There are not many references available on cooperation between Indonesia and the states of Central Asia – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan – which perhaps explains the low level of political-economic commitments between the two so far. While Islam plays a key part in both sides’ sociocultural fabrics and both Indonesia and the Central … Read more
Not long after the collapse of the Soviet Union, scholars like Aaron Friedberg, John Mearsheimer, and Richard Betts began voicing concerns about a new era of great power competition with China. But well into the first decade of the 21st century, many saw such fears as relics of a bygone era of international politics – … Read more
“Every ‘world order’ expresses an aspiration to permanence,” wrote the late and great Henry Kissinger in his 1994 masterpiece “Diplomacy,” “yet the elements that comprise it are in constant flux.” The current U.S.-dominated global order is no exception. Its hub-and-spoke deterrence architecture in the Asia-Pacific and, for that matter, the foundation and framework of China-U.S. … Read more
From pandemic and economic slowdown to climate change and food and energy shortages, our world is in an age of turbulence. Unfortunately, the mood is not jubilant for international cooperation now. Great power rivalry and the war in Ukraine have polarized the world into opposing blocs. Trust deficits between countries are pervasive and zero-sum thinking … Read more
Advertisement At the 12th Shangri-La Dialogue in 2013, then-Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung issued a passionate plea for countries to build strategic trust, emphatically noting that “if trust is lost, all is lost.” By many accounts, the keynote address was a hit, as it directly tackled one of the most pressing issues that concerned … Read more
Advertisement As China continues on its global superpower trajectory, policymakers in Beijing have taken increasingly aggressive measures to affirm their nation’s clout. These efforts have included attempts to expand China’s territorial claims in the East and South China Seas and discussions about a potential annexation of Taiwan. Additional issues include Beijing’s pursuit of partnering countries … Read more