COMMENTARIES

1 Aug 2022

Leadership in Place, PKR Needs to Focus on Ideology

Norshahril Saat

Parti Keadilan Rakyat, the political party of Anwar Ibrahim, has a new slate of leaders in place. To make a difference, PKR will need to find a balance between pragmatism and the need to uphold multiracialism.

Malaysia Malaysian Politics

29 Jul 2022

How Southeast Asia Will Benefit from the G7’s Infrastructure and Investment Drive

Choi Shing Kwok

Critics have pilloried the Group of Seven’s Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment for its lack of scale and tardiness. But Southeast Asian countries should welcome an alternative source of capital for much-needed infrastructure projects in the region.

Foreign Direct Investment G7 Infrastructure U.S. Foreign Policy

29 Jul 2022

Building Peace in Asia: It’s Not the “Asian Way”

Hoang Thi Ha

China’s “Asian way” is an all-embracing idea and a coded language to discredit other countries’ actions that are deemed harmful to China’s strategic interests.

China Chinese Foreign Policy Security South China Sea

28 Jul 2022

Promoting Inclusive Growth with Digital Identification in ASEAN

Sithanonxay Suvannaphakdy

Digital identification could be a silver bullet to increase tax revenues for ASEAN governments while pulling the region’s poorest out of poverty by redistributing wealth.

ASEAN Digitalisation

28 Jul 2022

Offered but Not Taken: Why Are Businesses Not Using Government Support?

Michael Schaper

Time and again, surveys show that SME owner-operators prefer to get their information from peers, friends, family and local business organisations. This is followed by third-party professional advisers. Governments usually come last.

Economic Development Economic Planning Small and Medium Enterprises

27 Jul 2022

Frugal Innovations: New Delhi’s Soft Power Potential in ASEAN

Melinda Martinus|Laura Lee

India has the opportunity to boost its soft power in ASEAN, including by promoting and sharing its lauded ‘frugal innovations’ to help low-income Southeast Asians to improve their lives.

ASEAN-India Relations Diplomacy Technology

26 Jul 2022

Shinzo Abe’s Legacy: The Centrality of Southeast Asia

David Arase

Shinzo Abe learned that Japan’s security did not lie in its military, but Japan’s good citizenship in a free-trading rules-based order. Southeast Asia was central to his pursuit of a free and open Indo-Pacific.

ASEAN Indo-Pacific Japan Japan-Southeast Asia Relations

26 Jul 2022

The U.S.-China Strategic Competition in the Pacific: Something ASEAN Needs to Watch

Daljit Singh

Beijing’s recent moves to establish security cooperation with Pacific Island states have riled the U.S. and Australia. ASEAN needs to watch the ongoing great power competition there closely to draw lessons for its own security.

ASEAN AUKUS Australia China Maritime Security Pacific Islands Quad Security US

26 Jul 2022

Digital Transformation under Indonesia’s G20 Presidency: What can it Deliver?

Lili Yan Ing|Titik Anas|Maria Monica Wihardja

Indonesia’s G20 presidency has committed to take action in the three priority areas of digital transformation, global health infrastructure and energy transition. But the war in Ukraine threatens to overshadow the agenda. The G20 may have to be satisfied with lowest common denominator agreements, though Indonesia clearly aspires for more.

Digitalisation G20 Indonesia Technology