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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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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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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Written by Eerishika Pankaj and Rahul Karan Reddy
The concern Beijing has with an India-Philippines strategic partnership lies in its signalling of the rise of layered, maritime-centric, military cooperation emerging in China’s periphery — designed to reinforce a rules-based order and deter unilateral changes to the status quo in the global commons.
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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 Yun Kyung Kim
Korea and Japan now have an opportunity to redefine their roles — not as competing spokes but as co-architects of a trilateral framework that can anchor stability in the Indo-Pacific. For Washington, embracing this shift means sharing agenda-setting space with allies to maximise American interests and maintain primacy.
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Written by Andrew Gordan
Global digital finance will also increasingly become entangled with broader structures of major power competition, particularly in the Indo-Pacific. Anxiety about Chinese economic influence in Oceania has likely driven India to pitch the Pacific Islands on digital infrastructure, inking an agreement on DPI with Fiji in November 2024.
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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 Shin Kawashima
Japan and other US allies must strengthen ties with Southeast Asian countries to address US retrenchment, positioning themselves as credible alternatives for countries seeking to avoid over-reliance on China.
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This month, we spotlight Taiwan’s sweeping drone procurement drive — a decisive shift in defence strategy that underscores its push for self-reliance and asymmetric deterrence. We also track shifting regional dynamics, from landmark defence exercises in Australia and a new AUKUS treaty, to South Asia’s turbulent politics, Southeast Asia’s evolving alignments, and Europe’s role in the Indo-Pacific.
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