Showing 31 - 40 of 116
Thai politics' murky tunnel to nowhere
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 07/01/2022
» Starting out a new year should engender a sense of hope and optimism that tomorrow can be better than yesterday. But the reality in Thailand suggests otherwise. A sense of prolonged malaise and discontent pervades the scene, where politics will likely prove murky with an economy persistently in the doldrums, underpinned by continuing societal divisions and broad-based unhappiness. Unless drastic changes and reforms take place very soon, this year is likely to further solidify the onset of a decade of decay and stagnation.
Implications of Blinken's aborted visit
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 17/12/2021
» Having skipped Thailand due to a Covid-19 case among his travel delegation, the United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken's aborted three-country tour of Southeast Asia has hindered the full projection of President Joe Biden's Indo-Pacific geostrategy. Not wrapping up the trip with a visit to Thailand, a mainland Southeast Asia pivot and longstanding US treaty ally, also misses an opportunity to shore up what has been a relative bilateral estrangement. In short, Secretary Blinken's diplomatic foray in Southeast Asia has fallen short for the time being.
The misguided US 'democracy summit'
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 10/12/2021
» The United States government under President Joe Biden is putting up the right fight in a counterproductive way in its online organisation of a "summit for democracy" this week. Much touted since he won the election in November last year, President Biden's summit of democracies has proved controversial, with both good intentions and unintended consequences. The real battleground, as clichés about the benefits and drawbacks of democracy go, is to make the case that popular rule where citizens should have rights and freedoms for their own collective self-determination is ultimately preferable and superior than all other forms of government.
The geopolitics of China's CPTPP move
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 03/12/2021
» Nowhere is the intersection between geopolitics and geoeconomics more evident than the accession negotiations under the 11-member Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). At issue are three new applications for accession by the United Kingdom, China, and Taiwan. While the UK's candidacy alters the geographic crux of what has been Asia-Pacific trade liberalisation, China's and Taiwan's entry efforts represent a proxy showdown between the United States-led global order and 75-year-old alliance system versus Beijing's geostrategic ambitions and objectives.
Age-old nature of the 'New Cold War'
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 19/11/2021
» History is back with a vengeance. Contrary to what proponents of the "end of history" theory said a few decades ago, the ideological struggle of the 20th century between the "free world" versus "the socialist-communist" camp is still ongoing, despite the Cold War ending over three decades ago. The struggle now features the United States-led Western alliance versus the China-centric global network of nations with authoritarian tendencies.
Reopening a good bet with high costs
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 12/11/2021
» Nearly two weeks into Thailand's official reopening during the Covid-19 pandemic, it is time to evaluate the country's vaccine management plan, economic costs and prospects of recovery. While the reopening is worth the attendant risks, Thailand is paying a disproportionately high price for earlier mistakes and the government's mismanagement. As the reopening phase builds up, the Thai economy is likely to see a weak and tentative recovery trajectory with medium-term challenges and question marks.
Thailand can't have it both ways abroad
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 05/11/2021
» Images of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha hobnobbing with world leaders like United States President Joe Biden, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at the COP26 Climate Summit in Glasgow sparked mixed feelings at home.
Thailand's holding pattern till next poll
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 10/09/2021
» Thailand's recent no-confidence debate in parliament started with a bang and ended with a whimper. Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and five other cabinet members who were grilled by opposition MPs for pandemic mishandling, budget irregularities and overall mismanagement and incompetence sailed through the parliamentary vote based on the coalition government's strength in MP numbers rather than the merits of its governance.
Biden's pivot to free, open Indo-Pacific
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 03/09/2021
» If former United States President Barack Obama is known for his "pivot to Asia" geostrategy and President Donald Trump for the Free and Open Indo-Pacific, there is now a geostrategic synthesis under President Joe Biden. It can be aptly called the US "pivot to the Free and Open Indo-Pacific".
Asean lags behind Myanmar curve
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 06/08/2021
» The more it tries to catch up on Myanmar's post-coup crisis, the more Asean falls behind. Since Myanmar's military takeover on Feb 1, Asean has spent nearly the first three months getting its act together for a "special summit" and a "five-point consensus" on April 24 and then more than another three months to meekly implement the agreement. In the event, the appointment of Brunei's Second Foreign Minister Erywan bin Mohd Yusof as the Asean envoy to promote dialogue and humanitarian assistance in Myanmar is likely to prove too little, too late for what has been desperately needed on the ground.