Showing 1 - 10 of 32
Flawed Asean needs to regain footing
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 10/10/2025
» Nearly six decades after its founding, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) finds itself back where it began -- divided, uncertain, and vulnerable to the influence of major powers. Once hailed as a model for regional cooperation in the developing world, Asean now faces a crisis of purpose. Unless it can rediscover the unity and collective way forward that defined its early decades, Southeast Asia's flagship institution risks slipping into irrelevance.
Market still 'wrong' on climate
Oped, Fiona Watson, Published on 01/10/2025
» As business, government and nonprofit leaders debate the future of climate action ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) in Brazil, the global economy remains vulnerable to acute and chronic climate-driven shocks whose impact could be more severe than that of the 2008 global financial crisis. At a time when many governments and businesses continue to underestimate and underprice physical climate risk, we must remember that neither financial markets nor regulators are always right. What if their current complacency about climate risks is catastrophically wrong?
Thaksin chapter closes, another opens
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 19/09/2025
» In yet another dramatic twist in Thai politics, erstwhile anti-establishment political juggernaut and former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra accepted a one-year jail sentence and began serving his time behind bars on Sept 9. After his return from a 15-year self-imposed exile in August 2023 and a concomitant royal pardon that reduced his eight-year imprisonment on corruption convictions to just one year, Thaksin cited his gravely ill health and spent the time comfortably at the Police General Hospital before being released on parole. The Supreme Court's ruling that his get-out-of-jail health card was invalid means Thaksin's renewed imprisonment and its aftermath are likely to reshape and realign Thailand's political landscape ahead of the next election, due by mid-2027.
Why global governance is failing badly
Oped, Antara Haldar, Published on 14/03/2025
» The United Nations was established in 1945, succeeding the failed League of Nations, to pull humanity back from the brink of self-destruction. It was a bold experiment in collective security, designed to prevent another world war and manage conflicts through diplomacy rather than violence.
Is AI a curse or a blessing for education?
Oped, Matthew Robert Ferguson, Published on 17/08/2024
» My collegiate rowing coach at the University of Western Ontario was an eccentric West German named Dr Volker Nolte, a stocky and imposing figure who was only funny when he didn't mean to be. He was a biomechanics wizard, obsessing over the countervailing forces of the rower and shell, currents and winds, blades and water. In the early 80s, as part of his doctoral research, he designed a sliding rigger that moved along the hull of the boat on slides in tandem with the rower, which, when compared to a fixed rigger, effectively doubled the force and propulsion of every stroke. It made second-tier rowers competitive with the best in the world.
Elephant torture
Oped, Postbag, Published on 16/03/2024
» Re: "Plans for training centres to tame angry elephants", (BP, March 15).
Myanmar as interim 'non-state' state
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 01/03/2024
» Myanmar, also known as Burma, has become a de facto state that is dominated by non-state entities. Contrary to facile claims, Myanmar is not a failed state like some that beset parts of Africa and the Middle East. The ethnically diverse country of 55 million still functions despite widespread violence in an ongoing civil war. Unless and until Myanmar is understood and re-conceptualised as an interim state comprising non-state entities, it will be difficult to move forward to remake and reconstitute a new country after the civil war and the passing of the military junta that seized power on Feb 1, 2021, led by Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.
How to assess COP28's outcome
Oped, Gernot Wagner, Published on 20/12/2023
» #Actionism". That word greeted arriving passengers at Dubai International Airport, the port of entry for the vast majority of the 100,000 or so climate negotiators, activists, industry lobbyists, and others attending this year's United Nations Climate Change Conference and the events around it.
Russia, China in arms trade with Myanmar
Oped, John J Metzler, Published on 27/05/2023
» It's hardly a surprise but an affirmation of the obvious. Myanmar's military regime is being backed, supported and protected by both Russia and China. What's new is that the specifics of this assistance have come to light in a landmark United Nations report uncovering the extent of arms and munitions transfers to Myanmar, beset by longtime military rule, amid spurts of democratic governance, but overall isolation and indifference.
No to navy salvage
Oped, Postbag, Published on 01/04/2023
» Re: "Vessel yet to be salvaged", (BP, March 30).