Kansai Gaidai University, Osaka, Japan
Is BRICS De-Dollarization Program a Step Too Far for India?
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.…
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As Conflict in Gaza Increases, So Do Clashes on U.S. Campuses
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…
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Japan’s Diplomatic Bluebook Paints China as Central Villain
The more things change the more they stay the same. In the 2024 Diplomatic Bluebook, recently released through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan assertively labeled China a global threat, while still carefully trying to balance…
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Modi’s baffling pitch to woo Muslim voters
With this year’s elections in progress, every minority vote that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) puts in its column adds to the chance for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s National Democratic Alliance (NDA) coalition to move past…
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Low Expectations for ASEAN’s Handling of Myanmar Crisis
As Indonesia’s term as ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Chair ended, there was both reservation and alarm at the possibility of Laos serving as its successor. In late 2023, ASEAN moved ahead with a “troika” format, with…
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Thailand’s Bid for a Seat on the UN Human Rights Council is Poorly Timed
Thailand is currently bidding for the third time for a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), with the election for a three-year term for 2025-2027 being held at the U.N. headquarters in New York in October.…
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Thailand’s PM Misses the Forest for the Trees on the Country’s Pollution Problem
Thailand’s Chiang Mai now has airborne pollutants that are 20 times higher than the World Health Organization (WHO) standard. Last week, Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin declined to designate the northern city as a disaster area…
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Firmer, less peaceful language on Taiwan reunification
It was less than two days into 2024 when Song Tao, the director of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, called on all Taiwanese to promote “peaceful reunification” with the mainland. But down in the text, the…
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Japan’s Indo-Pacific Security Waiting Game in Cambodia
Amid China’s heavy investments in Cambodia, made evident by the vast sums of public and private cash flooding both the capital city of Phnom Penh and port cities like Sihanoukville, two Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF) destroyers, the Suzunami and Shimakaze, each…
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The Self-Defeating Nature of Thailand’s ‘Soft Power’ Push
Thailand’s new government cannot get enough of “soft power.” It has become such a buzzword in the Kingdom that a Chiang Mai man on X (formerly Twitter) gasped at the extent of its use, mockingly noting,…
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