Trump’s second chance to make a first impression in Asia

Written by Chris Estep

Trump should decisively establish his administration’s approach to competition with China by issuing his own Interim National Security Strategic Guidance document and endorsing it in a televised speech from the Oval Office.

The future of US alliances in Northeast Asia

Written by Emma Whitmyer

Seoul and Tokyo should begin preparing for a future in which they navigate regional challenges without a close ally who shares the same values.

East Asia9DLApril 1, 2025The future of US alliances in Northeast Asia, China, Japan, United States, South Korea, Trump, Vance, North Korea, Russia, US, Hyundai, Yoon Suk Yeol, Special Measure Agreement, Forces Korea, Emma Whitmyer, ASPI

Discover the March issue of The Navigator – out now

This month, alongside our usual roundup of events, we examine how India is balancing oil imports amid geopolitical pressures and the impact of defunding Radio Free Asia on US soft power in the Indo-Pacific.

Both developments underscore the shifting balance of influence, where economic choices and media narratives are shaping global power dynamics.

News9DLMarch 28, 2025Trump, ASEAN, Taiwan, The Navigator, 9DASHLINE, US, United States, Indo-Pacific, China, Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Cook Islands, Samoa, USAID, Chetan Rana, David MacSweeney, Radio Free Asia, Voice of America, Myanmar, Russia, Soft Power

Has Australia turned its back on free trade?

Written by Melissa Conley Tyler and Viet Dung Trinh

By balancing domestic production and free trade, the Future Made in Australia Act aims to promote economic growth, create jobs, and support Australia's transition to a net-zero emissions economy.

Indonesia in BRICS: New chapter or familiar story?

Written by Dominique Fraser and Dr Premesha Saha

Indonesia will need to ensure that it carefully balances its commitments to BRICS alongside its responsibilities and obligations within ASEAN and its existing relationships with Western nations like the US and the EU.

Discover the February issue of The Navigator – Out Now

This month we examine Berlin’s economic and political challenges, a tough stance on China, and Southeast Asia’s reaction to the arrival of the Trump 2.0 presidency amid US policy uncertainty.

News9DLFebruary 28, 2025Trump, ASEAN, Hunter Marston, Roderick Kefferpütz, Taiwan, The Navigator, 9DASHLINE, US, United States, Ukraine, German, Friedrich Merz, Germany, Indo-Pacific, China, Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Cook Islands, Samoa, USAID

China's preferred endgame in Ukraine is a hybrid peace

Written by Dr Justyna Szczudlik

Sympathising with the idea of hybrid peace is a dangerous trap for the West. The only way to undermine Sino-Russian alignment, deter China from aggressive moves, and defend the rules-based order is to do everything possible to help Ukraine win the war.

No room for missteps: Cambodia’s strategic wishlist For Trump 2.0

Written by Chhay Lim

Policies that force Cambodia into a binary choice risk deepening its reliance on China and undermining US efforts to maintain influence in Southeast Asia.

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Vietnam’s semiconductor push amid the Sino-US technological rivalry

Written by Tran Thi Mong Tuyen

To establish itself as a semiconductor hub Vietnam needs a bold strategy that leverages its ‘latecomer’ advantages. Vietnam should set clear goals and concentrate resources on developing its semiconductor industry, with milestones for 2030 and 2050.

Southeast Asia9DLDecember 19, 20249DASHLINE, Vietnam, Tran Thi Mong Tuyen, Vietnam’s semiconductor push amid the Sino-US Technological Rivalry, Semiconductor, Chips Act, Taiwan, United States, China, semiconductors

Despite doubts, the Quad is here to stay

Written by Lucas Myers

The Quad’s role is clearer in 2024 than in 2017 or 2007. It coordinates and ensures the provision of public goods in an era of great power competition that is about much more than just traditional hard power security.

Pacific, Faultlines9DLNovember 26, 20249DASHLINE, Lucas Myers, Despite doubts, the Quad is here to stay, Quad, Quad Leaders’ Meeting, Quad Leaders' Summit, Delaware, US President Joe Biden, The Quad is here to stay, Delaware readout, Wilmington, US electoral season, New Delhi, Biden's home, New York, Japan, Australia, UN meeting, US scheduling conflicts, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Shigeru Ishiba, Narendra Modi, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Quad collapsed, talk shop, counter-China coalition, Beijing, Southeast Asia, Pacific, Quad’s purpose., force for good, big-ticket infrastructure, 400 million doses, Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA), Indo-Pacific, USD 140 million for undersea cables, Open RAN network in Palau, Palau, Global South, undersea cables, USD 500 million cable network, testing us all, East and South China Seas, non-Quad countries, latticework” concept, US-centered alliance system, Western Pacific, AUKUS, the Squad, Asian NATO, minilaterals, US-centric security architecture, rules-based order coalition, US Coast Guard, Papua New Guinea, Papua New Guinea’s landslides, Typhoon Yagi, Kevin Rudd, 2024 Quad summit, 2022 Quad Summit in Tokyo, Harris administration, Republican Party, Asia First, Republican White House, Development Finance Corporation, allied burden sharing, India, United States, Here to stay, Minilateral grouping, Wilson Center

India’s inevitable military diversification to the West

Written by Patrizia Cogo Morales

Like the US and France, other European countries and their private sectors should enhance their engagement with India, given the significant potential in military procurement deals and the defence industry overall.

