet has been occupied by Communist China since 1950, after the controversial Seventeen Point Agreement created a semi-independent state, although signed without the authorization of the 14th Dalai Lama. So worried were the Tibetans, that in 1959, a rebellion began where the Dalai Lama escaped and remained in exile. The consequence of that rebellion was an undoing of the tenets of the Agreement and the beginning of decades of social, cultural, and political repression.


India  / South Asia
India’s Hindu-Muslim Divide: Moderate Voices Needed
October 27, 2024

In the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, religious tensions boiled over this past September. In response to what Hindus claim was an attack on a local businessman by Muslims in the northern city of Shimla, protesters marched in the streets demanding the demolition of a mosque in the Sanjauli area of the city they claim was illegally constructed. Calls for the destructions of mosques across India are increasingly a part of tactics employed by right-wing Hindu nationalists after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) proclaimed victory in the Lok Sabha national election earlier this year.


China  / India  / Russia
Is BRICS De-Dollarization Program a Step Too Far for India?
October 16, 2024

While at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar commented that New Delhi will not decouple from the US dollar, noting that it was not in his country’s economic interests. While noting that New Delhi was pursuing other means as well, he said: “[India has] never actively targeted the dollar. That’s not part of our economic, political, or strategic policy. Some others may have done so. What I will say is that we have a natural concern.”


Israel  / United States
As Conflict in Gaza Increases, So Do Clashes on U.S. Campuses
May 16, 2024

As protests have erupted on college campuses across the United States, the need for a civil dialogue on current events and the demands that have been made by protest organizers. Most importantly, the issue of antisemitism has been of concern as rhetoric has been more intense. For Divided We Fall, I engage with David Finkel of Jewish Voices for Peace.