Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s visits to Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand have burnished Japan’s regional credentials, particularly on contentious issues such as the war in Ukraine, the South China Sea disputes and the evolving order in the Indo-Pacific.
Category Archives: Commentaries
Abdul Somad Denied Entry into Singapore: Islamophobic? Far from It
Indonesia religious teacher Abdul Somad was denied entry to Singapore. His followers have decried Islamophobia as being behind the decision. This cannot be farther from the truth.
ASEAN’S Relevance for the New South Korean Administration
New South Korean President Yoon has a tough balancing act to pull off for his foreign policy, given his neophyte status on the international stage. ASEAN will be watching carefully to see if great power rivalry will derail ASEAN-ROK cooperation.
Cash Payments in Post-Pandemic Southeast Asia: Phasing Out or Coming Back?
The region paints a highly mixed picture, one that confounds the widespread assumption that cash is on a one-way path of inevitable decline, hastened by Covid-19.
U.S.-ASEAN: Summitry Is Not a Strategy
The United States hit all the right notes when it hosted ASEAN leaders in Washington last week. The fact remains, however, that Washington has an uphill climb if it wants to catch up with Beijing’s economic momentum in Southeast Asia.
PM Chinh Goes to Washington: Equal Importance of Foreign and Domestic Goals
Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh had a successful trip to Washington, which should go some way to advance Hanoi’s foreign policy goals and domestic priorities.
Tackling the Problem of Identity Violence Against Pluralists
A recent attack on an academic who has promoted pluralism in Indonesia highlights the need for the government to adopt new strategies to tackle Islamist violence against such individuals.
The Next Phase of Myanmar’s 2021 Spring Revolution Turns on Contested Local Authority
As the Arakan Army establishes more control over Rakhine State, the future success of the national revolution may hinge on whether a parallel local administrative system can be established in other areas including Myanmar’s heartland. Providing a workable alternative to the State Administration Council’s governance will enable the revolution to mature as it meets the people’s demands for rule of law and governance.
In Denial Against Democracy: Thailand’s Royalists see Putin as a ‘Decoloniser’
Thai royalists’ online narratives echo the line that Russia’s war in Ukraine is succeeding. There are indications that this rhetoric is driven by anti-western anti-democratic sentiment, especially against the United States. The royalists are using the debate over the war as a proxy fight with opposition movements, whom they see as being supported by western pro-democracy forces.
US-ASEAN Summit: The Audacity of Trope
ASEAN leaders will finally meet US President Joseph Biden at the long-awaited US-ASEAN summit in Washington. Whether ASEAN and US can find convergence on regional issues, such as Washington’s desire to manage the rise of China, will be a pressing challenge.