Posts in Faultlines
No strategic dialogue partner, but thinking very strategically

Written by Zachary Abuza

After the regional centre is established, Vietnam should take the lead in setting up local monitoring and other scientific and educational exchanges with their Lao and Cambodian counterparts. Here they have considerably more sway and interest than the United States.

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Labour in the time of COVID-19

Written by Drake Long

The time for introspection should not wait for the COVID narrative to shift once more. After all, the crew change crisis is still not over: the world has just entered its 30th month of leaving its seafarers out at sea, with no safe harbour for them to find.

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A renewed Atlantic Charter: Rekindling a wartime spirit between the US and UK?

Written by Amelia Hadfield and William Hitt

It reaffirms the anchor points of trans-Atlantic security alongside the values of democracy and human rights, but whether it can roll in all of Europe in this call as well as representing a clear challenge to rising antagonists remains to be seen.

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Taliban’s rapid territorial gains: The future of the post-US Afghanistan

Written by Abdul Basit

The gap and the lack of trust between Afghanistan’s political and military leadership have equally contributed to the Afghan security forces’ poor performance against the Taliban’s ground offensive. It is a well-known fact that several units of the Afghan security forces were not fighting by making arrangements with the Taliban, such as staging fake operations.

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China and Central Europe: A love affair that was never meant to be?

Written by Tamás Matura

China has indeed made mistakes in its courtship of the region in the past decade. Together with CEE governments, it raised expectations it could not fulfil and followed a top-down approach targeting the elites of CEE societies instead of winning the hearts and minds of the people.

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Dams on the Brahmaputra River

Written by Ambika Vishwanath

It is imperative that Bangladesh, China and India cooperate on the multitude of weather and climate-related issues that will continue to affect the eastern Himalayan region and work with Bhutan and Nepal to create a formal disaster mitigation and management organisation.

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What does China want in Nepal?

Written by Bindesh Dahal

The NCP split has come as a rare shock to China’s foreign policy. Its efforts to build an ideological force with a strong financial backing to counter New Delhi’s influence, which enjoys excellent political, social and cultural ties with Nepal have fallen flat.

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The CCP at 100: What next for human rights in EU-China relations?

Written by Zsuzsa Anna Ferenczy

As China entails a multi-dimensional threat to Europe, it requires a multi-dimensional strategy. Conferring a prominent role to human rights in its approach to China will be vital for Brussels’ efforts to champion human rights for all.

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The Galwan Valley one year on: What's changed with China and the PLA ?

Written by Suyash Desai

As visible from the ongoing stand-off, it’s difficult to restore the status quo ante once it is changed by force as the two sides evenly match up. Thus India needs to be cautious about the changing nature of China’s military operations and its manifestation on the Sino-Indian border.

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Negotiating the BRI: Insights from the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor

Written by Filippo Boni and Katharine Adeney

Recipient countries need to build mechanisms to ensure that technology transfers and training are integral to the development of BRI projects. Otherwise, these important issues may end up on the backburner.

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Rare earths in the grey zone

Written by Michael Brodka

Diversification policy and supply chain alternatives provide the mechanisms for Indo-Pacific countries to lessen their dependence on Chinese REEs; however, further action is necessary. Any long-term REE strategy must also contain plans to reduce consumption, improve the efficiency of the resource, and emphasise recycling.

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New Zealand’s Five Eyes stance: Not surprising, not unjust, and not unwise

Written by Lucas Knotter

New Zealand and the Five Eyes should continue to give strong signals in opposition to China’s international and domestic conduct, but it is hard to countenance a positive outcome from antagonistic machismo rhetoric.

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Sino-Russian relations: Inside the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation

Written by Eva Seiwert

While their disagreements behind the scenes prevent the SCO from becoming a more effective security organisation, the international images of both governments benefit from their co-leadership of the world’s largest RO in terms both of geographical and population size.

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Challenging ethnonationalism from the Matsu Islands

Written by Wen Lii

While countries in East Asia, such as China, Japan or South Korea, may not hold particular strengths in fostering a multi-ethnic environment, Taiwan could look towards Europe or Southeast Asia to devise feasible approaches towards encouraging regional identities.

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COVID is forcing millions of girls out of school in Southeast Asia and the Pacific

Written by Katrina Lee-Koo

Building resilient communities is essential, as COVID sits among climate change, political instability, regional forced migration and other crises that will continue to challenge the region. Women and girls will be at the forefront of addressing all of these crises.

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India’s great divergence: Liberal economics and illiberal politics

Written by Indrajit Roy

The Indian government’s attitude towards the protesting farmers betrays its illiberal instincts. The legislations were passed based on a voice vote rather than an appropriate parliamentary procedure. Since November, over 30 farmers unions have mobilised their members to sit-in peacefully at protest sites on Delhi’s borders.

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Cooperation against ISIS is low-hanging fruit for a stronger Indo-Pacific

Written by Kabir Taneja

A common target — such as ISIS — will only strengthen and build security cooperation and a common strategic agora in the Indo-Pacific and aid the development of a future geopolitical architecture which can be mutually beneficial for all like-minded participating nations.

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