Showing 1 - 10 of 29
Asian push to crack down on 'fake news' sparks alarm
AFP, Published on 20/04/2018
» KUALA LUMPUR: Inflammatory stories masquerading as real news pose a particularly toxic threat in Asian countries with long-standing religious and ethnic divides, but promises by some regional leaders to tackle the problem carry equal menace.
Rohingya conflict a humanitarian crisis: rights group
News, Published on 05/02/2018
» Human rights groups have urged the Thai government and other Asean countries to treat the Rohingya conflict as a humanitarian crisis as over 120,000 members of this Muslim minority have fled Myanmar in the wake of a brutal crackdown by the military.
Tackling Southeast Asia’s new extremists
News, Published on 30/01/2016
» Modern forms of terrorism increasingly draw on the dynamics of territorial warfare to build strength. The Islamic State (IS) has effectively used command of territory both to train misguided adherents and demonstrate its violent agenda.
Thai diplomacy caught between two lovers
News, Published on 07/01/2016
» The past year was a tale of diplomatic angst and ambiguity for Thailand. On the one hand the kingdom's relationship with the United States, and Western nations in general, reached a nadir because of the military government's slow pace of reform and delayed timetable for elections. On the other hand, Thailand was wooed intensively by China, eager to forge closer strategic ties using sizeable infrastructure investments as sweeteners.
Wake-up call from Myanmar
Asia focus, Published on 16/11/2015
» The landslide election victory by the National League for Democracy (NLD) in Myanmar is a wake-up call for Asean and Thailand to adjust quickly and make friends with a new circle of political actors other than the military-linked clique that has run the country for five decades.
Regional approach can end boat exodus
News, Published on 25/05/2015
» Their thin, hunger-wracked bodies and empty, desolate stares have become a familiar image, their plight is one of growing concern: they are Southeast Asia's new boat people, either stateless Rohingya people from Myanmar's western-most Rakhine state, or job-seeking migrants from neighbouring Bangladesh.
Messy compromise likely with new charter
News, Published on 09/04/2015
» A foreign correspondent in Bangkok recently asked Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha if he would admit that there would not be true democracy in Thailand. The journalist, an Australian, pressed her point, suggesting the new constitution currently being drafted would be undemocratic. Gen Prayut struggled to answer politely, saying that he understood true democracy, but Thailand was "special" and needed reforms.
Missed chance
News, Published on 26/03/2015
» So, the Thai team is off to Germany to see how things are done. If ever there was a good candidate for government “Singapore style”, then Thailand would surely be top of the list, having totally failed for decades to manage a democratic system.
Lee's demise ends era of pioneer leaders
News, Published on 24/03/2015
» The death of Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore's founding prime minister at the age of 91, brings to an end the era of politics in Southeast Asia dominated by leaders who led anti-colonial struggles. For seventy years, the region evolved in the shadow of men who forged new nations after the end of the Pacific War, which concluded more than two centuries of colonial occupation and rule.
Political turmoil leaves Asean vulnerable
News, Published on 19/03/2015
» Due to a mixture of misfortune and mortality, Southeast Asia is now as volatile as it was when the Asian Financial Crisis struck in 1997, as we witness a series of unconnected leadership crises across the region.