Southeast Asia
Vietnam’s Strategic Balancing Act: How It Navigates US-China Rivalry
Vietnam is considered one of the few countries that have successfully maintained a balance between the competition for influence between the US and China...
Two Navies, Two Ports: How Vietnam Is Hedging Between Great Powers
In the final days of July 2026, Vietnam’s coastline hosted an unusual sequence of guests. On 26 July, a Russian Navy flotilla – including...
US aircraft carrier USS George Washington visits Vietnam: A commitment to the Indo-Pacific region
On July 30, 2026, international and domestic news sources simultaneously reported on the official visit of the aircraft carrier USS George Washington to Vietnam....
Canberra’s Strategic Rise in Oceania
The Asia Pacific’s geopolitical balance is under change. While the U.S. remains the main architect of the plan, it is Australia that is becoming...
Myanmar Between India and China: The Politics of Strategic Leverage
Myanmar's President, Min Aung Hlaing, visited India from May 30 to June 3, marking his first visit to the country since military takeover. After...
ASEAN needs a hedging code, not just hedging instincts
Southeast Asia is not choosing Beijing over Washington. It only looks that way. What is actually happening is more consequential: the region's governments are...
Hung Cao’s visit and Vietnam’s art of psychological diplomacy
In diplomacy, the value of a visit sometimes lies not in the number of agreements signed or statements made, but in the symbolic message...
Myanmar and India’s Strategic Calculus: Pragmatism Over Idealism
Authors: Dr Soumyodeep Deb & Aung Kyaw*
Myanmar’s president Min Aung Hlaing is currently on a 5-day state visit to India on the invitation of...
A Bundle of Chopsticks: How ASEAN Can Deepen Rare Earth Cooperation
ASEAN’s REE Potential
Amid today’s war-induced energy shocks and the perennial urgency of decarbonisation, rare earth elements (REEs), the 17 metallic elements essential for electronics...
23rd IISS Shangri-La Dialogue: Can Southeast Asia still be a Zone of Peace, Freedom and Neutrality?
Contrast the speeches of the U.S. Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, and the Secretary-General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Dr Kao...