Chinese space debris spells trouble for the South China Sea

Written by Jay L Batongbacal

While China’s accomplishments as a new space power are truly impressive, its emerging record for safety and responsibility leaves very much to be desired.

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The world needs Sino-American climate cooperation

Written by Taylah Bland

If the world’s two rivalling superpowers can cooperate on climate change, the rest of the world has no excuse but to join in the effort.

Japan’s ‘history problem’ lingers on after Abe

Written by Chris Deacon

Almost eight decades after the end of the Second World War, the legacy of Japan’s military expansionism and colonial rule across the Pacific continues to haunt its contemporary international politics, particularly within Northeast Asia.

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South China Sea: An environmental tragedy of the commons

Written by Sabrina Moles

Tensions in the South China Sea are creating a dangerous, competitive pattern in the relations among the countries involved. Sovereignty claims, together with the urgent demand for food, energy resources, and profits are all defining a set of priorities that are increasingly disregarding environmental damage.

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The problem is not a power transition

Written by Michael J. Mazarr

The US-China relationship is not accurately captured as a power transition, but it is a clash of an often self-righteous leading power and a dissatisfied challenger. That recipe is one of the most combustible in world politics.

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China, transnational organised crime, and Southeast Asia’s SEZs — is this Quid pro quo?

Written by Marco Neveu and Charlie Thame

Xi’s anti-corruption projects in the mainland seem to have sparked a degree of outward mobility by the triads from the authoritarian domestic core towards the more liminal and experimental periphery of Chinese influence.

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Alignment without alliance: China’s growing ambivalence to Putin’s war

Written by Lunting Wu and Kamil Matusiewicz

Functional, strategic and normative factors have shaped Beijing’s growing ambivalence towards the war, and despite the absence of outright condemnation, a subtle shift and distancing can be discerned.

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The EU ventures into the strategic “jungle”

Written by Mohammadbagher Forough

While tropes such as ‘values’ and ‘standards’ are promoted as the main feature of the Global Gateway’s connectivity agenda, African countries (and many others in Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America) will not overlook the fact that this promoted feature contrasts uneasily with neo-colonialist-sounding dichotomies like ‘garden/jungle’.

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The Milk Tea Alliance — an uphill battle against the authoritarian paradigm

Written by Roger Lee Huang

While the Milk Tea Alliance initially captured the imagination of global audiences, it has thus far been unable to consistently mobilise a critical mass to dislodge their respective authoritarian establishments.

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Japan-Russia relations: Stronger stance needed on energy imports

Written by James DJ Brown

The Kishida administration’s record since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is impressive, especially compared to Abe’s pandering to Putin. Yet Japan needs to go one step further by rapidly cutting imports of Russian gas.

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Going global: Beijing’s bid to rewrite the rules of international security

Written by Sam Bresnick

If Beijing succeeds in impelling Global Security Initiative partners to revise existing security norms and arrangements (certainly a big ‘if’), the United States and its allies could find themselves increasingly constrained.

The China-Russia ‘no-limits’ friendship in full swing

Written by Justyna Szczudlik

Possible concessions from China would neither be cost- and condition-free, nor change the nature of Beijing-Moscow ties. The best way for the West to deal with the China-Russia alignment is to acknowledge that these bonds are strong and to improve its own resilience and deterrence capacities.

Hong Kong’s colony status and right to self-determination: why this is problematic for Beijing

Written by Ho-fung Hung

The more Beijing does to impose a rewriting of history to deny that Hong Kong was ever a colony, the more the international community will become aware of the fact that Hong Kong has never exercised its right to self-determination, as warranted by its past colony status during decolonisation.

Italy pushes back against China’s technology transfer

Written by Francesca Ghiretti and Rebecca Arcesati

Mario Draghi’s new unit to screen FDI in strategic sectors should be concerned with more than inbound investments. Particularly, the new division should consider turning its attention towards research and innovation (R&I) exchanges.

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The Macbethian tragedy of Indonesian democracy

Written by Emirza Adi Syailendra

The harder task is to unlearn the mentality of the masses that have been desensitised to the employment of undemocratic means, making them susceptible to electing another despot.

The rationale behind Beijing’s position on the war in Ukraine

Written by Wang Li

Beijing believes that even if Moscow’s reputation as a formidable military power has suffered a serious blow during its war in Ukraine it will be able to re-emerge as a stronger power in a short time.

When think-tanks get terrorism wrong: The IEP and Myanmar

Written by Georg Bauer

Such a reassessment of Myanmar must include a look at the military as its conduct much more fits the IEP’s own terrorism definition.

Liberalism from below: The Global South, Ukraine and the Liberal International Order

Written by Indrajit Roy

Of the 141 countries that condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, over 90 are from the Global South. Criticisms of Russia are thus not confined to European or North American countries.

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