ARTICLES

24 Apr 2026

Japan’s Grand Strategy Amid Geopolitical Flux

Kei Koga

Fulcrum editor William Choong talks to Kei Koga about Japan’s grand strategy and approach to the Indo-Pacific amid challenges to the global rules-based order. Prof Koga is Associate Professor and Head of Division at the Public Policy and Global Affairs Programme, School of Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University (NTU).

13 Mar 2024

ASEAN-Australia Relations: Working Out Hard Issues for Regional Stability

William Choong|Sharon Seah

ASEAN-Australia relations look set to power on for the next 50 years after the recent commemoration of the first 50 but some difficult issues need to be worked out.

ASEAN ASEAN-Australia Relations Australia Quad

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Defence Minister Anita Anand

23 Aug 2023

Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy: When Rhetoric Extends Beyond Reach

William Choong|Joanne Lin

Canada is still on the outside looking in, even if it will be promoted to a strategic partnership with ASEAN next month.

ASEAN Canada Indo-Pacific Quad

10 Jul 2023

Quad-lite Makes Right?

Hoang Thi Ha|William Choong

Analyses about the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) tend to focus on its four-way formal structures. An examination of the bilateral and plurilateral interactions between Quad members, as well as those between Quad members and other regional states, suggests that their coalition building is much more nimble and flexible.

China Indo-Pacific Quad

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 U.S.

10 Jun 2022

The Need for Power Balance Amidst Rising Great Power Contestations

Daljit Singh

ASEAN and its constituent states must not neglect the crucial importance of maintaining a balance of influence and power between the great powers to secure space for their own independence.

ASEAN AUKUS China-U.S. Relations Quad Security

23 Feb 2022

The State of Southeast Asia Survey

Southeast Asians’ View of Quad and AUKUS: Some Thaw, But Not Yet Warm

William Choong

In recent years, the United States has sought to involve its middle-power friends and allies in various regional initiatives to counter a rising China. Southeast Asia continues to have mixed feelings about this.

ASEAN AUKUS Quad

22 Oct 2021

Southeast Asian Responses to AUKUS: Arms Racing, Non-Proliferation and Regional Stability

William Choong|Ian Storey

AUKUS is a wake-up call to ASEAN that it needs to be more proactive on security issues and cannot take its centrality for granted.

ASEAN Unity AUKUS Australia China Quad South China Sea Southeast Asia U.S.

4 Oct 2021

The Quad and the Indo-Pacific: Going Slow to Go Further

William Choong

In recent years, the Quad has gained momentum in response to growing Chinese assertiveness. But a lower key strategy is advised to allay regional concerns that ASEAN’s centrality will be undermined by a minilateral arrangement helmed by external powers.

ASEAN Australia India Indo-Pacfic Japan Quad U.S. U.S. Foreign Policy

11 Aug 2021

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s Southeast Asia Tour: Assurances and Dividends

William Choong|Hoang Thi Ha|Le Hong Hiep|Ian Storey

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s visit to three Southeast Asian countries in July 2021 was aimed at reaffirming America’s commitment to regional alliances and partnerships amid concerns of US neglect of the region in the first six months of the Biden administration.

ASEAN China China-U.S. Relations Quad U.S.