Commentaries | FULCRUM

Inoculating Against Covid-19 Nationalism in Southeast Asia

A member of parliament receives a Covid-19 coronavirus vaccine at the Parliament building in Naypyidaw on 29 January, 2021. (Photo: STR/ AFP)

Southeast Asia has not been spared the effects of Covid-19 nationalism. ASEAN member countries can do more to combat vaccine nationalism and hesitancy in the region.

A “Green” Solution to Financing Sustainable Energy in Myanmar

Photo of a utility pole in Myanmar, on 12 December, 2016. Myanmar’s current lack of a reliable electricity source is a hurdle to the economic growth that it needs. (Photo: Claire BACKHOUSE/ Flickr)

Myanmar is in dire need of financing solutions to build its electricity grid and power its economic growth. “Green bonds” might well be the answer.

The Philippine-US Alliance: Keeping Things on an Even Keel

US President Donald Trump (L) speaks with Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte during a special gala celebration dinner for the Associate of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Manilla on 12 November, 2017. The Philippines and US enjoyed warm bilateral relations when Trump was in office, but the 70-year old alliance may be tested with the new Biden administration. (Photo: Athit PERAWONGMETHA/ POOL/ AFP)

Given the challenges posed by an assertive China and a changing geopolitical environment, Manila and Washington must work hard to sustain their decades-old alliance.

The US Coast Guard and the Indo-Pacific: Straddling the Sweet Spot between Diplomacy and Lethality

Sailors on a Mark VI patrol boat break away from the US Coast Guard cutter USCGC Oliver Henry during an integrated towing exercise in the Philippine Sea on 16 December, 2020. (Photo: Cole C. PIELOP via US Indo-Pacific Command/ Flickr)

The United States has added the US Coast Guard to its South China Sea toolbox. This bodes well for regional security and the maritime rules-based order.

Vietnam’s Leadership Reshuffles: Breaking from Established Conventions

Security forces drive past a billboard for the Communist Party of Vietnam's (CPV) 13th National Congress outside the National Convention Centre in Hanoi on 26 January, 2021. The CPV’s 13th National Congress, which will conclude on 2 February 2021, could see a break in established traditions of the Party. (Photo: Nhac NGUYEN/ AFP)

Vietnam’s 13th National Congress may turn out to be the most memorable in terms of the number of established conventions that are overturned.

Singapore in the Eyes of the Chinese: Amity and Likability

Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (L) shakes hands with China's President Xi Jinping (R) before their meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on April 29, 2019. (Photo by MADOKA IKEGAMI / POOL / AFP)

A recent survey shows that Chinese people are much more favourably disposed towards Singapore than other rich nations such as Australia, Japan and the United States.

Malaysia’s Third Covid-19 Wave

President of the Sabah Heritage Party Shafie Apdal votes during state elections in Semporna, a town in Malaysia's Sabah state on Borneo island, on September 26, 2020. The Sabah snap election was the origin of Malaysia’s third and largest wave of Covid-19 infections. (Photo: AFP)

Malaysia is suffering from its longest, highest and most politically fraught surge in Covid-19 infections.

China’s New Coast Guard Law: Illegal and Escalatory

A Philippine coast guard ship (R) sails past a Chinese coastguard ship during an joint search and rescue exercise between Philippine and US coastguards near Scarborough shoal, in the South China Sea, on 14 May, 2019. (Photo: Ted ALJIBE/ AFP)

A new Chinese law, which gives its coast guard legal cover to fire on foreign vessels in contested waters, is worrying. States interested in the peace and stability of the South China Sea should do something about it.

America, China and Southeast Asia: Where “Win Win” Can Become a Reality

Then US Vice President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping display shirts with a message given to them by students at the International Studies Learning School in Southgate, outside of Los Angeles, on 17, February, 2012. (Photo by Frederic J. BROWN/ AFP)

If China and the United States play their cards right, the two powers can avoid a hot or cold war. This will be good news for the world, in particular Southeast Asia.