Written by Bhagya Senaratne
Sri Lanka’s domestic priorities highlight that it is not keen on embroiling itself in regional power rivalries, but is engaging with its neighbours, including China, to harness opportunities to achieve national goals and support its domestic population.
Read MoreWritten by Wen Lii
Kinmen and Matsu continue to face challenges from across the Strait — whether in the form of sand dredgers or false narratives — their location on the border continues to offer us a glimpse of China’s increasingly diverse toolbox of exerting influence, while also spurring Taiwan and the rest of the democratic world to devise more creative methods of coping with them.
Read MoreWritten by Robert Clark and Jyotsna Mehra
A bold and ambitious foreign policy steeped in new trade deals is integrating Global Britain further into the Indo-Pacific, and with it, a new age of geostrategic relations with India is underway. Many in New Delhi are counting on this growing convergence of their strategic interests in the Indo-Pacific to triumph over the shadows that their colonial history continue to cast on their bilateral relations.
Read MoreWritten by Elli-Katharina Pohlkamp
As a middle power, Japan has the potential to enhance its role. In maintaining its partnerships with the United States and in balancing its deep economic ties with China it can lay the course and mediate in policies that concern itself, the United States and others in Southeast Asia.
Read MoreWritten by Hadrien T. Saperstein
Thailand’s smaller-state space power approach will be unmatched to the strategic environment. The Royal Thai Air Force Space Operations Centre must, therefore, begin thinking about the way it could successfully transition from a user to actor in the space domain.
Read MoreWe are delighted to announce the signing of a broad-ranging partnership with Taiwan NextGen Foundation, one of Taiwan’s leading Think Tanks. This partnership comes at an exciting time for both parties and serves to further underline our ambition to be at the very forefront of developments across the region.
Read MoreWritten by Gabriela Bernal
Given that Kim Jong Un has kept quiet and away from the spotlight for most of 2020, the statements made during the Congress call for considerable analysis by the incoming US administration. Biden and his team must formulate a clear strategy to deal with North Korea from the very beginning, lest they wait too long and miss the opportunity for diplomacy altogether.
Read MoreWritten by Rhona Smith
The trials are the latest in a long line of proceedings against opposition political actors in Cambodia. Laws on plotting, incitement and defamation are regularly invoked to arrest and detain individuals. Often, individuals are then released from detention under judicial supervision, so neither detained nor charged.
Read MoreWritten by John Bradford
Even as some regional states will increasingly welcome Japanese military contributions, Suga will emphasise economic assistance and capacity-building projects. When it comes to Southeast Asian maritime security, we can expect a greater presence from Japan.
Read MoreThe situation in Hong Kong further deteriorated last week with the arrest of over 50 pro-democracy activists under the new Beijing-imposed national security law. Has time run out for democracy in Hong Kong? Here is a collection of excellent short reads from our contributors that explore its past, present, and future.
Read MoreWritten by Douglas H Paal
That Biden had spent more time than any US official with China’s Xi Jinping, despite recent campaign rhetoric, reinforced the concern that Biden may be less effective against China. This is a concern which will linger through at least the early months of Biden’s term of office.
Read MoreWritten by James Laurenceson
Tokyo, New Delhi, and Jakarta have all had serious challenges with Beijing, but their relations never fell to the depths of the current China-Australia tensions. These countries might offer some useful advice here, too.
Read MoreIn February we invite articles that seek to explore issues relating to the South China Sea dispute and implications for the region for the months and years ahead. In addition to articles focused on specific issues such as land reclamation and/or specific claims we also welcome features designed to connect key issues such as trade, resources, governance freedom of navigation and great power competition.
Read MoreWritten by Charmi Mehta
The time is opportune for the US to rebuild its goodwill by integrating climate diplomacy within the larger umbrella of foreign policy outreach. We saw a glimpse of this in 2016 during Obama’s China visit when the two largest carbon-emitting nations pledged emission cuts and financial contributions post-Paris.
Read MoreWritten by Jagannath Panda
For India in particular — which sees China’s stern claim in the Galwan valley as a distinct breach of its sovereignty, a departure from bipartite consensus, and a unilateral attempt to change the status quo means trust has now been lost — permanently.
Read MoreAs this year draws to a close we recap events through ten of our most-read articles. As an entirely independent platform, we remain committed to connecting Europe and the Indo-Pacific while also seeking to showcase the next generation of leading thinkers. Thank you to all our contributors and we look forward to offering yet more high-quality analysis next year.
Read MoreAs an entirely independent platform, we would like to thank you for your support and look forward to building on our success to date with a number of exciting developments across 2021.
Read MoreWritten by Blake Herzinger
Malabar 2020 may be trumpeted as a triumph of the Quad, but defining it as a ‘Quad exercise’ is unnecessarily narrow, and would likely preclude participation from other countries in the future, should the organisers wish to include them.
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