Showing 1 - 10 of 16
Too long in power a bad idea for leaders
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 01/07/2025
» Leading an entire country for a few years is a steep learning curve, but it's useful experience. Being in power for a dozen years makes most leaders arrogant and careless, but some remain more or less functional. Being in power for more than 30 years just makes you stupid. Consider Cambodia's Hun Sen and Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
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.
Xi hails 'irreversible' rise of China at 100th birthday of Communist Party
AFP, Published on 01/07/2021
» BEIJING: President Xi Jinping hailed China's "irreversible" course from humiliated colony to great power at the centenary celebrations for the Chinese Communist Party on Thursday, in a speech reaching deep into history to remind patriots at home and rivals abroad of his nation's -- and his own -- rise.
With propaganda push, China's Communist Party celebrates 100 years
AFP, Published on 28/06/2021
» CHANGSHA, China: Hair windswept, handsome and 32-metres high, a statue of Mao Zedong presides over a crowd of millennials alternating between selfies and bubble teas -- drawing a thread through the past, present and future of China's Communist Party in its red heartland.
National strategy the key to continuity
News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 23/07/2019
» Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha's civilian government will be the first Thai government that will not have a "honeymoon" period. From the start, his government's performance will be monitored and judged without any sympathy by opposition parties, political pundits, and the media. With political doyen Chuan Leekpai serving as House speaker, all politicians should be held accountable for their policies and positions.
Year of turbulence
Asia focus, Published on 31/12/2018
» Two unpredictable men with weird haircuts and access to nuclear weapons had a friendly chat in Singapore -- and that was just one of the many noteworthy stories of 2018. Elsewhere in Asia, we witnessed some surprising political developments (Malaysia) and not-so-surprising ones (Cambodia), along with what seemed to be a disturbingly high number of natural disasters. Many see the latter as a manifestation of the growing impact of climate change, and it's a debate that is bound to intensify in the year ahead. Below, Asia Focus looks back on the eventful year now ending.
Don't write off Merkel prematurely
News, Leonid Bershidsky, Published on 31/10/2018
» I have warned repeatedly against writing off German Chancellor Angela Merkel as she faced challenge after challenge in recent years. I'm going to issue another such warning now, even though it might seem counter-intuitive given her announcement on Monday that she will give up the leadership of her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in December and not run for a parliamentary seat in 2021.
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.
Next-gen politicians offer hope
News, Umesh Pandey, Published on 18/03/2018
» Thailand today is witnessing the rise of a new breed of younger political aspirants who look to shake up the old-fashioned establishment.
Shimon Peres: Israeli hawk turned Nobel peace laureate
AFP, Published on 28/09/2016
» JERUSALEM - Shimon Peres, who died Wednesday aged 93, was an Israeli elder statesman, Nobel laureate and two-time prime minister who spearheaded peace efforts with the Palestinians after breaking with his hawkish past.