Written by Aniello Iannone
ASEAN’s future will not be determined by declarations or summit communiqués. It will hinge on whether the organisation can transcend the comfort of paralysis and confront the contradictions that sustain it.
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This month, we explore how Australia and Papua New Guinea’s Pukpuk Treaty is redefining defence cooperation through identity-based integration, while the IMF–World Bank meetings in Washington reveal how financial governance continues to constrain Global South autonomy.
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Written by Geo Dzakwan Arshali
Jakarta has never been aimless in its approach to the Koreas — it seeks to de-escalate tensions on the peninsula by keeping dialogue alive, even with an isolated Pyongyang, while simultaneously deepening cooperation with a democratic Seoul and its Western allies.
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Written by Dr Muhammad Zulfikar Rakhmat
Indonesia’s foreign service, though respected in ASEAN, has not fully kept pace with the demands of a world where China is central to trade, technology, and security. Without a cadre of China specialists embedded across government and academia, Jakarta risks responding to events rather than shaping them.
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Written by Ophelia Yumlembam
Given the Quad’s and the EU’s ongoing efforts to build resilient and diversified critical mineral supply chains, a more proactive and coordinated approach with other like-minded global actors is urgently needed — before China further consolidates its dominance over Myanmar’s REE resources and, by extension, the global REE supply chain.
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Written by Aristyo Rizka Darmawan and John Bradford
Ratification of the EEZ agreement provides a good opportunity for Indonesia to clarify its position by denying the validity of China’s Nine-Dash Line claim while simultaneously preserving its interests and advancing good relations with an important neighbour.
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Written by Jemima Holborow
Without CBRs, Pacific Islands face reduced financial inclusion and slower development. For the US, it risks pushing the region toward central bank digital currencies and de-dollarisation; a trend that could weaken US financial influence.
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Written by Dr Imran Khurshid
In the end, this agreement is less a stabilising alliance than a strategic gamble — one that risks drawing Pakistan into conflicts beyond its capacity, while further complicating the already turbulent geopolitical landscape of South Asia and the Middle East.
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Written by Angelo M’BA
Perhaps counter-intuitively, only an approach less concerned with morals and more with pragmatic engagement can pave the way for the EU to spread its values in the Indo-Pacific.
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Written by Chhay Lim and Chandarith Neak
Without institutional mechanisms that both parties accept as legitimate and binding, border disputes remain vulnerable to escalation and external intervention whenever domestic political pressures or regional tensions rise.
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Written by Vincent K.L. Chang
China and the United States should be willing to make concessions; treating compromises not as a sign of weakness, but as strategic wisdom. The rest of the world should ask what it can do to prevent escalation and avoid self-fulfilling threat perceptions, rather than contribute to them.
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This month, we spotlight the mounting pressures reshaping the Indo-Pacific: Beijing’s use of Martyrs’ Day as both a tool of domestic loyalty and an international signal of resolve highlights how nations are navigating turbulence on two fronts. Across the region, domestic instability — from popular protests to fragile governments — is constraining states’ ability to adapt to intensifying great power rivalry.
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Written by Zsuzsa Anna Ferenczy and Julia Gurol-Haller
Together, the EU, Taiwan, and ASEAN can redefine connectivity not as a geopolitical tool for influence, but as a platform for empowerment, resilience, and strategic autonomy in the Global South.
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This month, Zsuzsa and Richard are joined by Stefania Benaglia. Together they discuss the recent Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, focusing on India’s role and strategic positioning. They also explore the evolving dynamics between the European Union and ASEAN, highlighting the latest developments in interregional cooperation.
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Written by Farwa Aamer
India’s position as a global leader on climate adaptation and sustainable development, especially as the voice of the global south, could be undermined by any perception of using water coercively.
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Written by Emanuele Ballestracci
Italy cannot rival the hard-power presence of France or the UK, nor does it aspire to. Instead, it has constructed a pathway based on economic cooperation, private-sector activism, and steady institutional ties, which over time create the trust needed to expand into political and security spheres.
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Written by Marcus Andreopoulos
While dealing with the military-backed government may assist Trump in reaching short-term agreements, constant disorder and popular uprisings will make it impossible for the benefits of such agreements to ever be felt.
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This month, we spotlight India’s partnership with the Philippines, demonstrating sovereignty-sensitive maritime cooperation, while New Zealand’s expanding role in space highlights how smaller states assert strategic influence in high-tech domains.
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