Amid the uncertainty and gloom that pervaded global headlines in 2025, the team at Fulcrum has many things for which to be thankful.
Category Archives: Commentaries
Myanmar’s 2025 Election: Rhetoric and Realities
The Myanmar junta is casting the upcoming elections as a “reset” and transition towards normalcy. Such rhetoric should be taken with a dollop of salt.
Why ASEAN Must Hold the Line on Myanmar’s Election
ASEAN needs to march to the tune of its own drummer and insist that Myanmar’s ruling regime toes the line, sham elections or not.
Court Ruling Against Former PM Will Haunt Thailand’s Cambodia Policy
The Constitutional Court’s ruling against a former Thai premier will constrain how conciliatory the kingdom will be in times of conflict.
Beyond Autonomy: The Ripple Effects of Sabah Elections on Federal Power
Pakatan Harapan’s poor performance at the Sabah state elections has weakened its bargaining power vis-à-vis ruling coalitions in Sabah and Sarawak. It will need their support to form the next federal government.
Critical Mass: The Complexity of Malaysia’s Nuclear Reboot
Malaysia is re-considering the use of nuclear power. But the government will need to tackle questions about trade-offs.
ASEAN Business Entity: Integration at the Cost of Inclusion
The ABE initiative professes to promote regional economic integration via greater intra-ASEAN investments, but ASEAN should focus on attracting high-quality investment, enhancing industrial upgrading, and mitigating geopolitical risk.
ASEAN Power Grid: Gleaning Best Practices from Worst Cases
As Southeast Asia focuses on building the ASEAN Power Grid, there will be a higher chance of success if interconnections are designed to be modular and embedded within a broader regional integration agenda.
Private Investment, Public Burden: Indonesia’s ‘Whoosh’ Lesson
Indonesia’s first high-speed train project is historic but its government now has to prevent it going off the rails as costs spiral and boomerang onto the state and taxpayers.
Indonesia’s Slow Disaster Response: President Prabowo Constrained by His Own Agenda
Poor advice and a seeming refusal to acknowledge the reality and scale of the problem have hampered the Indonesian president’s response to the disastrous floods across Sumatra.