Showing 1 - 10 of 69
Implications of conservative triumph
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 13/02/2026
» The incumbent and conservative Bhumjaithai (BJT) Party has surprisingly swept Thailand's Feb 8 election with a commanding win. With the previously poll-leading and progressive People's Party (PP) coming in a distant second, Thailand appears headed for a conservative coalition government revolving around BJT and like-minded junior partners. Known for its conservative stance and being pro-status quo, it would not be surprising if the BJT-led coalition government, led by Prime Minister-elect Anutin Charnvirakul, were not challenged by the Constitutional Court, the Election Commission, and other supervisory agencies, which have derailed and dissolved reform-minded winning parties in the past.
Japanese PM Takaichi comes out on top
Oped, Taniguchi Tomohiko, Published on 11/02/2026
» Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has just scored an unprecedented victory in the country's general election. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which she leads, won 316 seats in the 465-member House of Representatives (the Diet's lower house), up sharply from 198. The combined strength of two parties that had merged hastily -- despite their fundamentally opposing platforms -- in an effort to bring Ms Takaichi down fell from 167 seats to just 49. The LDP, which celebrated its 70th anniversary last year, has never looked more robust.
The Houthi threat to global shipping
Oped, John J. Metzler, Published on 28/03/2025
» Amidst the unpredictable arc of crisis shadowing the Middle East, the systemic and sustained merchant shipping attacks in the Red Sea persist. The culprits are a shadowy but lethal Iranian proxy force, the Houthis, who use their control of mountainous parts of the Yemeni coast to launch missile, drone and speedboat attacks on vital shipping lanes connecting the Mediterranean with the Gulf of Aden.
Centre-left parties must regain relevance in Germany
Oped, Bartosz M Rydlinski, Published on 01/03/2025
» Germany's Social Democrats are one of the West's oldest political parties, with a legacy of advocating parliamentary democracy, opposing Nazism, and leading the modernisation of postwar Germany. In addition to many notable labour, economic, and human-rights reforms the party has implemented over the years, ex-SPD leader and West German chancellor Willy Brandt's Ostpolitik in the 1970s laid the groundwork for Germany's reunification in 1990.
Provincial Administration Organisation polls a gamechanger for Thais?
Oped, Peerasit Kamnuansilpa, Published on 16/01/2025
» On Feb 1, Provincial Administration Organisation (PAO) elections will be held in 47 out of 77 provinces. Late last year, there were elections in 29 provinces, where the PAO presidents resigned before their terms ended.
A 'retrospective' on Trump's first year back in job
Oped, Jeffrey Frankel, Published on 16/01/2025
» Predictions about 2025 come with flashing caveats: no one can know what US President-elect Donald Trump will do, let alone how the rest of the world will respond. But one can speculate. Imagine it is January 2026.
Make America Great Again heads to Panama
Oped, Ruti Teitel, Published on 04/01/2025
» US President-elect Donald Trump clearly does not intend to pursue a "good neighbour" policy. He has been mocking Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau by calling him "governor" while proclaiming that a country of 40 million people should become the 51st US state. His first telephone conversation with Mexico's new president, Claudia Scheinbaum, had to be followed by Ms Scheinbaum politely saying that she had agreed to none of the terms Mr Trump claimed that she had.
The conflict in Syria is not quite over yet
Oped, John J. Metzler, Published on 26/12/2024
» The extraordinary and fast-moving events in Syria have gripped the world. What was viewed as a forgotten, forsaken and frozen conflict churning on for nearly 14 years, has suddenly jumped into the headlines to round out this tumultuous year.
Japan faces electoral stalemate as LDP bloc loses grip
Oped, Takatoshi Ito, Published on 01/11/2024
» Japan's general election has dealt a major blow to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, whose ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its coalition partner, Komei, lost their parliamentary majority for the first time since 2009, plunging the country into political uncertainty.
NK troops sent to the Ukraine: cannon fodder?
Oped, John J Metzler, Published on 24/10/2024
» The rumours were true. The apparent dispatch of elite North Korean military units to fight alongside Russian troops in Ukraine appears at first surprising but actually is quite logical given the historic and comradely ties between Pyongyang and Moscow. After all, North Korea's isolated Kim Jong-un regime has forged increasingly close ties with Vladimir Putin's Russia and the cash-strapped North Koreans have shipped more than eight million 122mm and 152mm artillery shells to Russia during in the past year.