Showing 71 - 80 of 93
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.
Hun Sen plays global politics with election
News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 31/07/2018
» The international community, through the United Nations, helped Cambodia to organise its first and only "free and fair" elections in 1993. It was a wonderful moment for a country emerging from civil war, which has confidently moved forward ever since. Cambodia has been very much on its own, with up and down political contours. This past Sunday, Cambodia held its sixth election, with the Cambodian People's Party winning the majority of seats.
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.
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.
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.
Thailand's black site: Who is accountable?
News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 15/05/2018
» Suddenly Thailand, a name synonymous with coups and democratic struggles, has been mentioned repeatedly by US lawmakers and TV personalities over the last few weeks.
20-year strategy plan under scrutiny
News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 17/04/2018
» For the first time in its history, Thailand is coming out with a national strategy that directs the country's economic and social development over the next 20 years.
Ten ways to sidestep fault lines in Asean
News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 27/03/2018
» Given the unsettled international environment, great powers' competition and regional dynamism, the current Asean chair, Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, urged the regional grouping to "maintain its centrality and relevance" in his recent speech at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.