Showing 171 - 180 of 188
'New Pakistan' faces big challenges
News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 21/08/2018
» Pakistan's newly sworn-in Prime Minister Imran Khan has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make his country's presence felt both regionally and globally.
US-China rivalry shifts to mainland SEA
News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 07/08/2018
» The sense of deja vu at last week's annual Asean foreign ministers meeting in Singapore regarding progress on the code of conduct in the South China Sea -- an agreement with China on a single draft for future negotiations -- is an ominous sign that the regional grouping is already at the centre of US-China rivalry.
Putting hearts and minds in Thai-US ties
News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 24/07/2018
» The international rescue of 12 boys and their football coach in Chiang Rai earlier this month quickly permeated into the conference room of the Thai-US dialogue in Washington DC last week. The feel-good atmosphere jump-started the much-needed dialogue between the region's oldest allies.
South Korea is wooing Asean and India
News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 17/07/2018
» For the first time since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, South Korea, under the helm of President Moon Jae-in, has effectively been embedded in the regional scheme of things --political/security, economic and social/cultural. The country's previous four presidents -- Kim Dae-jung, Roh Moo-hyun, Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye -- tried to do the same but sadly they repeatedly failed. Every time these leaders wanted to focus on Southeast Asia and South Asia, something happened in the Northeast, the Korean Peninsula in particular, that immediately distracted them. They became mesmerised and forgot the region. There was no consistency whatsoever.
Thailand’s role in Indo-Pacific strategy
News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 03/07/2018
» Although much has been said about Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) strategy after US President Donald Trump put forward the broad and vague concept last November, nobody is really clear what it really means and its implications. Eight months have now elapsed. Some key features have emerged through speeches and comments by senior officials including US Defence Secretary Gen James Mattis in Singapore and Matthew Pottinger, Senior Director of Asian Department, National Security Council, in Yangon and Bangkok.
Random thoughts from Trump's nation
News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 26/06/2018
» 'Iknow Bruce Lee. Aargh...aargh...aargh…!," screamed a black driver in front of me at the intersection near the Marriott Hotel in Rockville, Maryland.
Trump-Kim meet a gift for Southeast Asia
News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 19/06/2018
» All the hullabaloo surrounding the historic Trump-Kim summit in Singapore must be discarded if one wants to seriously assess the overall ripple effects, in particular, the four-point statement. For the region, at least for now, the tight knot of a nuclear war has been untied. After all, President Donald Trump gave his personal assurance of this after he returned to the United States from his meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. That is good for Southeast Asia as a whole. If there is a war, the region's progress would be badly undermined as much as, if not more, than those of the two protagonists. The US provides a marketplace and the Korean Peninsula remains the last stronghold of long-awaited peace and stability.
Modi sees Asean as key to Indo-Pacific policy
News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 05/06/2018
» India took exactly 25 years to define its place in the broader Asia region. When Indian prime minister Narasimha Rao first outlined his country's "Look East" policy in 1993 in Singapore, economic imperatives were the main driving force and not much thought was given to strategic components. After all, it was before the rise of China, the decline in US influence, Japan's strategic-oriented foreign policy and the establishment of the Asean Community.
Baloney by any other name is still baloney
News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 29/05/2018
» It does not take long to find commonalities between US President Donald Trump's lies and Thai politics' platefuls of baloney. The same logic holds true for Mr Trump's war on the "deep state" and the outcry in Thailand over a "third hand" pulling the strings behind political happenings.
'New Malaysia' can be a catalyst for region
News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 22/05/2018
» The recent Malaysian political tsunami will endow the country with more equality among different races and render positive impacts for the rest of the region and beyond.