Asia
Myanmar’s annus horribilis
It has been just over a year since Myanmar emphatically re-elected Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy as the dominant partner in the country’s quasi-civilian…
Duterte is playing both sides
The Philippines national election looms in May 2022. Sitting President Rodrigo Duterte is running to become a senator, while his daughter is campaigning to be vice-president to…
Europe is finally getting serious about China
On 1 December, the European Commission unveiled its Global Gateway Strategy, a new scheme which will mobilise “up to €300 billion” in investments between 2021 and 2027. At first…
Maldives embroiled in Mauritius‑UK tussle over Chagos
For decades, Mauritius and the United Kingdom have been in a dispute over ownership of the Chagos Islands in the central Indian Ocean. Recently, Maldives has become entangled in …
Taming the “grey zone”
Unease about so-called “grey zone” tactics is increasingly in vogue. From a position of relative obscurity, the term has surged onto the official agenda. There was no mention of …
In 2021, interest in Australian education has waned for Indians
With the effects of Covid-19 border closures resulting in a decrease in international student enrolments in the Australian higher education sector, there has also been increased…
Covid in Asia: the immediate payoff of donating vaccines
Covid-19 has loomed large over everything again this year and the new Omicron variant is a warning that there is still plenty of fight left in the virus. But the pandemic is…
Twenty years of BRICS
It is 20 years since Goldman Sachs chief economist Jim O’Neill invented the BRIC economic grouping – Brazil, Russia, India and China – with South Africa added later to make up the…
FOCAC: No mention of controversies while China sticks to a game plan
From 29–30 November, the eighth edition of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) was held in Dakar, Senegal, bringing together the foreign ministers and high-level…
Economic diplomacy: Free trade vs economic resilience
Santa clauses
The value of global goods trade during the biggest pandemic in a century last year dropped about a third less than it did during the biggest financial crisis in a…