Showing 1 - 10 of 201
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).
The global AI threat has arrived
Oped, S Alex Yang and Angela Huyue Zhang, Published on 24/04/2026
» Anthropic's new artificial intelligence (AI) model, Claude Mythos Preview, has alarmed business leaders and policymakers around the world because of its extraordinary ability to find and exploit vulnerabilities in major operating systems and web browsers. Even the Trump administration, which has feuded with Anthropic in recent months over certain military uses of its models, now seems keen to work with the company to protect critical government infrastructure from cyberattacks.
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.
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.)
It's never been more important to strengthen ties
Oped, Genevieve Donnellon-May, Published on 09/03/2026
» Australia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) face a defining moment. Intensifying great-power competition, climate crises and economic fragmentation are reshaping the Indo-Pacific, raising urgent questions about how the two sides can build a truly resilient partnership.
Diplomacy over silence
Oped, Editorial, Published on 24/02/2026
» Caretaker Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow is garnering praise for his open diplomacy aimed at re-engaging with Myanmar. Last Wednesday, he formally met his counterpart Than Swe in Phuket. There, Mr Sihasak was quoted by international media as saying that Thailand will serve as a "bridge" to bring Myanmar back into Asean.