Southeast Asia

Will Timor-Leste be the region’s latest press freedom casualty?
Will Timor-Leste be the region’s latest press freedom casualty?
The coronavirus pandemic has provided just the latest cover for a variety of authoritarian moves criminalising journalism across Southeast Asia. In the Philippines, a full…
US regional leadership: A shot across the bow
US regional leadership: A shot across the bow
For years at the Shangri-La Dialogue, the pre-eminent meeting of defence ministers held in Singapore, successive secretaries of defence from the United States have repeated ad…
How the virus could stagger Asia's giants
Commentary
How the virus could stagger Asia's giants
COVID-19 looks set to hit the emerging world hard. For Australia, what happens in India and Indonesia could be most consequential. Originally published in the Australian Financial…
COVIDcast Episode 4: Crisis looms in Southeast Asia
COVIDcast Episode 4: Crisis looms in Southeast Asia
People collapsing in the street with respiratory problems. Doctors forced to use raincoats in place of proper protective equipment. And one of the world’s highest reported death…
The real winners in the trade war might be found in Southeast Asia
The real winners in the trade war might be found in Southeast Asia
After more than a year of tit-for-tat tariffs in the US-China trade war and generalised anxiety about the cost to the world economy, it is remarkable that foreign direct…
Anchoring the Indo-Pacific
Reports
Anchoring the Indo-Pacific
A report by Premesha Saha, Ben Bland, and Evan A. Laksmana published by the Observer Research Foundation. 
India has left RCEP behind, but not its ambition in Southeast Asia
India has left RCEP behind, but not its ambition in Southeast Asia
India’s decision in the final months of last year to withdraw from negotiations for the mega-regional trade agreement known as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership …
Policing Vietnam: How Australia could help
Policing Vietnam: How Australia could help
Visitors to Vietnam’s premier police training institution are greeted by a statue of the country’s first president Hồ Chí Minh with his right hand raised and the index finger…
Time with Trump: Australia and Southeast Asia compared
Time with Trump: Australia and Southeast Asia compared
Over the last two years, US President Donald Trump has made two trips to Southeast Asia and none to Australia. Despite this, according to White House media notifications, Prime…
Taiwan embraces Southeast Asian migrant workers, one book at a time
Taiwan embraces Southeast Asian migrant workers, one book at a time
Yun-Chan Liao remembers it was about ten years ago when she first heard Southeast Asians in Taiwan saying that Taiwanese people treat cats and dogs well, but they weren’t so nice…