ARTICLES

10 Aug 2022

China’s Think-Tank Diplomacy in Southeast Asia: Idea Exchange or Echo Chamber?

Wang Zheng

China’s intensified efforts to engage with regional think-tanks have not produced the results it has hoped for, mainly because Beijing seems to care more about imposing its own views than a true meeting of the minds.

8 Aug 2022

55th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting: Much Ado About Everything (or Nothing)?

Sharon Seah|Joanne Lin|Melinda Martinus

The ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meetings last week occurred at a time when the region was seeing ructions, be it in the Taiwan Strait, Myanmar or the war in Ukraine. ASEAN can boast that it has retained its convening power, but this in itself might be insufficient.

ASEAN ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting China-U.S. Relations Diplomacy Myanmar Ukraine

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

22 Jul 2022

What’s Behind Vietnam’s ‘Bamboo Diplomacy’ Discourse?

Phan Xuan Dung|To Minh Son

Hanoi has been promoting the concept of ‘bamboo diplomacy’ to define its foreign policy of independence and refusal to take sides in international disputes.

Communist Party of Vietnam Diplomacy International Relations Vietnam Vietnamese Politics

8 Jul 2022

Jokowi’s “Peace Mission” to Europe: Well-intentioned But Fruitless

Ian Storey

Indonesia President Joko Widodo’s visit to Ukraine and Russia was quite remarkable. But the trip achieved little in finding a way out of the current impasse between Kyiv and Moscow.

Armed Conflict Diplomacy Indonesia Russia Ukraine

4 Jul 2022

Has ASEAN Reached the Point of Diminishing Returns with Myanmar?

Sharon Seah|Moe Thuzar

The State Administration Council has cleverly gamed the ASEAN system for its own ends and dragged out the implementation of the Five-Point Consensus. It is time for ASEAN to pack more punch into the office of the Special Envoy to Myanmar.

ASEAN Diplomacy International Relations Myanmar

22 Jun 2022

China’s Pragmatic Party Diplomacy in Southeast Asia

Wang Zheng

The Chinese Communist Party’s outreach to political parties in Southeast Asia, regardless of ideology, underscores the pragmatism in President Xi Jinping’s plan for regional influence.

China China-Southeast Asia relations Diplomacy

14 Jun 2022

Southeast Asia Should Confront Threat of Economic Espionage

Gatra Priyandita

China is known for using cyber weapons to pursue geostrategic goals. In recent years, entities linked to the Chinese state have carried out alleged economic espionage of commercial firms in Southeast Asia.

Cyber Security Digitalisation Diplomacy

7 Jun 2022

Scaling the Shangri-La Dialogue

James Crabtree

In this episode, William Choong, managing editor of Fulcrum, talks to James Crabtree, executive director of International Institute for Strategic Studies (Asia), the London-headquartered think tank which runs the annual Shangri-La Dialogue.

China Defence Dialogues at Fulcrum Diplomacy Indo-Pacfic U.S. Foreign Policy

3 Jun 2022

‘Doomed to Fail’: Chinese Media Dismisses the U.S.’s ASEAN Diplomacy

Wang Zheng

Chinese state media have negatively portrayed Washington’s recent moves to court ASEAN diplomatically and economically, but the one-sided narrative that Beijing trots out belies the region’s careful reception of both great powers amidst their growing rivalry.

ASEAN-China Relations China-U.S. Relations Diplomacy Indo-Pacfic