This month, we examine EU engagement with the Taliban, where Chris Fitzgerald argues that efforts to curb irregular migration risk undermining the bloc's longstanding commitment to human rights and international law. As Europe weighs strategic pragmatism against its normative identity, Fitzgerald asks what is sacrificed when geopolitical priorities take precedence over democratic values.
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Read MoreWritten by Grace Corcoran and Aditya Gowdara Shivamurthy
Maritime security presents a high-impact avenue for coordination. Bangladesh possesses one of the most capable armed forces in the region and is the second-largest recipient of Chinese military equipment worldwide.
Read MoreWritten by Leonardo Morreale
In a first clash, both China and Japan would be learning the most expensive lessons in real time, and the side that adapts faster, not the side with more hulls, would likely prevail.
Read MoreWritten by Jing Ge
China’s controls are changing Japan’s political calculus: dependence on Chinese supply is no longer just a commercial risk but an economic-security vulnerability.
Read MoreWritten by Edwin Akpotu
While diplomacy can reduce immediate risks, longer-term change depends on progress on Kashmir, reductions in cross-border violence, and stronger political support for engagement in both countries. This helps explain why periods of calm have repeatedly proven fragile despite considerable diplomatic effort.
Read MoreWritten by Hunter Marston
The recent Russia-ASEAN Summit is only the latest example of a more diffuse and loosely organised world order, in which Washington plays a less central role, and its rivals are calling the shots. While this emerging multipolar order is currently fuelling regional anxieties of instability and conflict in Southeast Asia, it is likely to be the new normal.
Read MoreWritten by Dr Paco Milhiet
Left unresolved, this deadlock carries its own strategic cost: renewed instability would further strain an already fragile economy, deter the investment needed to revive the nickel sector, and cast doubt on France’s capacity to manage its own territory.
Read MoreWritten by Marie Hiliquin
Europe, facing a myriad of diplomatic and economic pressures from China and lacking a unified centre, is increasingly engaging in self-containment on China policy — exemplified by Germany and the Czech Republic denying transit to Taiwan's president in April 2026.
Read MoreWritten by Debodipta Nandan
The Iran war, waged in the name of nuclear non-proliferation, has reinforced a lesson for Asia’s major powers: the protection the US-led order extends to them is conditional, granted or withheld at Washington’s discretion.
Read MoreWritten by Dr Anisa Heritage
While a consolidation strategy offers a sensible course correction, deterrence in the Indo-Pacific depends as much on regional confidence in long-term political commitments as it does on military capability.
Read MoreAs the US marks its 250th anniversary, we invite several key experts to analyse how a changing US foreign policy and regional minilateralism are reshaping Indo-Pacific geopolitics.
Read MoreThis month’s brief examines Taiwan–Lithuania relations, where shared experiences of external pressure have driven closer political and tech cooperation. Five years on from Vilnius hosting Taiwan’s Representative Office, the relationship remains strongest politically, while delivering more limited economic outcomes — highlighting the challenge of turning strategic alignment into tangible shared success. Alongside this, our regional review explores an Indo-Pacific defined by fragmentation and adaptation.
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Read MoreIn this episode, Zsuzsa Anna Ferenczy and Richard Heydarian are joined by Dr. Huong Le Thu of the International Crisis Group for a timely discussion on how Southeast Asia is responding to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. Together, they explore how the crisis is being interpreted across the region, from differing diplomatic positions and domestic political pressures to the growing impact of energy shocks and disruptions to global shipping routes.
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Read MoreWritten by Jing Ge
Taiwan’s undersea cables are not only a communications vulnerability; they are also a test of crisis discipline in the Indo-Pacific. In a Taiwan Strait crisis, a severed cable could be read as an accident, a coercive signal, or the opening move in a larger confrontation.
Read MoreWritten by Eve Register
The protection of human rights has long been a founding principle of the EU. While the GSP+ programme represents an opportunity to advance this goal, human rights will remain subordinated to other priorities as long as the Commission leverages the programme to extract strategic advantage.
Read MoreMay highlights a defining trend across the Indo-Pacific: economic pressure and strategic competition are increasingly intertwined, as heatwaves, energy shocks, and supply-chain strain drive states to hedge more actively in a fragmented global order. This month’s feature examines Europe’s growing “strategic self-containment” in its China policy, reflecting a wider pattern of anticipatory restraint as states recalibrate under geopolitical pressure.
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Read MoreWritten by Khyati Singh
The potential to combine Chinese technological innovation with localised implementation means that Southeast Asia could yet transform its demographic challenge from a looming crisis into an engine of economically innovative and socially equitable growth.
Read MoreWritten by Linn Thit Htoo
A protracted war that the Tatmadaw cannot win, but remains capable of sustaining, is becoming an increasingly poor investment for China.
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