With the Trump administration increasingly distracted by conflicts in the Middle East and Latin America and showing little appetite for reviving North Korea diplomacy, South Korea, Japan and China ...

China today is actively shaping the security architecture which it inhabits. In a layered manner, from Myanmar to Djibouti, Beijing has increased its presence, exerting influence to protect its ...

Thailand’s heavy reliance on Middle Eastern energy and fertiliser imports has left it vulnerable to the economic fallout from the 2026 US–Israel war on Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Beijing opened 2026 with a clear signal on Taiwan. In his New Year message, Chinese President Xi Jinping celebrated the establishment of Taiwan Retrocession Day on October 25 and called reunification ...

Mekong cooperation is limited because the benefits of joint action are not clearly quantified or integrated into national decision-making. A ‘cooperation dividend’ approach would measure the economic ...

Japan’s Free and Open Indo-Pacific vision is evolving into a practical framework for regional resilience, with Japan–India cooperation emerging as a key driver. Deepening cooperation across maritime, ...

China’s growing dominance in AI infrastructure, open-source models and digital services offers ASEAN significant economic opportunities, but deepening integration carries risks of technological ...

In March 2026, India eased investment restrictions imposed in 2020, allowing some non-controlling investments linked to countries sharing a land border with India to proceed without prior government ...

Southeast Asian nations are reassessing the United States as a security partner amid growing geopolitical uncertainty and volatility in US politics. But China’s continued assertiveness in the South ...

Two southern Malaysian multi-ethnic states — Johor and Negeri Sembilan — are set to hold elections in quick succession. Held on 11 July and 1 August 2026 respectively, these elections could undercut ...

On 4 May 2026, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps issued a map indicating a zone of Iranian authority over a large area of the Strait of Hormuz, covering a large part of both Oman’s and the ...

The Centrist Reform Alliance (CRA), formed by the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and former Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) coalition partner Komeito, suffered a heavy defeat in the February ...