• OPINION

  A Thai view on the Hamas-Israel war

  Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 20/10/2023

  » The Palestinians' longstanding and legitimate grievances have been irrevocably subverted by Hamas' brazen attack against Israel on Oct 7. Unlike previous rounds of conflicts and clashes between Israel and the Palestinians on the one hand and neighbouring Arab states on the other, Thailand has become a direct casualty like never before, as 30 Thai workers have been killed to date, with at least 16 injured and 17 taken hostage. As a militant political movement motivated by Islamic fundamentalism using methods of terrorism to achieve its objectives, Hamas has made a bad name for the Palestinian cause, eliciting condemnation and opposition all the way over here in Thailand.

• OPINION

  Myanmar takes lead in autocratic race

  Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 12/03/2021

  » In the aftermath of the military coup on Feb 1, Myanmar's armed forces have evidently taken the lead in Southeast Asia's authoritarian race to the bottom. For its speed and depth of reversal from a fragile democracy to a hard dictatorship within six weeks, Myanmar currently ranks top among developing states worldwide. At stake now is not just Myanmar's political future and the well-being of its people but the fate of developing democracies elsewhere.

• OPINION

  Facing up to Thailand's role as Asean chair

  News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 09/11/2018

  » As Thailand gears up to chair Asean next year, a sense of deja vu is setting in. The last time Thailand held its rotational turn at Asean's helm from July 2008 to December 2009, it was undermined by domestic street protests that ended up disrupting top-level meetings and abruptly sending Asia-Pacific leaders home prematurely. Owning up to what transpired, it has to be said that the Thai hosting of Asean-centred summits back then was an utter fiasco.

• OPINION

  Asean chairmanship has many limitations

  News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 16/11/2018

  » Just as all politics is ultimately local, all regionalism is mostly domestic. Such is the case with Asean. Whichever of the 10 member states chairs Asean, its role and performance tends to be domestically rooted. To envision and drive Asean forward requires deft leadership, bold ideas and smart diplomacy that must extend beyond and transcend parochial domestic concerns. No Asean member has shown this sort of farsighted regionalist ambition in recent years. Thailand appears on course to be no different when it chairs Asia's most durable organisation next year.

• OPINION

  Regional order in East Asia after summits

  News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 17/11/2017

  » While Asean-related leaders' meetings tend to come and go with a lot of spectacle and brouhaha without much lasting substantive impact, the recently concluded summits of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation in Vietnam and the United States-Asean and the East Asia Summit in the Philippines will be seen in hindsight as highly consequential. The geopolitical and geoeconomic positions of just about all attending countries were more or less known before hand. This most recent summit season was about the policy orientation and preferences of the US under President Donald Trump.

• OPINION

  Obama's Asian pivot faces uncertain fate

  News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 02/12/2016

  » As President-elect Donald Trump continues to stir up a hornet's nest in Washington and elsewhere in America, the outgoing and lame-duck presidency of Barack Obama looks spent, its foreign policy agenda at risk of reversal and dismantlement. This is a pity because Mr Obama had his heart in the right places. He tried to make the world a better place but ultimately fell short.

• OPINION

  Post-Obama America's 'rebalance' to Asia

  News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 24/06/2016

  » As the United States' presidential election kicks into higher gear with the upcoming nominations of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump as the Democratic and Republican party candidates vying for top office, Asian countries, and Asean in particular, are concerned about what will happen to outgoing President Barack Obama's "rebalance" (also known as the "pivot") strategy to Asia. The "rebalance" is likely to be a lasting legacy of President Obama's foreign policy accomplishments. It has provided Asian countries from Myanmar and Vietnam to the Philippines with a counterbalance to China's increasing regional footprints. But the future of the rebalance hangs in the balance.

• OPINION

  Turkish, Thai democracy and dictatorship

  News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 22/07/2016

  » For coup-prone Thailand, Turkey's failed putsch has generated huge but ephemeral interest. When elements of the Turkish military rolled out the tanks and tried to seize power in Ankara and Istanbul, spectators in Bangkok naturally coalesced into two broad camps along the Thai divide, either for or against the putsch.

• OPINION

  Myanmar reflects Asean domestic dilemmas

  News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 06/11/2015

  » Myanmar's momentous elections on Sunday have a familiar ring to them. Now, just like 25 years ago, the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), spearheaded by Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, is poised to thump the military-led Union Solidarity and Development Part (USDP) by a resounding margin.

• OPINION

  NE Asia summit shows SE Asia weaknesses

  News, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 13/11/2015

  » Although it papered over differences, the recent resumption of a summit meeting among China, Japan and South Korea has cooled bilateral tensions in Northeast Asia with longer-term implications for Southeast Asia.

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