• OPINION

  Asean heads gear for summit with Biden

  Oped, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 08/03/2022

  » Can Asean and the US forge a "more united than ever" relationship for the future?

• OPINION

  New pragmatism on the rise in Asean

  Oped, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 22/02/2022

  » While the Myanmar quagmire will continue to dominate Asean's agenda under Cambodia and future chairs, one must not forget that the current chair must also deal with a myriad of challenges across all sectors of the grouping's ongoing cooperation. The much-awaited foreign ministerial retreat last Thursday has once again shown that Asean remains a closely knit, pragmatic family.

• OPINION

  A new chapter in Japan's Asia policy

  Oped, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 25/01/2022

  » Japan's recently announced new economic doctrine towards Asia has two dimensions. The first has Asean at its core. The second is all about broader Asia which includes China, South Korea and India without naming them. Indeed, this time Japan wants to ascertain that its new policy approach is the outcome of its own regional assessment based on more than five decades of developmental engagement with the region.

• OPINION

  Thailand's high stakes for Apec 2022

  News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 09/11/2021

  » Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha was happy to have a chat and a photo with US President Joe Biden at COP26 in Glasgow last week. Gen Prayut also took the opportunity to personally invite Mr Biden to Bangkok for the Asia-Pacific Economic Leaders Meeting (Apec) in late November next year. He could have done the same to Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin if they were there but unfortunately but both leaders only participated in COP26 via online.

• OPINION

  Asean can live with Quad and Aukus

  News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 05/10/2021

  » The current strategic situation is not quite the same as Asean faced in its early days, but there are several similar characteristics. The rivalry between the two then superpowers -- the US and the former Soviet Union -- was visible and rising incrementally and would soon reach its peak. Fuelling the enmity was their ideological differences -- free world versus orthodox communism. Today, the fight is about technological supremacy and governance.

• OPINION

  Thailand's 'Next Normal' vision at UN

  News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 28/09/2021

  » This year the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) was quite exceptional because of its jam-packed agenda dealing with ways to save lives from natural and man-made disasters, not to mention the fraught US-China relationship.

• OPINION

  Asean at 54: In need of some speed

  News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 10/08/2021

  » Despite the plethora of criticism, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) in its 54th year is actually stronger and bolder than ever. That might sound propagandistic but it is not. Today, member countries are more engaged and expressive in their exchanges of opinions and ideas, especially on proposed plans of action in relation to the challenges confronting the bloc. External powers are also wooing Asean in a way that has never seen before.

• OPINION

  New US push: Vaccine and Mekong

  News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 20/07/2021

  » US Secretary of State Antony Blinken used the special session with Asean last week to shore up Washington's position in Southeast Asia. He touched on China, the disputes over the South China Sea, the situation in Myanmar and the response to Covid-19, amongst others. Strangely enough, the phrase "free and open Mekong" was introduced for the first time in the latest US position regarding the most important strategic area of mainland Southeast Asia.

• OPINION

  Can Power help Biden's foreign policy?

  Oped, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 04/05/2021

  » The confirmation of Samantha Power last week as the new head of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) was overshadowed by President Joe Biden's speech marking his 100 days in office. With an annual budget of US$41 billion (1.28 trillion baht), her organisation can shift and change the direction of US foreign policy around the world.

• OPINION

  Time to upgrade Asean-EU relationship

  News, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 03/11/2020

  » Today, Americans will go to the polls to elect their 46th president. It doesn't matter who the next president will be, the incumbent Donald Trump or his challenger, Joe Biden. Why? As far as Indo-Pacific region is concerned, the die has been cast due to the strategic competition between the two superpowers, the US and China. Therefore, the presidential outcome and impact on the global stage remain unchanged. New rhetoric and approaches might be generated but that would be it.

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