Southeast Asia Should Be Clear-Eyed As It Navigates Trump’s Tariff Fog
Stephen Olson
With the tariff regime announced on 31 July, Trump has upended the global trade system that has benefited Southeast Asia tremendously.

Stephen Olson
With the tariff regime announced on 31 July, Trump has upended the global trade system that has benefited Southeast Asia tremendously.
Ryan Hass
US President Trump and the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement behind him will overlap uneasily with Southeast Asia’s foreign policy orientation.
Kuik Cheng-Chwee
Malaysia’s initiative to establish the ASEAN-GCC-China summit underscores a long-standing desire to connect past and present.
Surachanee Sriyai
Online scams and digital-enabled human trafficking have escalated into complex transnational operations. An estimated 220,000 people were coerced into scam compounds in Cambodia and Myanmar in 2023 alone. A holistic, people-centred strategy is urgently needed. Solutions must include economic inclusion, social safety nets, digital literacy, and international cooperation to tackle root vulnerabilities.
Juthathip Jongwanich|Archanun Kohpaiboon
On the surface, it appears that Vietnam’s securing of lower tariffs from the US could make it more competitive than its regional rivals. A deeper examination shows that this might not be the case.
Lee Hwok-Aun
ASEAN has focused on facilitating high-skilled labour mobility, although the vast majority of migrant workers occupy medium- and low-skilled jobs. Disparities in labour standards and uncoordinated migrant labour systems continue to impede the realisation of an integrated regional labour market.
Cha Hae Won
The Trump administration’s curbs on foreign student admissions not only risk undermining US soft power but could also pave the way for more educational exchanges between China and Southeast Asia.
Niclas Kvarnström
Fulcrum editor William Choong talks to Niclas Kvarnström, Managing Director for Asia and the Pacific at the European External Action Service (EEAS), about the European Union’s evolving approaches to the Indo-Pacific.
Mirza Sadaqat Huda
A number of policy frameworks have been developed at the regional and national levels to facilitate a just energy transition, but the implementation of these policies is constrained by low levels of public participation, lack of financing and fossil fuel lobbies.
Leo Suryadinata|Siwage Dharma Negara
Newcomer food and beverage brands from China are surging in some Southeast Asian markets like Indonesia. What is their attraction?