Should Southeast Asia Try to Pick Up the Pieces On IPEF?
Stephen Olson
The US is likely to pull out of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework. But the remaining members should be able to advance the framework.

Stephen Olson
The US is likely to pull out of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework. But the remaining members should be able to advance the framework.
Leo Suryadinata
In 2024, senior Chinese diplomat Liu Jianchao made a clear distinction between Huaqiao and Huaren, emphasising that they possess different political loyalties. Huaren’s political loyalty, he noted, is tied only to the country of citizenship. In substance, however, Beijing’s policy of blurring the distinction between Huaqiao and Huaren remains unchanged.
Daljit Singh
Washington’s involvement in wars in the Middle East will intensify anti-US sentiment in Southeast Asia, and divert US bandwidth and military resources from the Indo-Pacific.
Hoang Thi Ha|William Choong
Southeast Asia is unlikely to be a priority in Trump’s foreign policy agenda, but the region will need to strategise its response to the President-elect’s trade and security stances, and his transactional approach.
Ian Storey
The arrival of thousands of North Korean troops in Russia represents a serious escalation of the Russia-Ukraine War. Southeast Asian countries should be concerned. They can take action to enforce the sanctions regime against North Korea.
Paul Teng
Agriculture suffers from the impacts of climate change and is also a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. ASEAN, working as a region, must do more to address food security and climate change mitigation.
Lee Sue-Ann|William Choong
Southeast Asia can expect regional tensions to rise amid growing Sino-US competition. To preserve regional stability, Southeast Asian countries should work more closely with middle powers.
Joanne Lin
President Joe Biden is, once again, not attending the ASEAN-US Summit. Though this is understandable given the upcoming election, the US seems to be losing ground in Southeast Asia amid growing Chinese influence.
Melinda Martinus
Carbon taxes and the removal of fossil fuel subsidies are viable ways forward in reducing carbon emissions in Southeast Asia.
Mirza Sadaqat Huda
How the region’s populations view decarbonisation as energy transition occurs can inform stronger leadership and better policymaking at the elite level.