Europe and the Indo-Pacific9DLOctober 17, 2024India, France, United States, India’s inevitable military diversification to the West, Patrizia Cogo Morales, 9dashline, Narendra Modi, Russia, China, Make in India

TikTok, Hip Hop, and the big shots — humanising great power rivalry

Written by Solomon PM

Contrary to substantive and decades-long literature speculating as to the destabilisation posed by China’s rise, at least in the case of 88rising, this rise has shown signs of being peaceful and mutually beneficial, as well as providing meaning and fulfilment for individuals on both sides of the divide.

Editor's Picks9DLSeptember 11, 20249DASHLINE, Solomon Pace-McCarrick, Solomon PM, TikTok, Hip Hop, and the big shots — humanising great power rivalry, Great power rivalry, TikTok ban, social media, spyware, espionage, United States, China, ByteDance, Hakeem Jeffries, national security, Mark Warner, Marco Rubio, Chinese Communist Party’s, Chinese Communist Party, Chinese Communist Party’s cultural embargos, State Administration of Radio and Television (SART), Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China (CPCPD), media, culture, intercultural communication, 88rising, Asian-American, zero-sum game, positive-sum game, online media trends, music, genres, India, Pakistan, Kashmir, Bollywood, geopolitics, national interest, Sean Miyashiro, Japan, Korea, Midsummer Madness, East-West cultural encounters, meaning, visibility, The Bicultural Identity, Western society, immigration, Canada, Netflix, Beef, cultural milieu, African-American, Higher Brothers, rap, Melo, Joji, Rich Brian, American culture, superstars, Marvel’s Shang Chi and the Ten Rings, Marvel’s Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Chinese pride, Joseph Nye, soft power, The Rise of China’s Soft Power, Thucydides Trap, hostile foreign adversaries, relative powers, ban on TikTok, TikTok Hip Hop and the big shots — humanising great power rivalry

China’s cautious quest to draw Afghanistan back into the fold

Written by Sarah Godek

By increasing relations at a slower pace, China’s government makes a safer long-term bet on Afghanistan that forgoes short-run gains to ensure greater security that could protect longer-term benefits in the future.

Emerging Issues9DLAugust 23, 20249DASHLINE, China’s cautious quest to draw Afghanistan back into the fold, Sarah Godek, Afghanistan, China, Taliban, United Nations, UN, interconnectivity, connectivity, Taliban-led Afghanistan, trade, 2023 Amu Darya oil basin contract, China’s Belt and Road Initiative, BRI, Chinese government, United States, US, agriculture, critical materials, copper, lithium, Taliban ambassador, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Taliban’s political commissar, 20th Party Congress, Kabul, terror, terror attacks, Zhao Xing, Hamid Karzai, Ashraf Ghani, peace, US withdrawal, US withdrawal from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Central Asia, peace through engagement, mining, Mes Aynak mine, mineral reserves, cotton, pine nut, Xi Jinping, Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon, China-Tajikistan-Afghanistan corridor, Kazakhstan, trans-Afghan railway project, cargo, China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Vice Chairman of Tibet, Tibet, SCO, UNSC travel bans, Taliban officials, dialogue, sanctions, noninterference, internal affairs, China-Afghanistan ties, Wakhan Corridor, CPEC, suicide bombings, Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, Islamic State-Khorasan Province (ISKP), Al Qaeda, Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement

Southeast Asia wants US-China conflict to stay lukewarm

Written by Hunter Marston

Whatever the outcome of the US election in November, Southeast Asian states will continue hedging for as long as possible.

Faultlines9DLAugust 19, 2024Southeast Asia wants US-China conflict to stay lukewarm, Hunter Marston, 9DASHLINE, China, United States, Trump, AUKUS

Sri Lanka’s potential political realignment

Written by Dr Neil DeVotta

Ultimately, given the dire economic and debt situation facing the island, the victorious candidate and his party will have little choice but to balance relations with major powers like India, China, and the United States.

Power Politics, South Asia9DLJuly 31, 20249DASHLINE, Sri Lanka’s potential political realignment, Neil DeVotta, Sri Lanka, Sri Lankan economy, presidential election, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Rajapaksa, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, Rajapaksa family, Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism, majoritarian, fiscal stability, balance of payments crisis, United National Party, Ranil Wickremesinghe, taxes, austerity, IMF program, World Bank, food insecure, poverty, Central Bank, debt restructuring, multilateral, bilateral, Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna, corruption, ‘Ranil-Rajapaksa’ regime, dynasty, Sajith Premadasa, Samagi Jana Balawegaya, SJB, JVP, Janata Vimukthi Peramuna, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, UNP, IMF, SLPP, creditors, Marxist, insurgencies, ethnic, Sri Lankan Civil War, Sri Lanka’s civil war, human rights violations, Tamils, geopolitics, United States, Australia, Japan, pro-China, China, White Elephant, Chinese loans, Hambantota Port, Mattala International Airport, Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium, multi-aligned foreign policy, multi-aligned, India, ethnocracy

Mending trilateral cooperation amid differences: Japan-ROK-China

Written by Daria Kurushina

Whether the driver is counterbalancing China’s influence in the region, addressing economic unfairness and trade barriers, criticising the expansion of the US trilateral alliance systems in the region, or improving diplomatic ties, the three countries have too much in common to neglect their interdependence.