Written by Joshua Bernard B. Espeña
President Rodrigo Duterte’s independent foreign policy which on one level sought to balance both the US and China, at its core, appeared to appease Beijing by setting aside the 2016 arbitral tribunal ruling and accept Chinese investment.
Read MoreWritten by Melissa Conley Tyler
Over the last four years, many members of Australia’s foreign policy and the security community have continued to be immensely supportive of the US alliance while Trump has derided allies as free-loaders who have abused their relationships with the United States.
Read MoreWritten by John Pollock
After conducting the largest ever Varuna exercise off Goa in May 2019, the Chief of France’s navy Admiral Christophe Prazcuk announced that the French and Indian navies would undertake joint maritime security patrols in the Indian Ocean. The first such patrol took place in March 2020 utilising P-8 Poseidon anti-submarine aircraft.
Read MoreWritten by Vignesh Karthik KR and Vihang Jumle
Iran and China are gradually inching towards the signing of a twenty-five-year economic and security partnership deal. This partnership would allow China to significantly increase its investments in railways, banking, telecommunications, and other regional projects.
Read MoreWritten by James Kraska
Both Trump and Biden consider China a vexing issue for the United States, they diverge on how to address it. A Biden administration would continue building deterrence through asymmetric power and enduring relationships among like-minded states, but with a less belligerent tone than the Trump administration.
Read MoreRajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan is a Distinguished Fellow and Head of the Nuclear & Space Policy Initiative at the Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi.
Read MoreWritten by Sung-Young Kim, Elizabeth Thurbon, Hao Tan and John Mathews
China’s President Xi Jinping surprised the global community recently by committing his country to net-zero emissions by 2060. Prior to this announcement, the prospect of becoming ‘carbon neutral’ barely rated a mention in China’s national policies.
Read MoreWritten by Ritika V Kapoor
Although Sri Lanka has stated it will adopt an ‘India-first approach’ under Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s presidency, observers will be watching what the election portends for Sino-Sri Lankan relations, particularly as they had burgeoned during Mahinda’s presidential terms from 2005 to 2015.
Read MoreWritten by Joseph Hammond
This summer the State Department approved a $23 billion plan for Japan to acquire 105 F-35 stealth fighters of both the conventional take-off (the F-35A), and the short take-off and vertical landing variant (the F-35B). As a result of this deal, Japan is now home to one of only two F-35 production final assembly and check-out facilities outside of Fort Worth, Texas.
Read MoreWritten by Stephen Nagy and Hanh Nguyen
Surveys conducted by American and European Union Chambers of Commerce showed that more than 80 per cent of businesses do not have relocation plans. Despite rising labour costs and geopolitical tensions, China still holds several critical advantages — high-skilled labour, a giant market, adequate infrastructure, and complex supply chains for business.
Read MoreWritten by Sreeradha Data
Aung San Suu Kyi’s choice to align with Myanmar’s armed forces, the Tatmadaw, served to display little sympathy for the plight of the hundreds of thousands of Rohingyas that were forced to flee their homes amid a widespread campaign of ethnic cleansing in Rakhine State.
Read MoreWritten by M. Sudhir Selvaraj
Most scholarship on communal violence in India focuses on Hindu-Muslim contentions, it is essential to note that Christians in India, who constitute 2.3 per cent of the population, are also targets of violence. Academics and activists share the consensus that violence against Christians is primarily caused by those who subscribe to the Hindutva ideology.
Read MoreWritten by Raul ‘Pete’ Pedrozo
As China continues to leverage its military modernisation and predatory economic policies to achieve regional hegemony, a second Trump administration would remain committed to upholding a free and open Indo-Pacific that provides prosperity and security for all nations, large and small.
Read MoreWritten by Sung-Young Kim, Elizabeth Thurbon, Hao Tan and John Mathews
South Korea’s economy has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, its export industries dropped by 24 per cent in May as demand for the nation’s mainstay products fell away. In response, Korean President Moon Jae-in launched the Korean New Deal or “K-New Deal”.
Read MoreWritten by Avinash Godbole
The new principal contradiction, as stated by Xi Jinping in his 2017 Party congress speech, essentially acknowledges that a new form of state-society relationship is required in China as the country is in the midst of one of the most significant transitions in its modern political history.
Read MoreWritten by Angshuman Choudhury
COVID-19 cases in Myanmar have grown rapidly since the end of August. Although postponing the election has so far been ruled out, the government is scrambling to contain the virus. What’s more, the dramatic spurt began in arguably the most strife-torn region in the country today, Rakhine State.
Read MoreWritten by Antoine Bondaz
Maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait is a key interest for the EU. A military conflict in the Taiwan Strait would entail heavy humanitarian consequences, tremendous economic disruptions, and would embolden authoritarian regimes to act aggressively in violation of international law.
Read MoreWritten by Javed Iqbal Wani & L. David Lal
The Indian government’s attitude towards the people of the region has become clear over the past year. It has not taken enough steps towards ameliorating Kashmiri fears of Hindu nationalism and overreach by the Indian state has put them at the crossroads of an active confrontation between three nuclear powers in South Asia.
Read More
