Indonesia’s proposed export scheme for strategic commodities, centred on the new state-owned enterprise Danantara Sumberdaya Indonesia, aims to curb trade misinvoicing but raises concerns about ...

Singapore is not typically seen as a middle power, but its economic strength, global connectivity and proactive diplomacy have enabled it to exert influence beyond its size. The city-state has ...

Myanmar’s military junta is pursuing a carefully managed strategy of political rehabilitation, using elections to create the appearance of civilian rule while preserving military control. The regime ...

The geopolitics of the South China Sea in 2025 were shaped by confrontation, militarisation and US–China rivalry. While some progress was made towards reaching an ASEAN–China Code of Conduct (COC) in ...

Taiwan’s experience in 2025 revealed the dangers of internal paralysis amid intensifying external pressure. Legislative deadlock, failed recall campaigns and deepening polarisation weakened Taipei’s ...

ASEAN’s responses to major regional security challenges like the Myanmar crisis illustrate weakening ASEAN centrality — ASEAN’s key principle and aspiration. The question of whether and how ASEAN can ...

Japan's economic agenda under Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi promises monetary easing, fiscal expansion and heavy state-led investment, but its internal contradictions risk worsening stagflation rather ...

The Philippines has lost an estimated 42.3–118.5 billion Philippine pesos (US$713 million–2 billion) a year from flood control corruption since 2023. The scale of illegal wealth accrued by contractors ...

The Mekong River faces growing threats from dam construction, sand mining, climate change and the decline of international aid. Citizen science — grassroots data collection and local knowledge ...

A quiet revolution is underway in academia, reshaping how the world understands itself. After decades of Western dominance, area studies programs have declined across the United Kingdom, Australia, ...

A new Science Council of Japan Act, which was passed by the Ishiba administration in June 2025, mandates the transition of the Science Council of Japan’s (SCJ) status from a national institution to a ...