South East Asia

Southeast Asia’s Precarious Balancing Act As relations between China and the United States grow more antagonistic, the rest of the world is watching with unease. Washington has repeatedly accused Beijing of spying on Americans and trying to steal its secrets, most recently by sending a balloon over the United States. …

United States Counterinsurgency Operations (COIN) in Afghanistan and Iraq were significantly hampered by the haphazard manner in which the United States military deploys units to combat zones. Replacement in Place/Transfer of Authority (RIP/TOA) is the process of the outgoing military unit in a respective Area of Operations (AO) transferring the …

Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States (AUKUS) laid out the sail plan for Canberra’s $368 billion, multiyear program to acquire its own nuclear-powered submarine (SSN) fleet. It is Australia’s biggest defense buildup since the end of World War II and will induct it to an elite club of …

President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to China, along with the EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, comes after years of spiralling relations with Beijing over issues including blocked investment agreements, human rights violations, market access disagreements, and Beijing’s reluctance to condemn Russia over its actions in Ukraine. The joint visit …

The trip to China by Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim at the end of March has secured a huge win for Beijing, which exposes the deep vulnerability and the ingrained sense of desperation on Malaysia’s part. The prime minister is in an extremely tight spot, needing to ensure Malaysia’s concerns …

The Pacific region is an area of instability and interweaving of geopolitical interests. In that region, the interests of the superpowers China and the United States collide, as well as other nearby Asian countries such as Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan, the two Koreas, Thailand. Each country looks after …

In the absence of any desire on the part of the Biden administration to support the Saudis — for decades one of Washington’s most important allies in the region — China has moved quickly to fill the diplomatic vacuum to launch its own initiative to restore ties with Iran.[T]he fact …

Recent developments in the Middle East have cast China as a reliable intermediary and proponent of multilateral dialogue, signalling a departure from Beijing’s typical reluctance to participate meaningfully in conflict negotiations. Saudi Arabia and Iran’s decision to restore diplomatic relations has raised Beijing’s diplomatic profile and political influence. The agreement …

Summary:The EU has been stepping up its engagement with Central Asia, including on regional cooperation, energy, and connectivity. But to gain more clout, the union must present a positive alternative to powers like China and Russia. The EU’s stakes in Central Asia—a region the union has traditionally kept at a …

Succeeding administrations have a chronic habit of blaming their predecessors. The Biden administration has been most particular on the issue, taking every chance to attack former President Donald Trump for the ills of his tenure. But the effort to almost exclusively lay blame at Trump’s door for the US fiasco …