Latest Stories
What to Make of North Korea’s End-of-Year Party Plenum
The plenum served as a primer for the bigger party congress that is yet to come.
How Chinese Analysts Interpret Trump’s 2025 National Security Strategy
Far from celebrating an American retreat, Beijing’s strategists are reading the NSS as a blueprint for leaner – and potentially more dangerous – U.S. primacy.
France and Mauritius: Strengthening Ties in the Indian Ocean
With major powers like China and India asserting their ambitions in the Indian Ocean, France relies on partnerships with like-minded countries, including Mauritius, to maintain its influence.
Will Japan’s First Woman Prime Minister Finally Tackle Violence Against Women?
How Takaichi's government addresses the implementation gap for existing laws will define whether her historic appointment translates into substantive progress for women's safety.
Starmer Acknowledges Britain’s China Problem But Overestimates the UK’s Ability to Fix It
The real problem is not Britain’s lack of engagement with Beijing, but its shrinking leverage in a China-U.S. power dynamic that London has no power to shape.
Afghanistan’s Uncertain Gamble for Economic Survival
A struggling regime is caught between countervailing forces.
Most Read
Japan’s Grim Demographic Reality
Can an anti-immigration turn really be compatible with a ‘Japan is Back’ narrative?
Why China Can’t Make Gwadar Work – Even After Billions Spent
Gwadar port has often been touted as CPEC’s “crown jewel.” Yet almost two decades after the port began operations, business has been lackluster.
US Steps up Defense Cooperation in Southeast Asia
Washington is making progress with a range of states: from staunch ally the Philippines to newer partner Vietnam and even Cambodia, where China's influence dominates.
Blogs
China Power
A New World Order
How Chinese Analysts Interpret Trump’s 2025 National Security Strategy
Far from celebrating an American retreat, Beijing’s strategists are reading the NSS as a blueprint for leaner – and potentially more dangerous – U.S. primacy.
Starmer Acknowledges Britain’s China Problem But Overestimates the UK’s Ability to Fix It
Why China Is Watching Trump’s Venezuela Campaign Closely
German Foreign Minister Wadephul (Finally) Visits China
Flashpoints
Diplomacy by Other Means
France and Mauritius: Strengthening Ties in the Indian Ocean
With major powers like China and India asserting their ambitions in the Indian Ocean, France relies on partnerships with like-minded countries, including Mauritius, to maintain its influence.
Trump to Hold Peace Talks With Cambodian and Thai Leaders
The Problem With Taiwan’s $40 Billion Defense Budget
Putin’s India Visit Reveals New Delhi’s Complicated Strategy
Asia Defense
Militaries of the Asia-Pacific
China Bets on Unmanned Stealth Bombers
China’s focus on advanced UAVs offers critical insights into the People’s Liberation Army Air Force’s future airpower strategy.
100 Ships at Sea: Strategic Observations on the Chinese Navy’s 2025 Winter Exercises
Putin and Modi Affirm Russia-India Defense Relations
Breaking the North Korea-Russia Missile Axis
ASEAN Beat
Insights Into Half a Billion
Thai Prime Minister Gains Royal Approval For Dissolution of Parliament
The move, which Anutin Charnvirakul said would "return power to the people," will pave the way for a snap election in late January or early February.
‘Allocables’ and other Corruption Keywords in the Philippines
Rights Groups Condemn Myanmar Military Airstrike on Hospital
Indonesia’s Floods: A Many-headed Serpent of Disaster
The Pulse
Perspectives on South Asia
The Koreas
Divided Peninsula
What to Make of North Korea’s End-of-Year Party Plenum
The plenum served as a primer for the bigger party congress that is yet to come.
North Korea Kicks off Workers’ Party Plenary Meeting
South Korea’s Unification Minister Is Not Happy With DMZ Administration
Lee Jae-myung’s Latest Policy Signals to North Korea
Tokyo Report
News From Japan
Will Japan’s First Woman Prime Minister Finally Tackle Violence Against Women?
How Takaichi's government addresses the implementation gap for existing laws will define whether her historic appointment translates into substantive progress for women's safety.
The Takaichi Factor: Recalibrating the India-Japan Strategic Equation
Japan Reacts to the New US National Security Strategy
What a China-US Detente Mean for Japanese Foreign Policy
The Debate
Comment and Opinion
In Asia, Political Power Is for Sale. Can Global Action Finally Rein It in?
Governments must now choose: keep political money largely hidden, or adopt the basic transparency needed to sustain public trust.
Myanmar Photojournalist Sai Zaw Should Be Able to Report Freely. He Should Not Be In Prison.
What Afghanistan Taught Us — And Why Libya May Be Lost If the Lesson Is Ignored
For Rohingya Women in Bangladesh, Digital Freedom Is a Distant Ideal
Crossroads Asia
The New Silk Road
Death Penalty Reinstatement ‘Legally Impossible,’ Kyrgyz Constitutional Court Says
Kyrgyzstan abolished capital punishment in 2007; President Japarov has suggested reinstating it as a way to confront horrific crimes against women and children.
Petition Against Kazakhstan’s Proposed ‘LGBTQ Propaganda’ Law Rejected
Kambarata-1 to See Joint Financing From Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan in 2026
Mongolia and Cuba’s Diplomatic Relations: Past, Present, and Future
Trans-Pacific View
U.S. Policy on Asia
Trump 2.0 Southeast Asia Strategy Tests Agency Beyond the US-China Prism
From trade deals to the South China Sea, states are navigating risks as they exercise agency amid shifting great power competition.
Allowing Nvidia to Sell H200 Chips to China Is a Mistake
India and the Indo-Pacific in Trump’s Second-term Strategy
US Steps up Defense Cooperation in Southeast Asia
Pacific Money
Economy And Business
Indonesia-US Trade Agreement at Risk of Collapse, Report Claims
The Trump administration accuses Jakarta of "backtracking" on agreements to eliminate non-tariff barriers on U.S. goods.
Vietnam’s 2026 Budget, Explained
The Ford-CATL Deal Should Become the Model for China-US Economic Cooperation
Is China’s Real Estate Crisis Driving the Next Stage of Homegrown Innovation?
Oceania
The South Pacific
Australia’s Social Media Age Ban Is Days Away. Here Is What It Really Means.
Public debate on the ban has focused on parenting choices. But the real issue is corporate compliance, technical design, and safe spaces for young people.
The $500 Mistake: Why International Students in Australia Are Selling Their Bank Accounts to Criminals
Australia’s National AI Plan Has Just Been Released. Who Exactly Will Benefit?
How Best to Defend Australia’s Democracy in the Digital Age?
Videos
Asia on Video
What’s Really Changed in ‘New Uzbekistan’?
Since the 2016 death of the country’s first president, Islam Karimov, his successor, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, has strived to present himself as a reformer forging a “New Uzbekistan."
Why China Can’t Make Gwadar Work – Even After Billions Spent
How Southeast Asia Became the Scam Capital of the World
Inside China’s Rare Earth Empire: The Hidden Costs in Myanmar
Podcasts
Asia Geopolitics
Dissecting Trump’s Remarkably Odd US National Security Strategy
Half as long as his previous administration’s NSS, Trump’s newly revealed strategy is perhaps the clearest (though still confusing) outline of the U.S. president’s worldview.
