Southeast Asia
Analyses
Foreign and Security Policy in the new Malaysia
Malaysia’s foreign and security policy faces myriad challenges, but not much is likely to change under Mahathir Mohamad’s ‘New Malaysia’ framework.
Messy is the new order: Succession time in Malaysia
If events go according to schedule, Malaysia is set for a leadership transition in 2020. Speaking to a Wall Street CEO conference immediately after the May 2018 election, the then…
Deep fakes could have real consequences for Southeast Asia
In Malaysia, a sex-tape scandal engulfing the country in recent months has threatened to destabilise the governing coalition. While the tape has been determined by the police to…
What the rest of Asia thinks about China’s Belt and Road Initiative
If scientists are right, 85% of what comprises the universe is unseen, so-called “dark matter” material that neither reflects nor emits light. In recent times, “south-south”…
Mahathir holds all the cards, again
The latest news coming out of Kuala Lumpur may alter the trajectory of Malaysian politics.
On Wednesday night, 23 members of the Parti Keadilan Rakyet (PKR) central…
After the voting, personality beats policy in Southeast Asia
It has been an unusually intense time for elections across Southeast Asia in the past year with both a stunning upset and more predictable returns of incumbents.
But the striking…
China’s Belt and Road Initiative: status report
China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) continues to attract much comment. To some, it is a threat – proof that China’s aim is to extend Chinese global influence. To…
It’s not just melting glaciers that endanger the Mekong and its region
Recent reports of a rapid diminishment in the size of the glaciers that feed the great rivers of Asia, including the Mekong, have received wide coverage, not least because they…
Jokowi and Modi’s budding bromance
The re-election of India’s Narendra Modi and Indonesia’s Joko “Jokowi” Widodo saw India-Indonesia relations take another step forward after both leaders congratulated each other…
Indonesia: don’t over-react to Jakarta violence
Images of rioting by supporters of defeated presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto in Jakarta have been beamed around the world this week, tainting what was otherwise a free,…