Asia
Japan is insulating itself from America’s turbulent politics
Japan, the closest US ally in Asia, was in the crosshairs during Donald Trump’s presidency, despite efforts by the late prime minister Shinzo Abe to cultivate a close relationship…
Between the two worlds of an Indian diplomat
Book Review Cosmopolitan Elites: Indian Diplomats and the Social Hierarchies of Global Order, by Kira Huju (Oxford University Press, 2023)
Kira Huju places Indian…
India’s crackdown on journalists a sour note in the festival of democracy
As India goes to the polls to consider re-electing the Bharatiya Janata Party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the country’s reputation as the world’s largest democracy is looking…
Economic diplomacy: It’s nostalgists vs strategists
New binaries
Australian economic leaders have a double-edged history of trying to redefine their opponents out of the political debate from Paul Keating’s “straightmen, fixers…
Fostering Indigenous cooperation between Australia and Taiwan
It may not be well known in Australia, but Indigenous peoples have lived in Taiwan for more than 5,000 years. Indigenous Taiwanese are part of the Austronesian language family…
The rise and endurance of minilaterals in the Indo-Pacific
Minilateralism has enjoyed a golden age with the advent of the Indo-Pacific. The evolution of the Quad as well as the establishment of AUKUS and other trilateral groupings over…
Trouble together: How North Korea sees its growing interests with Iran
Following months of strengthening its relationship with Russia, North Korea is expanding its horizons, by sending a diplomatic delegation to Tehran to explore potential avenues…
Balikatan 2024: Philippines and friends send a clear signal to China
The Philippines and the United States have kicked off their most expansive and consequential joint military drills yet. This year’s edition of Balikatan (shoulder-to-shoulder)…
The cable ties to China’s Digital Silk Road
Technological competition between the United States and China is transforming the physical connections that make up the digital world and its governance. China’s “Belt and Road…
Why India’s Global South ambitions must turn to Southeast Asia
India was ranked ninth out of the most relevant dialogue partners for ASEAN in the latest edition of the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute State of Southeast Asia survey report,…