South East Asia

Recent US sanctions on Saudi Arabia, coupled with prospects for Washington reentering the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, could push Saudi Arabia to strengthen its ties with China. Following the release of the declassified US intelligence report on the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, there are signs that the US …

The decision by India and Pakistan to ‘cease firing along the Line of Control (LoC) and all other sectors’, with effect from the midnight of February 25, 2021, is being seen as an important thaw in the bilateral relationship that was at an all-time low.1 The decision came about after …

A US peace plan for Afghanistan, involving intra-Afghan talks in Turkey, could offer Ankara a chance to raise its international profile and break the ice with Washington. US President Joe Biden is still keeping his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan waiting for a phone call, but Washington has recently cheered …

It’s been a year since the United States and the Taliban reached their historic agreement on bringing peace to Afghanistan, but as expected, it has not led to any rapid results. Talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government have been taking place in the Qatari capital Doha since last …

Surprise developments in protracted conflicts are rarely an overnight success. Nor do they happen in isolation or involve only the parties in the dispute. With regard to the India Pakistan deal on the Kashmir ceasefire, surely there were other actors at work, and more than one issue at play. It …

President Joe Biden has much repair and restoration work to do in East Asia. Donald Trump seriously degraded the United States’ role in the region, helping Beijing to escalate the most hostile and confrontational US–China relationship in 50 years. Simultaneously, Trump undermined US credibility with the allies and partners that …

In November 2020, 15 countries signed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) amid a backdrop of deglobalisation and trade protectionism. While RCEP demonstrates the success of ASEAN’s middle-power diplomacy and promotes regional trade and economic development, it also serves China’s national interests and will make the region’s largest economy more …

The Indian Navy has a bevvy of planned engagements this spring, including with the UAE and France. The Indian Navy is preparing for a busy month ahead with exercises planned with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), France, and the Quad countries. According to media reports, the UAE is set to …

Our nation has endured revolution, civil war, world war, and cold war. We have survived every kind of hardship and won. Today, we are in a new kind of war: a war of information. The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) rise to illegitimate prosperity is one of the greatest threats to …

What does the Chinese Communist Party actually want? Sometimes, the regime’s plans can seem inscrutable. Other times, they are more blunt. The latter is certainly the case for one high-profile Chinese scholar serving the Party: Jin Canrong, the Chinese “State Master,” a professor at the Chinese People’s University in Beijing, …