COMMENTARIES

30 Mar 2026

The Importance of Preserving Physical ‘Third Places’ in Southeast Asia

Gauri Sasitharan

Gauri Sasitharan traces the evolution and decline of physical third places in Southeast Asia and the consequences for communities in the region.

Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi answers questions at a budget committee session of the House of Councillors in Parliament in Tokyo on 16 March 2026. (Photo by Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP)

20 Mar 2026

China’s Retaliation Against Japan and the Implications for Southeast Asia

Lye Liang Fook

Lye Liang Fook argues that Beijing’s retaliatory measures against Japan could increase pressure on ASEAN countries, making it important for ASEAN to continue emphasising restraint and peaceful dialogue.

ASEAN ASEANFocus China Japan Taiwan

6 Mar 2026

Navigating Our Future Together? The Philippine Chairmanship in a Year of Strategic Tension

Joanne Lin|Aries A. Arugay

Joanne Lin and Aries Arugay assess the first quarter of the Philippines’ ASEAN chairmanship and the challenges that still lie ahead.

ASEAN ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting ASEANFocus Philippines

In this photo taken on 4 February 2026, racks of GPUs (graphics processing units) with a closed-loop liquid cooling system are seen inside an operational Microsoft data centre in Karawang, West Java. (Photo by YASUYOSHI CHIBA / AFP)

27 Apr 2026

World Bank Resurrects Industrial Policy: Ball is in Southeast Asia’s Court

Marco Kamiya

The World Bank has made a volte-face on industrial policy. Southeast Asian countries will need to consider the new policy, but calibrate it across vastly different national contexts.

Economic Development Global Value Chains Southeast Asia

Malaysia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Honourable Dato’ Seri Utama Haji Mohamad bin Haji Hasan chaired the Special ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (SAMM) on the Current Situation between Cambodia and Thailand, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 22 December 2025. The Meeting underscored ASEAN’s collective commitment to regional peace and stability and the peaceful resolution of disputes through diplomacy and dialogue. (Photo by MFA-Malaysia, from ASEAN / Facebook)

27 Apr 2026

The State of Southeast Asia 2026 Survey

ASEAN in 2026: Great Expectations, Limited Effectiveness

Melinda Martinus|Indira Zahra Aridati

ASEAN remains central to regional diplomacy, but it continues to be bogged down by structural limitations.

ASEAN State of Southeast Asia Survey

24 Apr 2026

Japan’s Grand Strategy Amid Geopolitical Flux

Kei Koga

Fulcrum editor William Choong talks to Kei Koga about Japan’s grand strategy and approach to the Indo-Pacific amid challenges to the global rules-based order. Prof Koga is Associate Professor and Head of Division at the Public Policy and Global Affairs Programme, School of Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University (NTU).

Dialogues at Fulcrum Japan Quad Southeast Asia

A speaker at the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) 2025 summit in Penang, Malaysia. (Screengrab from Biji-biji Initiative / Youtube)

24 Apr 2026

Trump 2.0 Hollowing US Human Connections to Southeast Asia

Hoang Thi Ha|Eugene R.L. Tan

The US’ human and intellectual connections to Southeast Asia are gradually being undermined.

ASEAN-US Relations Education Southeast Asia US

23 Apr 2026

Danantara’s Patriot Bond and the Unchanged Role of Chinese-Indonesian Conglomerates

Leo Suryadinata|Siwage Dharma Negara

The Patriot Bond issued by Danantara shows that Indonesia’s economic nationalism under Prabowo is a repackaging of long-standing state–business ties using new financial instruments. The dominance of Chinese Indonesian conglomerates among Patriot Bond subscribers highlights their enduring role in Indonesia’s political economy.

Indonesia Indonesian Economy Indonesian Politics

Philippine Foreign Minister Theresa Lazaro (pointing) greets the press on the sidelines of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Retreat at the Nustar Hotel in Cebu City on 28 January 2026. (Photo by Jam STA ROSA / AFP)

23 Apr 2026

The Myanmar Crisis and the Challenge of Maintaining ASEAN Consensus

Jael Tan

It is time for ASEAN to truly reckon with the meaning and practice of consensus-seeking, on issues where its eleven members stand far apart.

ASEAN Myanmar Myanmar Politics

A Philippine Coast Guard ship is seen near Thitu Island in the South China Sea on 21 February 2026. (Photo from Jam Sta Rosa / AFP)

22 Apr 2026

From Fragmentation to Cohesion: Charting a Course for Philippine Maritime Security Governance

Dianne Faye Despi

How can the Philippines’ decision-makers on maritime security reduce their ‘seablindness’?

Maritime Security Philippines Security

22 Apr 2026

The Economic Fallout from the Thailand-Cambodia Border Conflict

Archanun Kohpaiboon

The Thai-Cambodian conflict has exacerbated economic losses on both sides.

Cambodia Cambodia-Thailand Relations Economic Development Thailand

Members of the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party display placards reading "Maintain the Kelantan Sharia Enforcement" outside the Palace of Justice (background) in Putrajaya as they await the Federal Court's decision on Kelantan state's sharia law criminal enactment. (Photo by Mohd RASFAN / AFP)

21 Apr 2026

Gender Reassignment in Kelantan: Complex Questions Arising from Institutional Inflexibility

Mohd Faizal Musa

The prosecution of an individual in Kelantan for undergoing gender transition underscores system inflexibility which ignores the higher objectives of sharia.

Law Malaysia Malaysian Politics