Showing 1 - 10 of 714
South Korea is facing a triple challenge
Oped, Lee Jong-wha, Published on 30/05/2025
» Few countries have transformed themselves as dramatically as South Korea has over the last half-century. A poor, authoritarian country with annual per capita income of less than US$400 (13,000 baht) has become a vibrant and prosperous democracy, with direct presidential elections, peaceful transfers of power, and a per capita income of more than $33,000.
Breaking the silence over North Korea
Oped, Published on 29/05/2025
» Speaking out to break the information barrier inside the North Korean dictatorship is in itself nothing new, and usually quickly forgotten. North Korean exiles, friendly governments, and humanitarian organisations periodically raise the oft-forsaken banner of human rights, only to be confronted by realpolitik through another round of North Korean missile launches or nuclear proliferation.
Lessons and hopes from May 11 poll
Oped, Peerasit Kamnuansilpa, Published on 22/05/2025
» The May 11 municipal elections across Thailand, although extensive in scope, offered little to celebrate in terms of democratic progress. Rather than signalling a political shift or new energy in local governance, the results underscored a deeply familiar pattern: vote buying remains the dominant strategy in Thai politics.
Asian equities win in US recession
News, Published on 06/05/2025
» If a recession materialises in the United States this year, the relative performance of US and Asian equities will likely be quite different from what investors have seen in past decades. Indeed, the latter may be the "risk-off" trade this time around.
Vietnam: Fifty years since the Fall of Saigon
Oped, Published on 30/04/2025
» Fifty years ago, on April 30, 1975, North Vietnamese military units surged into Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, forcibly reuniting the country, thus ending 20 years of conflict.
US tariff shock upsides for Asean
Oped, Published on 24/04/2025
» 'Let the dust from the White House settle first," said former Korean Foreign Minister Song Min-soon in an interview with Korean media. A Southeast Asian figure I met during an Asean Regional Forum (ARF) Experts and Eminent Persons (EEPs) meeting held recently in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, expressed a similar sentiment.
Will Trump's trade war be a 2018 replay in Asia?
News, Published on 21/03/2025
» While the unfolding tariff war has many similarities with Donald Trump's first trade skirmish in 2018 -- including levies on aluminium and steel and a "stop-go" trajectory -- that's where the resemblance ends.
Tackling the global divide over the Ukraine war
News, Brahma Chellaney, Published on 17/03/2025
» At a time of rising geopolitical tensions and deepening global fragmentation, the Ukraine war has proved particularly divisive. From the start, the battle lines were clearly drawn: Russia on one side, Ukraine and the West on the other, and much of the Global South hoping only for the conflict to end. Now, however, alignments are shifting. Whether this will advance efforts to resolve the conflict and strengthen global stability remains to be seen.
The art of choosing the right words
Roger Crutchley, Published on 09/03/2025
» The word "diplomacy" has been making frequent appearances on newspaper pages in recent days and unless you have been in hibernation there is no need to explain why.
East Asia braces for Trump's second term
Oped, Published on 08/02/2025
» The first two weeks of US President Donald Trump's second term were marked by a flurry of directives and executive orders.