Showing 1 - 10 of 404
Myanmar's robbery of a democracy
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 24/04/2026
» Five long years after Myanmar's military seized power on 1 Feb 2021, what has taken place in recent weeks amounts to a delayed fait accompli. Led by Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, then commander-in-chief of the armed forces, the coup diverged from its traditional playbook seen in 1962 and 1988, when tanks rolled and the military ruled by brute force. This time, the takeover nearly unravelled amid a nationwide uprising that evolved into a civil war, waged by an armed and determined resistance comprising the civilian-led National Unity Government (NUG), the People's Defence Forces (PDFs), and a constellation of Ethnic Armed Organisations (EAOs).
How can we future-proof the global economy?
Oped, Mohamed A El-Erian, Published on 23/04/2026
» An uncomfortable reality is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. The global economy is in a period of "more frequent and violent shocks", as Nobel laureate Michael Spence puts it. Instead of facing isolated and temporary disruptions, we are confronting a structural shift towards unsettling volatility, deepening fragmentation, and a wider dispersion of outcomes for countries, companies, and households. The old world is gone, and virtually everyone risks losing out in the new one. The question is by how much and what to do about it.
Oil shock risks wider chain reaction
Oped, Chartchai Parasuk, Published on 16/04/2026
» There is no such thing as a free lunch. When global oil prices rise sharply, as they are doing now, someone must bear the cost. Some countries choose to absorb it through government support, as in Japan, while others pass the burden on to consumers, as in Thailand. Neither approach is inherently right or wrong; each carries different economic consequences. Policymakers must decide which set of outcomes is more acceptable and act accordingly.
Suu Kyi, media bias and morality
News, Fergus Harlow, Published on 11/04/2026
» History rarely collapses in an instant; more often, it is quietly rewritten until reality itself feels negotiable. In the years leading up to Myanmar's 2021 coup, a story took shape in the international imagination -- one that cast Aung San Suu Kyi not as a constrained civilian leader navigating a military-dominated state, but as a symbol of moral failure.
How Iran is able to beat the US in its war
News, Brahma Chellaney, Published on 06/04/2026
» In a rambling address to the American people on Wednesday, US President Donald Trump claimed that the US war against Iran has been a success, vowing to "finish the job … very fast". It was a statement in obvious conflict with the facts. In reality, Iran has upended the model on which US interventionism has long relied.
Government stability tests performance
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 03/04/2026
» Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has gone from strength to strength, leveraging a stopgap minority government late last year into solid majority rule after the Feb 8 election.
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.
Anutin's first big test
Oped, Editorial, Published on 23/03/2026
» The latest escalation in the Middle East targeting energy infrastructure is not merely another flurry of geopolitical tension, but a systemic shock to the global order with the potential to reverberate far beyond oil markets.
The fire this time is for US climate science
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 18/03/2026
» In 1953 Ray Bradbury, an American writer, published a book entitled simply Fahrenheit 451. It was a novel about an American fireman in a not-too-distant future who realised that he was doing his job all wrong -- because his job was to burn books, which were banned in that future America. (451°F is the temperature at which paper catches fire.)
State must tackle racism
News, Editorial, Published on 14/03/2026
» On the surface, a case involving a group of men assaulting an ethnic Karen worker in Chon Buri may look like an ordinary crime.