21 Feb 2025 Trump’s Aid Freeze Could Disrupt Progress in US-Vietnam Reconciliation Phan Xuan Dung Suspending USAID programmes risks undermining years of work building trust between the former enemies and helping victims of the Vietnam War. U.S.-Vietnam Relations US Vietnam Vietnamese Politics
20 Feb 2025 Thai Undergraduates’ Voting Behaviour in Provincial and National Elections Panarat Anamwathana Many Thai undergraduates are engaged politically. While 'all politics is local', there is regional variation in undergraduate voting behaviour that suggests nuance and nous notwithstanding their youth. Thailand Youth
20 Feb 2025 Southeast Asia must Prepare for Trump’s ‘Everything’s on the Table’ Approach to Trade Stephen Olson Southeast Asia was spared in the initial flurry of Trumpian trade actions, but Trump’s introduction of expansive and unprecedented non-trade issues into trade relations will inevitably entangle the region. ASEAN-US Relations Donald Trump International Trade Tariffs Trade US
19 Feb 2025 ‘Airpocalypse’ Now: Vietnam at Crossroads of Progress and Pollution Nguyen Khac Giang Vietnam’s capital, Hanoi, is ranked as one of the world’s most polluted cities in 2025. This dubious honour highlights the country’s need to balance rapid economic development with preserving the environment. Environment Pollution
18 Feb 2025 Ominous Political Storm Gathers over Thai-Cambodian Dispute in Gulf of Thailand Termsak Chalermpalanupap The Paetongtarn Administration is following Thaksin Shinawatra’s advice in preparing to resume negotiations with Phnom Penh on conflicting maritime claims in the Gulf of Thailand. Opponents of the Shinawatra family suspect a collusion between Thaksin and Hun Sen to speed up a deal on joint exploration. Cambodia Thai Politics Thailand
18 Feb 2025 Outcome of Recent Thai Provincial Elections Heralds Tighter Race in Next General Election Termsak Chalermpalanupap Thailand’s three most significant political parties have some tough lessons to learn from the recent provincial races in preparation for the next general election. Coalition politics is likely to endure, regardless. Thai Elections Thai Politics Thailand
18 Feb 2025 Trump’s Territorial Ambitions Send Tremors Beyond the Western Hemisphere Hoang Thi Ha US President Donald Trump's rhetoric in past weeks has sparked a chain reaction of alarm in Southeast Asia. If his words become deeds, the region's uneven but evident bedrock of trust in the US, carefully built up since World War Two's end, could slowly turn to dust. ASEAN-US Relations Donald Trump Southeast Asia US
17 Feb 2025 Timor-Leste Bets on Online Gambling Isabelle Chua If the Timorese government can manage the potential negatives arising from allowing online gambling to be hosted in Timor-Leste, the returns from this bet could uplift the country’s fledgling economy. Economy Gambling Online Timor-Leste
17 Feb 2025 To Lam’s Pragmatic Pitch to Vietnam’s Youth: Economic Prosperity, Political Control Dien Nguyen An Luong Compared to their Southeast Asian peers, Vietnamese youth are more economically optimistic but politically disengaged. These attitudes concur with pragmatism of the country’s top leader To Lam, which focuses on material prosperity while calibrating civic freedoms to regime imperatives. Vietnam Vietnamese Demography Vietnamese Politics
14 Feb 2025 Trump 2.0 and the US-Philippines Alliance: Consistency and Change Julio S. Amador III The US-Philippines alliance is expected to be reinforced in the Trump 2.0 administration. It will, however, be tested given existing regional flashpoints and the need to follow through commitments pledged in previous years. Philippine Politics Philippine-U.S. Relations Philippines US
