Written by Perle Petit
Hun Manet’s image as a ‘clean politician’, in combination with the relative stability of the country (when compared to regional neighbours), will most likely play in the government’s favour in terms of improving Cambodia’s relationship with the West.
Read MoreWritten by Hunter Marston
Western aid is far away and will remain hostage to both Myanmar’s immediate neighbours, with whom they must coordinate, and broader concerns about security on the European continent, where Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will grip Western leaders’ attention for the foreseeable future.
Read MoreWritten by Hunter Marston
Some experts suggest Indonesia is likely to propose adopting a seven-vote threshold instead of requiring all ten members to agree on passing a measure. This would go a long way to making the institution more agile, responsive, and decisive.
Read MoreWritten by Jefferson Ng
The Makassar Strait is likely to grow in prominence as Indonesia’s new capital emerges as a centre of economic activity alongside Jakarta, and defence policymakers in Indonesia will want to better control the flow of maritime traffic passing through the Strait.
Read MoreWritten by Joy Joy
Most importantly, ASEAN and the international community must recognise that the future of Myanmar belongs to its people. They must listen to the voices of the Burmese people and their democratically-elected representatives while making meaningful engagements to help resolve the crisis.
Read MoreWritten by Frances Mangosing
The way things are going, we can expect Duterte to ramp up nationalist rhetoric over the next few months to gather voter support for his chosen successor. We have seen this game before.
Read MoreWritten by Kalvin Fung
ASEAN members such as Indonesia might find themselves mired in a quagmire: recognising a regime lambasted for its terrible human rights record might save ASEAN unity but could draw further condemnation from the West and international media; rejecting the junta might jeopardise regional unity and delay the long-awaited COC.
Read MoreWritten by James Borton and Lucio Blanco Pitlo III
Sustained domestic pressure, efforts by other littoral states to align their claims with UNCLOS, and a growing chorus of countries referencing the award in their note verbales strengthen the hands of leaders who may come out more assertively on the issue.
Read MoreWritten by Ong Kian Ming
ASEAN must also be willing to push the envelope when it comes to economic diplomacy in a manner that would strengthen the unity of the grouping and safeguard the interests of its members.
Read MoreWritten by Nivedita Kapoor
In the long term, Russia has the potential to become a regional energy supplier as well as provide connectivity via the Arctic Northern Sea Route (instead of via the Straits of Malacca), which could mitigate the contradictions in the SCS.
Read MoreWritten by Ryan Lucas
Too often, foreign policy analysts have focused principally on the hard power component of China’s ambitions in the South China Sea. This security-centric approach, while important, risks downplaying a critical piece of China’s South China Sea strategy in the post-pandemic era.
Read MoreWritten by Murray Heibert
Beijing is unlikely to step up its role in Myanmar unless there is a sudden and massive outpouring of refugees across the border into China or opponents of the junta begin threatening Chinese infrastructure in the country.
Read MoreWritten by Jay L Batongbacal
Manila must resume its original policy of standing by international law, reinforce its alliance with the US and strategic partnerships with middle powers like Japan and Australia, and deepen friendships with other external parties such as the UK and the EU.
Read MoreWritten by Collin Koh
For Southeast Asian countries that also operate coastguards, now is the time to review the need for navies to relinquish certain tasks that coastguards might perform more effectively. This is especially the case where capacity (quantity) is more critical than having the most hi-tech warships bristling with weapons performing constabulary missions that simply require a presence.
Read MoreWritten by James Borton
Despite significant oceanographic advances and a continuous flow of ocean data, marine research has failed to ameliorate the competing South China Sea claims nor navigate the sustainable stewardship of ocean resources.
Read MoreWritten by Andrew Chubb
This brief, broad-brush picture emerges from the Maritime Assertiveness Times Series (MATS) project, which is compiling corresponding data on other states in the South China Sea, as well as an East China Sea series. Data collection and coding is still in progress, but once complete, the project will enable us to ask an array of new questions on the dynamics of maritime disputes in East Asia.
Read MoreWritten by Zachary Abuza
Then there is the issue over what vaccine people are getting: elites and wealthy states will dominate the highly effective vaccines by Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca, while poorer people will have to make do with Chinese vaccines that have significantly lower efficacies.
Read MoreWritten by Hadrien T. Saperstein
Thailand’s smaller-state space power approach will be unmatched to the strategic environment. The Royal Thai Air Force Space Operations Centre must, therefore, begin thinking about the way it could successfully transition from a user to actor in the space domain.
Read More
