South East Asia

Today the possibility of consolidating an inclusive regional architecture for comprehensive security in the Asia Pacific has become almost inconceivable. This is because on-going China–US tension appears to have excluded that option. The United States has been busy consolidating its old military alliances and putting together new ones in the …

In spite of US Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley’s recently having said that the White House is not going to “waste our time” on the nuclear deal “if nothing’s going to happen,” he nevertheless stressed that the Biden administration is still committed to employing diplomacy, presumably to revive it …

For four years, as an increasingly belligerent China breathed down their necks, the United States’ allies in Asia quietly endured a torrent of abuse from President Donald Trump. Under President Joe Biden, they again have a winning hand in Washington. By the time he took office, Biden, a leading optimist …

A shadowy private Russian mercenary force with close ties to the Kremlin is attempting to boost its ranks in Ukraine by recruiting U.S.-trained Afghan commandos and other security forces who fled to Iran following the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, a former Afghan general tells RFE/RL. About 15 former Afghan commandos …

During Xi’s decade-long rule, China’s foreign policy has become more assertive and aggressive, and the 20th Party Congress signaled a continuation of this trajectory. The Politburo Standing Committee is now completely made up of Xi loyalists, while those considered closer to former leader Hu Jintao have been ousted from the …

Eurasia is about to get a whole lot larger as countries line up to join the Chinese and Russian-led BRICS and SCO, to the detriment of the west Let’s start with what is in fact a tale of Global South trade between two members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). …

What It Would Take to Defeat Both China and Russia When it comes to international relations, 2022 has been an exceptionally dangerous year. During the first two months, Russia massed thousands of troops along Ukraine’s borders. At the end of the second one, Moscow sent them marching into Ukraine. China, …

The 20th Party Congress has closed, with Xi Jinping’s grip on power even tighter than expected. After years of speculation, the 20th Party Congress has closed, and the new Central Committee elected the members of the Politburo Standing Committee, the men who will rule China for the next five years. …

Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Armenia in September 2022 caused some limited geopolitical commotion, as most readers of Baku Dialogues are keenly aware. Without downplaying its regional significance in the slightest, it was, however, her visit to Taiwan in August 2022 that made global …

Ruling Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping’s next five years will likely see more hard-line policies out of Beijing on the economy, foreign relations, human rights and public dissent, analysts told RFA. Germany-based ethnic Mongolian rights activist Xi Haiming said the fact that Xi had packed the Politburo Standing Committee …