Written by Angelo M'BA
In the future, even less confrontational and security-focused iterations of FOIP are likely to face Beijing’s opposition because their premise of involving external actors — to balance China’s dominance — clashes with Beijing’s own objectives, regardless of content.
Read MoreWritten by Carmina Yu Untalan
Indeed, if stronger Philippines-Japan relations rest on upholding a rules-based international order, then both parties must extend the same normative and legal commitments to protect and empower the communities in their own island peripheries.
Read MoreAs 9DASHLINE continues to expand its coverage across the Indo-Pacific, our editorial team recently welcomed two Associate Editors — Angelo M’BA and Samuel Parmer.
Our Editor-in-Chief, Dr Yatana Yamahata, recently sat down with them to discuss their interests, the key trends shaping the Indo-Pacific, and where they think its coverage should be heading.
Read MoreWritten by William Ford
If the Takaichi administration makes the difficult decision to lower rice tariffs or expand import quotas, it could bring down rice prices for Japanese consumers while also strengthening Japan’s partnerships with Southeast Asian rice exporters.
Read MoreWritten by Athena Charanne Presto and Maria Tanyag
The Philippines has had real regional influence on gender equality, supported by a long lineage of female diplomats, policymakers, and civil society leaders who have helped shape ASEAN’s gender equality architecture since its early years.
Read MoreWritten by Dr. Aniello Iannone
Ultimately, the COC’s relevance will depend on whether it can institutionalise guardrails that shape incentives at sea, reduce the frequency and severity of grey-zone encounters, and make de-escalation after incidents more predictable.
Read MoreWritten by Jonathan Berkshire Miller
For the first time in years, Ottawa is treating the Indo-Pacific not as a region of opportunities to sample but as a theatre in which it must choose where to invest.
Read MoreWritten 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.
Read MoreWritten by Yatana Yamahata
Solidarity among Southeast Asians has strengthened pro-democracy movements across the region and, in doing so, fostered a sense of shared regional identity. ASEAN, however, does not mirror nor reinforce this solidarity. Instead, it remains constrained by its founding principle of non-interference.
Read MoreWritten 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.
Read MoreWritten 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.
Read MoreWritten 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.
Read MoreWritten by Gunnar Wiegand
While major breakthroughs are unlikely, progress on economic issues is possible and could help restore a measure of stability and predictability for companies and citizens on both sides.
Read MoreWritten by Dr Apila Sangtam
Crucially, reinvigorating key connectivity initiatives such as the India–Myanmar–Thailand Trilateral Highway would serve as both a symbolic and practical demonstration of India’s commitment to regional integration.
Read MoreWritten by Hunter Marston
Southeast Asian anxieties with the Trump administration’s turn toward protectionist trade policies were evident in the May 2025 ASEAN Summit, when the regional bloc expressed ‘deep concern’ with US tariffs.
Read MoreWritten by Chris Estep
Trump should decisively establish his administration’s approach to competition with China by issuing his own Interim National Security Strategic Guidance document and endorsing it in a televised speech from the Oval Office.
Read MoreWritten by Jana C. von Dessien
Two decades of wallowing in the comforts of cheap Russian energy, open Chinese markets, and US security guarantees seem to have thoroughly corrupted the entire political class.
Read MoreWritten by Dr Seohee Park
This crisis represents more than a domestic Korean political drama; it tests the resilience of regional alliances and could accelerate broader geopolitical shifts in an increasingly complex Northeast Asian landscape.
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