Written by Luana Correia

Influence in climate diplomacy is becoming increasingly dispersed, as traditional agenda-setters fail to consolidate their authority, creating space for competing interests — and claims to leadership — to shape outcomes.  

Written by Quay Say Jye and Connor O’Brien

The thorny question remains what lines are not worth crossing, and when normative and institutional guardrails may prove strategically beneficial over the long term, especially for small and middle powers.

Written by Jeremy Youde

If the existing liberal international order is indeed undergoing a profound and transformative shift, and not just a reaction to Trump’s foreign policy, then there is an opportunity for change that will better serve people all over the world — or a chance for humanity to fall further from its collective aspirations.

Written by Peter Chai

If Japan is to navigate rising immigration without fuelling social division, public debate must move beyond simplified crime narratives. When officials discuss crimes by “foreigners” in isolation without historical context or comparisons with overall crime trends and across subgroups, they risk creating an unbalanced narrative and fuelling concerns about xenophobia.

Written by Phuong Nguyen

The era of digital independence is closing fast. From 5G to AI, the Indo-Pacific is fragmenting into competing ecosystems centred on Washington and Beijing.

Written by Taufiq E. Faruque and Rubiat Saimum

Bangladesh no longer intends to operate as a peripheral state within an India-centric security order in South Asia, but as a globally connected security actor seeking to maximise strategic autonomy over its procurement choices, maritime posture, and regional role.

Written 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.

Written by Kristina Lozinskaya

More can and should be done to deter, protect from, and respond to Chinese cyberattacks. If leveraged appropriately, the Quad can offer a powerful counter to China’s growing cyber threats.

Written by Dr Muhammad Zulfikar Rakhmat

Indonesia’s foreign service, though respected in ASEAN, has not fully kept pace with the demands of a world where China is central to trade, technology, and security. Without a cadre of China specialists embedded across government and academia, Jakarta risks responding to events rather than shaping them.

Written by Jemima Holborow

Without CBRs, Pacific Islands face reduced financial inclusion and slower development. For the US, it risks pushing the region toward central bank digital currencies and de-dollarisation; a trend that could weaken US financial influence.

Written by Dr Imran Khurshid

In the end, this agreement is less a stabilising alliance than a strategic gamble — one that risks drawing Pakistan into conflicts beyond its capacity, while further complicating the already turbulent geopolitical landscape of South Asia and the Middle East.

Written by Andrew Gordan

Global digital finance will also increasingly become entangled with broader structures of major power competition, particularly in the Indo-Pacific. Anxiety about Chinese economic influence in Oceania has likely driven India to pitch the Pacific Islands on digital infrastructure, inking an agreement on DPI with Fiji in November 2024.

Written 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.

Written by Hannah Hains

It is not yet clear whether Trump will institute a similar targeted tariff for shipping and port infrastructure, as recommended by a new report by the Office of the United States Trade Representative on ‘China's Targeting of the Maritime, Logistics, and Shipbuilding Sectors for Dominance’.

Written by Dr Anisa Heritage

The Trump administration's instigation of its trade liberation policy has generated fear about how it might also rashly unshackle itself from longstanding security arrangements.

Written by Chetan Rana

Even though Myanmar’s international isolation appears to push it further closer to China, the Sit Tat and the EAOs are simultaneously engaging and contesting with China in different sectors. Beijing will be key in the execution and acceptance of elections planned by the junta. 

Written by Dominique Fraser and Dr Premesha Saha

Indonesia will need to ensure that it carefully balances its commitments to BRICS alongside its responsibilities and obligations within ASEAN and its existing relationships with Western nations like the US and the EU.

Written 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.

Written by Lucas Myers

The Quad’s role is clearer in 2024 than in 2017 or 2007. It coordinates and ensures the provision of public goods in an era of great power competition that is about much more than just traditional hard power security.

Written by Dr Meredith Oyen

Trump is a wild card on China. He has promised to enact high tariffs and deport millions of unauthorised migrants. But in the case of Chinese migrants, antagonising the PRC in one area will not yield cooperation in the other.

Written by Hunter Marston

Whatever the outcome of the US election in November, Southeast Asian states will continue hedging for as long as possible.

Written by Chetan Rana

As India navigates this new geopolitical landscape, it must critically reassess the touted advantages of its relationship with Russia and ensure that its foreign policy adapts to contemporary realities.

Written by Andrea Leonard Palazzi

In the end, the path to widespread use of the renminbi — at least to trade with China — is US sanctions themselves.

Written by Zhou Wenxing

The Philippine ruling elites need to realise that only political channels and diplomacy can realistically solve their disputes with China.

Written by Dr Felix Heiduk and Dr Johannes Thimm

Currently, the global balance of power is shifting again, according to many, in the direction of multipolarity. But even if one accepts the concept of polarity in principle, the question immediately becomes which states could be considered as additional poles. China certainly qualifies, but beyond that?

Written by Mae Chow and Shakthi De Silva

Ultimately, Bangladesh's ability to maintain constructive engagements with China and India will not only shape its own future trajectory but also contribute significantly to the stability and prosperity of the broader Indo-Pacific region.

Written by Megan Khoo

Anything less than preventing a Huawei factory in France blatantly disregards France’s current restrictions on Huawei, French national security, and the greater security of the EU.

Written by Dr James Kaizuka

“Whatever it takes” ultimately means squaring the circle of North Korea’s likely demands with what the Japanese public is willing to accept as an offering to a dictatorship which may well use any inducement against it in the future.

Written by Rorry Daniels

While breakthroughs remain unlikely, the test in 2024 is whether the US and China can manage differences quietly and directly while under the political magnifying glass.

Written by Sajid Aziz

The twin threats of separatist movement and militancy by religious-ethnic groups in Pakistan and Iran, respectively, have been perennial sources of mistrust, mutual accusations, frequent border skirmishes, and the recent military strikes and counter-strikes between the two states.