Showing 1 - 10 of 10
Navigating between global superpowers
News, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 14/02/2026
» Both China and the US issued new national security policies over the past year. At first glance, they seem to diverge markedly, portending a deep rupture in the world order. Yet, they may also bear some similarities in terms of self-interest and self-advancement. Collateral to that, other countries seeking to forge a middle path may wish to navigate a perspicacious route towards global equilibrium.
Vitalising pathways for Thai-US ties
News, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 30/08/2025
» Tariffs have certainly been in the news lately, in the face of exponential increases imposed by the US on other parts of the world.
Sustaining healthcare in volatile times
Oped, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 18/08/2025
» Health care is pivotal for human well-being. Yet in today's precarious world, it is pressured by diminishing resources, demographic variables, warfare and violence, and environmental degradation. Sustaining health care thus requires insightful planning and implementation, no less for Thailand and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) regions.
Unpacking China's global influence
Oped, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 29/08/2024
» Is China an enigma? If it is difficult to decipher the country on some fronts, there are other elements which are more accessible. While it might be easy to look at its impressive growth in recent decades as diverging from other global players in key areas, there are other areas which are mutually convergent. From the multidimensional panorama of a complex world -- the "multiplex" world, a preferred approach is not to generalise too much but to analyse the specifics of our times for possible confluence.
Gender gaps in politics and business
Oped, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 30/03/2024
» Thailand's most recent report on women's rights -- available on the United Nations' website -- is part of the eighth cycle of reporting under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), to which the country became a party in 1985.
Soft power charms, with a Thai ripple
News, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 04/12/2023
» The term "soft power" has seeped into international relations and it is now a catchphrase with its own global momentum. Yet it should be recalled that in the 1980s, it was used to describe the nature of a weaker state confronted by the "hard power" embodied by a stronger state.
Towards a global summit of the future?
News, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 19/06/2023
» If international plans are on course, there will be a global Summit of the Future (SOF) in 2024 at the UN General Assembly. Given that 2023 is already witnessing various global activities for the 30-year milestone of the 1993 Vienna World Conference on Human Rights, as well as a summit on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), what could be the value-added of the SOF? And perhaps the value-subtracted?
Building bridges from Asia to Africa the right way
Oped, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 29/04/2023
» The quest to build bridges between Asia and Africa is longstanding. A Chinese Admiral -- Zheng He -- led a series of voyages from East Asia to East Africa, down to Kenya and possibly Zanzibar, from the year 1405. The ships he navigated were enormous -- about 400 feet long and 100 feet wide (122 metres by 30.5m) -- especially when compared with Christopher Columbus' Santa Maria, which was about 70 feet long. For centuries, people have also migrated and traded between the two regions.
Righting the wrongs of development
News, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 27/03/2023
» A key issue with which the world community has had to grapple since the end of the Second World War is that of "development", especially from the angle of national and international measures to ensure responsiveness to the rights and needs of the peoples of the land, without discrimination and violence, and to overcome historical and other injustices.
Grappling with human trafficking, forced labour
Oped, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 16/09/2021
» Thailand's apparent failure to deal with the issue of human trafficking over recent months has resulted in a downgrade of its performance in the 2021 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) annual report, issued by the US in July.