Showing 1 - 10 of 3,041
Countering the fallacy of the buffer zone
Oped, Daoud Kuttab, Published on 10/04/2026
» Territorial buffers rarely, if ever, deliver the peace and security their advocates promise. After the collapse of the USSR, Ukraine was seen as a neutral cordon between Russia and Nato. Instead, it became a zone of increasingly fierce geopolitical contention, followed by open war.
Projecting hope for a world in turmoil
Oped, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 10/04/2026
» Today, the world is witnessing the most explosive situation since World War II, all too visible in conflicts such as the Iran war.
It's a revenue grab
Oped, Postbag, Published on 09/04/2026
» Re: "Thailand plans mandatory accident insurance for foreign visitors", (Business, April 8).
The day the US became Britain at Suez
Oped, Philip J Cunningham, Published on 09/04/2026
» The world's focus is on the US-induced debacle in the Strait of Hormuz, but it's another narrow strait that sums up the current state of US power in the world: Suez.
Policy debate a litmus test
Oped, Editorial, Published on 09/04/2026
» A major showdown looks set to take place between the government and the opposition as Parliament begins its policy debate later today.
Fanatics, an obsessive, and a belligerent fool
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 07/04/2026
» We don't have to look very far to find a useful historical analogy for the current crisis in the Middle East. In 1967, Egypt closed the Strait of Tiran to Israeli ships, and Israel replied with a surprise air attack that destroyed almost the entire Egyptian air force on the ground.
Iran's water weapon against Gulf
Oped, Michael Christopher Low, Published on 07/04/2026
» The oil-rich monarchies of the Persian Gulf are often described as petrostates. But the US-Israeli war with Iran has highlighted that they are also saltwater kingdoms, societies whose survival depends on desalination, or converting seawater into potable water at industrial scale.
Can alliances with the US be replaced?
Oped, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 07/04/2026
» The increasingly loud debate over the future of alliances -- after reports that the US could scale back or even withdraw from Nato -- is nerve-racking. It has caused alarm across Europe and in Southeast Asia, another node of the US alliance network. Even without any official decision, remarks by US President Donald Trump on social media were enough to shake already fragile US alliances. The question now frequently asked by Thai policymakers is: What comes next if alliances weaken?
Gulf states tell US ending the war is not enough
Oped, Samia Nakhoul, Published on 31/03/2026
» Gulf Arab states are telling the US that any deal with Tehran should do more than end the war, and must permanently curb Iran's missile and drone capabilities and ensure global energy supplies are never again "weaponised", four Gulf sources said.
Rethinking Thailand's visa-free policy
Oped, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 31/03/2026
» Thailand is planning to cut visa-free stays from 60 days to 30 days. This long-overdue change reflects growing concern over the effectiveness of immigration surveillance. Moreover, scaling down visa-free stays underscores the seriousness of the Anutin government's efforts to combat scammers, illegal work, and other underground activities that exploit easy visa access to turn Thailand into a base for under-the-table operations.