Taiwan’s TikTok Liberal Paradox
The United States has steadily tightened its grip on TikTok, the massively popular video-sharing app owned by Chinese firm ByteDance, since early 2020. The clampdown began that January, during...
View ArticleLooking Back at India-Japan Security Ties in 2024: A Way Forward
Significantly, in 2024 two major Asian democracies, Japan and India, celebrated the 10th anniversary of their Special Strategic and Global Partnership. This special relationship, forged under Prime...
View ArticleThe TTP and the Pakistan-Afghanistan Conundrum
Late in the night on December 24, 2024, Pakistani jets targeted locations in the Barmal district of the bordering Paktika province of Afghanistan. Authorities in Pakistan believed the targets were...
View ArticleSailing Chaotic Seas: New Zealand’s Foreign Policy in 2025
Aotearoa/New Zealand foreign policy looks set for more of the same in 2025, despite the potential for significant chaos due to the incoming Trump administration in the United States and increased...
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More than 750 Central Asians Were Deported from the US in FY2024
In 2019, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deported just under 100 Central Asians; in fiscal year 2024 nearly 750 were removed from the United States and returned to the region. While...
View ArticleWhat to Expect in Philippine Politics in 2025
Public scrutiny over the misuse of government funds, the squabble between the Marcos and Duterte clans and their allies, and the local and senatorial midterm elections are expected to dominate...
View ArticleNearly 6,000 Prisoners Released in Myanmar Independence Day Amnesty
Myanmar’s military junta released nearly 6,000 prisoners, including foreigners and political prisoners, to mark the country’s Independence Day on Saturday. According to state-run television, Senior...
View ArticleWhat Indonesia’s 2025 Budget Tells Us About Prabowo’s Fiscal Outlook
As one of his final acts before leaving office, Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo signed into law the national budget for 2025. This budget is worth scrutinizing in some depth because although...
View ArticleThe Dark Underbelly of India’s Fast-expanding Gig Economy
Even as India’s online delivery app businesses are booming, the bleak situation of the sector’s “delivery partners” – i.e. the gig workers of the online delivery platforms – is going largely ignored by...
View ArticleYear of the ‘Known Unknowns’? Australia-China Relations in 2025
2024 saw the Australia-China relationship consolidate a process of stabilization that had followed the election of the Anthony Albanese-led Labor government in 2022. The year saw the lifting of the...
View ArticleBlinken’s Last Trip to Seoul and Its Implications
Nearly one year after their last bilateral talks, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his counterpart Cho Tae-yul met once again on January 6, but in a completely different atmosphere. This...
View ArticleCould Afghanistan’s Qoshtepa Canal Worsen Water Scarcity in Central Asia?
A new report from the Center for the National Interest, “Afghanistan’s Qoshtepa Canal and Water Security in Central Asia,” underscores the main technical, financial, and legal challenges confronting...
View ArticleTrump 2.0 and Japanese Firms: Assault, Acclimation, and Adaptation
Japanese firms have huge stakes in the policies the incoming Donald Trump administration implements. The United States is Japan’s second largest trade partner, the largest destination for Japanese...
View ArticleFormer Cambodian Opposition MP Gunned Down in Bangkok
A former Cambodian opposition MP was shot dead by a gunman on a motorcycle in Bangkok yesterday in an apparent political assassination, according to Thai media reports. The Bangkok Post reported that...
View ArticleBurmese Tofu Diplomacy: Myanmar’s Democratic Forces and Their Engagement with...
Myanmar’s strategic position as a bridge between two rising Asian powers, China and India, places it at the center of a critical geopolitical nexus. The historian Thant Myint-U underscored the...
View ArticleIndonesia Officially Becomes First Southeast Asian Member of BRICS
On Monday, Brazil’s government announced that Indonesia has been admitted as a full member of the BRICS bloc of developing economies, after expressing its interest in membership late last year. Brazil,...
View ArticleIndia’s Response to World’s Largest Dam in China Faces Local Opposition
Strong protests have erupted in the Indian border state of Arunachal Pradesh against a proposed “multi-purpose project” envisioned as the country’s response to China’s plan to construct the world’s...
View ArticleYear of the ‘Known Unknowns’? Australia-China Relations in 2025
2024 saw the Australia-China relationship consolidate a process of stabilization that had followed the election of the Anthony Albanese-led Labor government in 2022. The year saw the lifting of the...
View ArticleRevolution and Rivalry: Can Bangladesh Escape Its Illiberal Past?
On December 22, 2024, a violent clash between Jamaat-e-Islami and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) in Gaibandha district left at least 10 people injured. In the wake of Sheikh Hasina’s...
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Kyrgyz, Tajik, Uzbek Prime Ministers Meet at Trilateral Junction
Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan held a trilateral meeting on January 8, marking the significant progress made on settling the borders between the three Central Asian neighbors. Adylbek...
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