Asia
Why the COVID-19 outbreak may help China move a little further forward
The novel coronavirus viral strain COVID-19 has dominated weeks of headlines and led to extraordinary measures in an effort to quell its spread. The decision to quarantine Wuhan –…
China-Japan-US triangle: Abe’s balancing act
The legacy for Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo will be defined by how skilfully he navigates fluid geostrategic and geo-economic variables in the US-Japan-China triangle, at a…
Power and legitimacy go hand in hand
I was delighted to read Sam Roggeveen’s thoughtful reply to The Interpreter article by Ali Wyne and myself about the relative qualities of US and Chinese power. Roggeveen makes…
If a tree falls in Nepal, will anyone care?
For all its natural attributes, Nepal is considered a country that provides a template for what not to do, ecologically.
Officials from neighbouring states will quietly admit to…
Coronavirus and the flow of information in the Chinese party-state
As the novel coronavirus outbreak crisis is unfolding across China, the Communist party’s efficiency is once again in the spotlight. On the one hand, there’s the capability to…
Jokowi’s speech to the Australian parliament: an ode to friendship
The visit by Indonesia President Joko Widodo (“Jokowi”) to Canberra this month brought fresh hope of cooperation between the two nations. With Jokowi bringing the freshly ratified…
Minority rights are suddenly the new turf for India-Pakistan rivalry
A general rule of South Asian politics might be that every action taken by India has an equal and opposite reaction in Pakistan. This may not be strictly true, but it gives a…
Pushing the Philippines‑US alliance over the cliff
The termination of the 1998 Philippines-US Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) initiated by the Duterte administration will mark a historic disruption of American power projection in…
Japan–South Korea tensions show little sign of easing
2019 saw a rapid deterioration of Japan–South Korea relations on several fronts. In a culmination of the reoccurring spats over nationalist issues such as reparations for Korean…
Bad news for the BJP as Delhi turns its back on Modi
In this month’s election to the Delhi Legislative Assembly, Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Adami Party (AAP or the Common Man Party) won another landslide victory, claiming 62 of the 70…