The recently released “The State of Southeast Asia 2024 Survey Report,” published by the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, has garnered significant attention due to its noteworthy findings. One of the key highlights of the survey is China’s ascendancy over the United States as Southeast Asia’s preferred alignment choice amid the ongoing China-U.S. rivalry. However, a closer … Read more
Yesterday, a day after the close of the special Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim of Malaysia delivered a speech at the Australian National University in Canberra. The Malaysian leader’s speech ranged over a number of issues, from Western hypocrisy and the war in Gaza to the importance of ASEAN … Read more
“Power over opinion is therefore not less essential for political purposes than military and economic power,” the prominent British political scientist and historian E.H. Carr wrote of the period of rising conflict during the two world wars. Yet a century or so later, as China-U.S. competition intensifies in Southeast Asia, there continues to be relatively … 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
Advertisement Dear President Biden, I am Edmund, a citizen of Singapore, a country in Southeast Asia. I fondly recall your visit to my nation in 2013. As vice president in the Obama administration, you strengthened the U.S.’ good relations with Singapore and Asia. During your trip to Singapore, you also visited one of my favorite … Read more
Asia Defense | Security | Southeast Asia The Komodo exercises represent a rare sign of concord at a time of growing tension in the Asia-Pacific. The opening ceremony of the 4th Multilateral Naval Exercise Komodo takes place in Makassar, South Sulawesi June 5, 2023. Credit: Facebook/TNI Angkatan Laut Advertisement Indonesia yesterday kicked off a rare multilateral naval exercise including … Read more
Advertisement In a world marked by growing geopolitical uncertainties, Southeast Asian nations are at risk of being entrapped in an increasingly intense and complex power struggle between the United States and China. This is particularly true for countries like Vietnam and the Philippines, which lie along the fault line of the Sino-U.S. rivalry. As Southeast … Read more
An electric vehicle charging station in East Jakarta, Indonesia, August 18, 2022. Credit: Depositphotos Advertisement When we think of tech in Indonesia, the first thing that usually comes to mind are homegrown unicorns like GoTo and Traveloka, big consumer-facing start-ups that are integral to the country’s rapidly growing digital economy. And for a while, it … Read more