Feb 12, 2022

Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen will assume leadership of ASEAN this year, and bring with him a positive attitude towards China and a recent history of disengagement with the West. Observers expect that the regional organization’s agenda will turn away from topics that will directly challenge China’s influence over Southeast Asia.

Dec 24, 2021

The Philippines is gearing up for a hotly contested presidential election, and the relationship with China across trade and security must be addressed by each candidate.

Nov 24, 2021

“The U.S. once held the Philippines as a colonial possession, but now finds itself having to win back the Southeast Asian nation’s good graces to counter a rising China.”

Oct 26, 2021

Both the EU and ASEAN have largely criticized the newly announced AUKUS deal, leaving many European nations and China’s neighboring states scrambling to respond to the addition of nuclear submarines to Australia’s arsenal.

Sep 19, 2021

Parallels between the U.S. withdrawal in Afghanistan and its previous defeat in Vietnam have been top of mind for many, nowhere more so than in Southeast Asia itself, where American intervention and the ensuing fallout is still being reckoned with today.

Sep 03, 2021

Russia’s influence once stretched from the edge of Western Europe to the battlefields of Vietnam. Surpassed economically by the West and China, Russian foreign policy sees opportunity in Southeast Asia to restore its global reach.

Aug 12, 2021

The U.S. has seemingly pulled out all the stops to advance its agenda in Southeast Asia, hoping to entice countries away from China. Yet, as members of China’s neighborhood, ASEAN members will find it hard to create distance between themselves and China, literally and figuratively.

Jul 28, 2021

The controversial claims China has made in the South China Sea has made it difficult to be its neighbor - but Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte is willing to subvert his own administration to try and mend fences.

Jul 13, 2021

The ever-outspoken Rodrigo Duterte has navigated a contentious and dynamic situation in Southeast Asia with his bombastic leadership, which has disrupted a nearly century-old relationship with the U.S. No longer satisfied with compliance to American security concerns, Duterte may prove to be a formidable obstacle for Biden’s designs on establishing power in the Pacific.

Jun 22, 2021

Southeast Asia’s coalition of small-to-medium sized nations have hosted superpower conflicts, yet they are overshadowed by larger regional powers on the global stage time and time again. American leadership will struggle to find welcoming allies there without a drastic upgrade in its dealings with ASEAN member nations.