ARTICLES

19 Mar 2025

Southeast Asia Will Be Challenged by Trump 2.0

Sarang Shidore

Sarang Shidore suggests that deeper intra-ASEAN coordination could help the region cope amidst uncertainties surrounding US foreign policy under Trump 2.0.

5 Mar 2025

The Anwar-Thaksin Deal: A Masterstroke or Miscalculation?

Napon Jatusripitak

Anwar Ibrahim, the prime minister of Malaysia, has roped in former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra as his informal advisor ahead of Kuala Lumpur assuming the ASEAN chairmanship. This might be ill-advised.

ASEAN Myanmar Thailand

27 Feb 2025

Introducing Timor-Leste

Alex Tilman

Fulcrum editor Julia Lau speaks to Ambassador Alex Tilman about Timor-Leste's imminent accession to ASEAN and its implications. They delve into aspects of Timor-Leste's identity as a Lusophone, small island, and majority Catholic nation-state.

ASEAN Dialogues at Fulcrum Timor-Leste

24 Feb 2025

New ASEAN Power Grid Agreement Must Reflect New Needs

Mirza Sadaqat Huda

It’s time to incorporate new key priorities into the pact to better address current realities of energy interconnection and serve future needs.

ASEAN Energy Laos Malaysia Singapore Thailand

17 Jan 2025

Malaysia’s ASEAN Chairmanship: Facing Treacherous Geopolitical Headwinds

Sharon Seah

The geopolitical tensions engulfing the world will make the year ahead for ASEAN — and Malaysia as Chair — a challenging one.

ASEAN Malaysia

17 Jan 2025

Expanding Southeast Asia-Kazakhstan Dialogue: Strategic Imperatives

Barbora Valockova

There are strategic imperatives for ASEAN to engage more deeply with Kazakhstan, Central Asia’s biggest country. There are, however, challenges to be overcome.

ASEAN Economy Kazakhstan

8 Jan 2025

Lao PDR’s ASEAN Chairmanship 2024: Advancing Regional Economic Integration, Connectivity and Resilience

Sithanonxay Suvannaphakdy

Sithanonxay Suvannaphakdy evaluates how the key achievements of Lao PDR’s ASEAN chairmanship contributed to the region’s resilience and unity.

ASEAN ASEANFocus Laos

7 Jan 2025

Preparing the ASEAN Economic Community for a Securitised World

Julia Tijaja|Muhammad Habib Abiyan Dzakwan

To prepare for the ratcheting up of geoeconomic tensions, ASEAN members should seek strength in numbers and look to their own community to navigate difficult terrain in the coming years.

ASEAN ASEAN-China Relations ASEAN-U.S. Relations Security Trade

Farmers plant rice in rice fields in Cibitung district, Bekasi, West Java

3 Jan 2025

Synergising Digitaltech and Climatetech to Enhance ASEAN Climate Action

Paul Teng

To ensure the food security of our region amidst climate change, there is no time like the present to determine how climate and digital technologies can work together to feed ASEAN.

Agriculture ASEAN Climate Change Technology

2 Jan 2025

Roundtable on the Return of Trump and Implications for ASEAN-US Relations

The re-election of Donald Trump as the President of the US for a second term is poised to reshape the trajectory of ASEAN-US relations, bringing significant shifts across multiple domains. In December, ASEANFocus+ sought experts’ insights on how the dynamics of this partnership are expected to evolve, in areas of geopolitics, trade, the South China Sea, technological governance, energy, and environmental cooperation.

ASEAN ASEAN-US Relations ASEANFocus US