COMMENTARIES

22 Feb 2023

The Chinese Offer of a Global Security Initiative: Anything New?

Zha Daojiong

Zha Daojiong articulates the key principles of China’s Global Security Initiative (GSI) and what it means for ASEAN.

22 Feb 2023

ASEAN’s Next Generation of Leaders in a Newly Competitive World

Chong Ja Ian

Chong Ja Ian calls attention to the need for new ASEAN leaders to adapt to a changing global order.

ASEAN ASEANFocus Indonesia Malaysia Philippine Singapore

22 Feb 2023

Is ASEAN’s Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Becoming A Farce?

Joanne Lin

Joanne Lin explains what a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership status means and how it should be leveraged to achieve ASEAN’s strategic interests.

ASEAN ASEANFocus Australia China Comprehensive Strategic Partnership

22 Feb 2023

Southeast Asians Mull Over a Taiwan Conflict: Big Concerns But Limited Choices

William Choong|Hoang Thi Ha

In the event of hostilities in the Taiwan Strait, Southeast Asian countries will face a difficult dilemma. Their latitude for manoeuvre will be limited, particularly as the Philippines, a key ASEAN member and a U.S. treaty ally, prepares to provide base access to the United States in such a contingency.

China Southeast Asia State of Southeast Asia Survey Taiwan U.S.

21 Feb 2023

Imagining Marcos Jr. as the “Strong Leader” in an Age of Digital Disinformation

Jason Vincent A. Cabañes|Fernando A. Santiago, Jr.

Digital disinformation has been menacingly deployed to distort historical narratives about the Philippines’ Martial Law period in the 1970s and early 1980s. This tactic, bolstered by social media technologies, has masterfully resonated with the yearning for a “strong leader” who is independent of the country’s elites and able to discipline the nation’s masses.

Philippine Philippine Elections

20 Feb 2023

Southeast Asian Economies: Out of the Storm, Clouds on the Horizon

Jayant Menon

The Southeast Asian economy is looking up, after absorbing the blow of several downside risks in 2022. Continued growth in 2023 will depend on China’s recovery, the management of the fallout from the U.S.-China trade war and the war in Ukraine.

ASEAN economy

20 Feb 2023

Rebuilding Social Cohesion for Myanmar’s Post-Conflict Future

Thiri

Two years after the February 2021 coup in Myanmar, societal ruptures amidst a civil war demand far-sighted visions for a post-conflict future led by the people.

Myanmar Myanmar Politics

17 Feb 2023

Fragmented Digital Regulations are Constraining ASEAN’s Digital Economy

Sithanonxay Suvannaphakdy

The ASEAN digital economy is running sub-optimally due to fragmented regulatory frameworks. Increased coherence will enable the region’s firms to break out of their local markets and raise revenues from the expansion of consumer markets.

ASEAN Digitalisation economy

17 Feb 2023

Indonesia Takes the Lead on Myanmar: The Clock is Ticking

Sharon Seah|Moe Thuzar

Southeast Asians are looking to ASEAN’s titular head Indonesia to take the lead to resolve the political crisis in Myanmar. But Jakarta’s first steps as ASEAN Chair have left something to be desired.

ASEAN Indonesia Myanmar State of Southeast Asia Survey

16 Feb 2023

BrahMos Supersonic Missiles: Poised to Buoy New Delhi’s Arms Exports?

Ian Storey

India is not a major arms exporter, something that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is keen to change. But there is one “Made in India” weapons system that half a dozen Southeast Asian countries seem most eager to buy: the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile.

ASEAN-India Relations Defence India