Southeast Asia
When Rituals Break: Why Deepfakes Threaten Democracy Differently in the Global South
In many parts of the Global South, elections are never merely administrative events. They arrive as social rituals—dense moments when hope, fear, memory, and...
Why Myanmar’s Military Is Pushing Ahead With Elections Amid War
Myanmar’s ruling junta is proceeding with a general election despite an ongoing civil war, widespread displacement, and the exclusion of major political actors raising...
The Long Odds of a Junta-Managed Election in War-Torn Myanmar
Last week, Myanmar's junta chief Min Aung Hlaing urged voters to select candidates who would work with the military during the upcoming general election,...
How does the US national security strategy impact Vietnam?
When the US announced its new National Security Strategy (NSS 2025), Vietnam was not mentioned by name as a separate entity but only indirectly...
Junta Turns to Ballots After Battlefield Setbacks
Nearly five years after seizing power in a coup, Myanmar’s military leadership is attempting to use elections to consolidate authority it has failed to...
Why the Thai–Cambodian Dispute is a Strategic Problem
The Thai-Cambodian tension is almost uniformly treated as a manageable bilateral issue, serious but contained, sensitive but familiar. This is a mistake. The real...
When Conscience Rewrote Australia: The Bondi Moment
Moments of national trauma often reveal a country’s deepest divisions. More seldom, they expose its moral essence. The Bondi terror attack did the latter....
A New Asian Tiger? How US-China Rivalry Is Aiding Vietnam’s National Rise
In the high-stakes arena of global supply chains, Vietnam is the name on everyone’s lips. As multinational firms seek to de-risk from China, Vietnam...
Human-Wave Assaults and Drones Signal Myanmar Junta’s Battlefield Comeback
Four years after seizing power in a coup, Myanmar’s military junta is adapting to survive a grinding civil war that once appeared to be...
Explainer: Behind the Thailand-Cambodia Border Clashes
Fighting has re erupted between Thailand and Cambodia along their disputed border, with both nations blaming each other. Thailand has conducted air strikes on...