Showing 1 - 10 of 74
The politics of taste in our election season
Oped, Kong Rithdee, Published on 26/12/2025
» Hell is other people's tastes. Hell is when we passionately hate what people unconditionally love. Hell is when we can't fathom how anyone on the face of the earth can like someone or something we find revolting -- a food, a film, a style, an opening ceremony, a politician, a president.
Southeast Asia amid the US-China rift
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 03/10/2025
» The rivalry between the United States and China has become the defining contest of the 21st century. Barely two decades ago, Washington and Beijing were partners in prosperity. America's support for China's entry into the World Trade Organization in 2001 epitomised the high-water mark of engagement, reflecting the belief that economic integration would lead to greater political cooperation. Today, that partnership has morphed into suspicion and confrontation. Relations between the United States and China have deteriorated so swiftly that many observers now describe them as locked in a "new Cold War". The more pressing question, however, is not whether this analogy holds, but whether confrontation can be managed short of outright conflict.
When Labubu dolls transform into a protest symbol
Oped, Jackie Mansky, Published on 17/09/2025
» I was surprised to see Labubus, the mega-popular toy monsters with Puck-like grins, staring at me in the crowd at anti-ICE demonstrations in Los Angeles in June.
The Trump melodrama: Relief is at hand
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 22/08/2025
» Nobody had been bothering for the past three years, but then along came Donald Trump, determined to shape a "peace deal" between two countries about which he knows little and cares less. Why? Just to win a bauble called the Nobel Peace Prize, because Barack Obama got it first and that wasn't fair.
Asean's charm offensive in full swing
Oped, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 05/08/2025
» In what can only be described as a stunning diplomatic move, US President Donald Trump has personally confirmed his attendance at the 47th Asean-related summits on Oct 26-28 in Kuala Lumpur. His early commitment made directly to Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim breaks with protocol and represents a rare gesture of goodwill toward Asean.
Iran and Trump: Much ado about nothing much
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 27/06/2025
» I don't get a lot of face-time with Donald Trump, but his rant on Tuesday in front of the chopper that was to take him to the airport and on to the Nato summit in Brussels was the first time I heard him say "f***" in front of live microphones -- and it was clearly about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
A diplomatic do-do
Oped, Postbag, Published on 02/06/2025
» Re: 'Thailand's false sense of tariff security,' (Opinion, May 30).
US must change course with Myanmar
Oped, Brahma Chellaney, Published on 11/04/2025
» Myanmar needs help. After more than four years of brutal civil war, the country has been hit by a 7.7-magnitude earthquake, the strongest it has suffered since 1946. The resulting humanitarian crisis is dire, and continues to escalate, but despite an extraordinary appeal for international aid from Myanmar's military ruler, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the US has largely failed to deliver.
A long fuse has been lit for war with Iran
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 29/03/2025
» Maybe it was the fact that we were coming up on the tenth anniversary of the treaty Donald Trump destroyed that prompted him to start issuing threats to Iran again.
The tyranny of anarchy and what to do
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 21/03/2025
» It is both exciting and alarming to be a student of international affairs as the world is being turned upside down. In just two months, the second administration of President Donald J Trump has sent shockwaves rippling through the international system as the United States pulls back from its role as leader, underwriter, and guardian of the nearly 80-year-old international order that it instrumentally constructed after WWII. In view of the US's portentous withdrawal, relative anarchy in the international system is back with a vengeance, leaving Asean members and smaller states elsewhere to fend for themselves in a self-help geostrategic environment.