Written by Collin Koh
For Southeast Asian countries that also operate coastguards, now is the time to review the need for navies to relinquish certain tasks that coastguards might perform more effectively. This is especially the case where capacity (quantity) is more critical than having the most hi-tech warships bristling with weapons performing constabulary missions that simply require a presence.
Read MoreWritten 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.
Read MoreWritten by Gerald C Brown
Outside of the South China Sea, Taiwan’s occupation would put China right at the doorstep of Japan's Ryukyu Islands, the string of small islands stretching from Taiwan to the Japanese mainland, including US military bases in Okinawa. Many of the islands would become far closer to China than Japan and would be well in range of Chinese Anti-Access/Area-Denial (A2/AD) capabilities.
Read MoreWritten by Hunter Marston
Kurt Campbell, who Biden named Coordinator for Indo-Pacific Affairs, was an integral architect of the Obama administration’s “opening to Burma”. He will likely have some sleepless nights once again designing US Myanmar policy. It is unclear what options Washington now has left beyond widening sanctions against the military.
Read MoreWritten by James Borton
Despite significant oceanographic advances and a continuous flow of ocean data, marine research has failed to ameliorate the competing South China Sea claims nor navigate the sustainable stewardship of ocean resources.
Read MoreWritten by Andrew Chubb
This brief, broad-brush picture emerges from the Maritime Assertiveness Times Series (MATS) project, which is compiling corresponding data on other states in the South China Sea, as well as an East China Sea series. Data collection and coding is still in progress, but once complete, the project will enable us to ask an array of new questions on the dynamics of maritime disputes in East Asia.
Read MoreWritten by Zachary Abuza
Then there is the issue over what vaccine people are getting: elites and wealthy states will dominate the highly effective vaccines by Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca, while poorer people will have to make do with Chinese vaccines that have significantly lower efficacies.
Read MoreWritten by Bich T Tran
As the two countries share a socialist ideology, Hanoi has built close party-to-party relations with Beijing which serve as conduits to tone down the South China Sea disputes. Although Vietnam might agree with the core objectives of the Quad, it is less likely to be enthusiastic about publicly adding its name to a group that seeks to counter China.
Read MoreWritten 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.
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