Latest Stories
Has Nepal’s Second Biggest Party Just Committed Political Harakiri?
By electing the highly unpopular and recently ousted PM Oli as party chief, the CPN-UML has thumbed its nose at the Gen Z demand for fresh and young leaders.
The Return of Factional Conflict in South Korea’s Foreign Policy
Interministerial discord made a recent comeback, pitting the so-called “self-reliance faction” against the “pro-alliance faction” over how best to approach North Korea.
Thai Prosecutors Urged to Drop Malaysian Defamation Case Against Australian Journalist
Murray Hunter was expected to appear before a court in mid-December following his indictment but his trial was postponed. Instead he attended a four-hour Senate Committee hearing into enhancing anti-SLAPP legislation.
2025: The Year Pakistan Stepped Back into the Spotlight
After years of relative marginalization in global affairs, Pakistan was able to reclaim a prominent position on the world stage.
The Bondi Attack, the Islamic State, and the Price of Strategic Shortsightedness
The shooters’ actual connections to Islamic State groups in the Philippines may be tenuous, but the spotlight provides an opportunity to reflect on the group’s persistence and the importance of the ongoing Bangsamoro peace process.
Invoking History: Xi Jinping’s Challenge to Okinawan Sovereignty and the US-Japan Alliance
Xi’s invocation of tributary history is less a claim over sovereignty than it is an attack on the U.S.-Japan alliance.
Most Read
The Cambodia-Thailand Conflict: Can China’s Influence Tip the Scales?
Given Thailand and Cambodia’s close ties with China, it is necessary to assess how Beijing views the conflict and how its influence could shape the outcome.
Sheikh Hasina’s Spokesperson Mohammad Ali Arafat on the ICT’s ‘Legally Void’ Sentence
“The death sentence handed down by this kangaroo court is legally void.”
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."
Blogs
China Power
A New World Order
Invoking History: Xi Jinping’s Challenge to Okinawan Sovereignty and the US-Japan Alliance
Xi’s invocation of tributary history is less a claim over sovereignty than it is an attack on the U.S.-Japan alliance.
China’s Quiet Stake in Post-Assad Syria
After the Subsidies: EVs and Lessons from China’s Industrial Policy
How Europe’s Preference for Plausible Deniability Shapes China’s Role in North Africa
Flashpoints
Diplomacy by Other Means
China-US: A Rivalry Too Entangled to Decouple
Unlike its Cold War standoff with the Soviet Union, Washington's rivalry with Beijing is constrained by mutual dependence and the high costs of economic separation.
US Arms Sales to Taiwan Signal Policy Continuity
The 3 AI Problem: How Chinese, European, and American Chatbots Reflect Diverging Worldviews
The Cambodia-Thailand Conflict: Can China’s Influence Tip the Scales?
Asia Defense
Militaries of the Asia-Pacific
Indian Navy’s Combat Aviation Capability Takes Wing
The MH-60R Romeo is widely regarded as the world’s premier all-weather, day and night-capable helicopter, designed for maritime operations.
Russia’s Chinese-Enabled Drone Supply Network Is Remaking Warfare
Japan Voices Concerns as South Korea’s Hanwha Expands Stake in Australian Shipbuilder
Iran’s First SCO Military Exercise Solidifies Ties With China and Russia
ASEAN Beat
Insights Into Half a Billion
Thai Prosecutors Urged to Drop Malaysian Defamation Case Against Australian Journalist
Murray Hunter was expected to appear before a court in mid-December following his indictment but his trial was postponed. Instead he attended a four-hour Senate Committee hearing into enhancing anti-SLAPP legislation.
The Bondi Attack, the Islamic State, and the Price of Strategic Shortsightedness
Aceh’s Bitter Lesson, Relearned
Acting Like a State: Sarawak’s Kingmaker Blueprint for a Green Powerhouse
The Pulse
Perspectives on South Asia
Has Nepal’s Second Biggest Party Just Committed Political Harakiri?
By electing the highly unpopular and recently ousted PM Oli as party chief, the CPN-UML has thumbed its nose at the Gen Z demand for fresh and young leaders.
2025: The Year Pakistan Stepped Back into the Spotlight
Why is Türkiye Interested in South Asia?
How Would the Extradition of Sheikh Hasina from India to Bangladesh Work?
The Koreas
Divided Peninsula
The Return of Factional Conflict in South Korea’s Foreign Policy
Interministerial discord made a recent comeback, pitting the so-called “self-reliance faction” against the “pro-alliance faction” over how best to approach North Korea.
South Korea’s Labor Model and Its Strategic Consequences
What is Happening to North Korea’s Jangmadang Free Markets?
South Korean President Reiterates Necessity of Tipping Balance on Inter-Korean Relations
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
US Immigration Policy and the Normalization of Military Rule in Myanmar
The Department of Homeland Security's claim that there has been “notable progress in governance and stability" in Myanmar borders on military propaganda.
Rohingya Inclusion Is the True Test of Myanmar’s Future Democracy
Dictators Don’t Take Holidays
In Asia, Political Power Is for Sale. Can Global Action Finally Rein It in?
Crossroads Asia
The New Silk Road
Killing of Tajik Boy in Moscow Sparks Debate About Motive
After a 10-year-old Tajik boy was killed at a Moscow-area school last Tuesday, Dushanbe has spoken out, calling the attack an act of ethnic hatred, but have left bilateral relations unchanged.
What Gulirano Kosimova’s Case Reveals About Accountability in Uzbekistan
Underground and in the Shadows: How Uzbekistan Lives With Its Radioactive Legacy
Kazakh Senate Approves Law Banning ‘LGBTQ’ Propaganda”
Trans-Pacific View
U.S. Policy on Asia
Trump 2.0’s National Security Strategy and the Future of the International Order
Welcome to the post-American world.
The US National Security Strategy: A Sobering Reality Check for South Asia
America’s Pharmaceutical Dependence on China Is a National Security Crisis
Trump 2.0 Southeast Asia Strategy Tests Agency Beyond the US-China Prism
Pacific Money
Economy And Business
The Pacific Money Blog: 2025 Year in Review
From new state investment funds to U.S. tariffs, it has been a busy year for Southeast Asia's economies.
The US Is Selling H200 AI Chips to China – So Why Isn’t China Buying?
Vietnam’s Tourism Sector Set For Record Year in 2025
Pakistan’s IMF Program is Buying Time. Markets Want To Know What Comes Next.
Oceania
The South Pacific
Does Australia Need Additional Hate Speech Laws?
Or does Australia need to recommit to the ideals of liberalism?
A Moment of Reckoning for Australia at Bondi Beach
National Cabinet Agrees to Sweeping Overhaul of Australia’s Gun Laws in Response to Bondi Massacre
Australia: Regionalism as a Nexus to Great Power Politics
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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.
