Tag: ASEAN

As tensions mount with China and polarization widens the gap between Beijing and the four members of the Quad, the Foreign Ministers of Australia, India and Japan and the Secretary of State of the United…

China’s dominance in Southeast Asia is obvious anywhere you look. Long-standing ties and investment in Cambodia earned Beijing the opportunity to act as Prime Minister Hun Sen’s proxy vote in ASEAN during a pivotal year. China’s upstream…

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused widespread disruption in Southeast Asia, in terms of the number of deaths, the livelihoods lost, and the major interruptions to supply chains. Moreover, the recent rise in inflation, which has…

US secretary of state Antony Blinken almost made it to Thailand. Blinken had planned to visit his counterpart, Thai foreign minister Don Pramudwinai, but a journalist following the secretary tested positive for Covid-19. linken’s Thailand visit…

The ongoing crisis in Myanmar has exacerbated concerns about ASEAN’s relevance and competence to police crises within its member states. As of May 27, 828 people have been killed so far in Myanmar since February…

When Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha decided to opt out of the ASEAN Summit on Myanmar in Jakarta, perhaps the writing was on the wall. By sending Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Don Pramudwinai…

The United States will soon have new leadership, as Congress will meet on January 6 to formally count the votes of the Electoral College. Absent a highly unlikely and very undemocratic coup d’état – an…

In mid-November, 15 Asian nations signed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the largest free trade agreement, creating the world’s largest trading bloc, covering nearly a third of the global economy. All 10 members of…

Cambodia’s Sam Rainsy, the self-exiled opposition leader landed in Kuala Lumpur over the weekend, vowing to return home to lead an uprising against his country’s long-serving Prime Minister and former Khmer Rouge officer Hun Sen.…

When the American strategic ‘pivot’ to Asia collapsed, China took the mantle of hegemonic leadership in Southeast Asia. The question of how to respond to an assertive and confident China is a conundrum shared by…