Our Research and Publications

Chinese Premier Li Qiang addresses the third session of the 20th G20 Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, Nov. 23, 2025. (Photo: Huang Jingwen/Xinhua) What's happening in Johannesburg? On 22nd November, G20 Leaders adopted a declaration  in Johannesburg Summit 2025 against the backdrop of quite a turbulent geopolitical quagmire. The United States, being the next country to lead the presidency boycotted the meeting, with  the Trump Administration citing  “persecution of white

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul as they shake hands during the ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2025. By the time ASEAN, along with its leaders, gathered in Kuala Lumpur in October 2025, things were decidedly optimistic. Just in their capacity as the chair of ASEAN, Malaysia had assisted in the Kuala Lumpur Peace Accord between Cambodia and Thailand after months of worsening bord

Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in Moscow on the sidelines of the celebration marking the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Soviet Union’s Great Patriotic War in May 2025. In Late November , President Trump has announced Venezuela contain a no-fly zone, further growing tensions between the U.S. and Maduro regime. Since September , the U.S has launched 21 strikes against suspected drug vessels, killing 83 people, also amassing m

Waving mini Chinese flags, people crowd Tian'anmen Square in Beijing to watch the flag-raising ceremony on Oct 1, 2020. China’s reemergence as a global power dominates debates about the future of the international order. As China rises, power alone does not dictate how a rising state interacts with the global system.What matters more for the United States and its allies is China’s attitude toward the rules, norms, and institutions that structure international order. Whether B

Anthony Albanese poses with Bluey and Bingo from the hit ABC TV show Bluey. Indonesia’s 280 million people  makes it one of the most populous countries in the world. With a median age of roughly 30, it is a nation driven by youth, digital fluency, and a rapid appetite for global cultural products. Korean pop music dominates its TikTok feeds and concert venues, Japanese anime and games shape entire subcultures, and its parents name their children after European soccer stars. Y

U.S. President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman meet in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, May 13, 2025. The 2030 Saudi programme represents an ambitious goal established by the Saudi Arabian government in 2014. This goal encompasses domestic modernization and Saudi Arabia’s focus on regional security and economic stability, particularly in the Middle East and the Gulf. Saudi Arabia's efforts align with Buzan and Weaver's regional security complex theory, as the Mid

Most people don’t realise it, but our daily digital habits now sit inside foreign political systems. We are used to thinking of territory as physical (land, borders, airspace, and seas), a space we inhabit. That how we usually define territory in law & politics, but the concept does not always fit neatly within media studies. In digital age, media territory destabilises traditional assumptions about where politics “happens.” States no longer need to occupy land to influence p

President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. lead the official launch of the Philippines’ Chairship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) 2026 at the Foro de Intramuros in Manila on 14 November 2025. When the Philippines assumes the Chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2026, it will do so at a pivotal and precarious moment for the region. The Chairmanship, themed “Navigating our Future, Together,” comes not only amid deepening geopolitic

The Beijing Auto Show 2025 hall is packed as visitors explore XPeng and Lynk & Co cars on display alongside other. On October 22 nd , 2025, Tesla reported a 37 percent  profit drop in their third fiscal quarter of 2025. However, revenue rose 12 percent , currently valuing Tesla at $28.1 billion. However , Tesla sold more cars from July through September than it did in the same time frame in 2024. Yet,  Tesla earned less due to exorbitant price cuts and low-interest loans. How

Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese aboard HMAS Canberra at Garden Island Naval Base in Sydney, where they announced a new security agreement on 12 November 2025.   When Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto arrived in Sydney this week, the symbolism was unmistakable. His early visit just months after taking office underscored Jakarta’s view of Canberra as a key partner in an increasingly uncertain Indo-Pacific. The highlight

President Prabowo Subianto, flanked by Foreign Minister Sugiono and Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya, takes part in the APEC 2025 Economic Leaders Meeting in Gyeongju, 31 October 2025. “Amid global uncertainty, Prabowo’s assertive diplomacy signals Indonesia’s shift from moral idealism to pragmatic realism.” Reflecting on Prabowo’s first year of administration, Indonesia has taken a pivotal shift in foreign policy. After nearly a decade of restrained diplomacy, the public

President Prabowo Subianto walks into the APEC 2025 summit venue in Gyeongju, South Korea, on 31 October 2025, accompanied by Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto, Foreign Minister Sugiono, Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya, and other delegates. Indonesia’s  president’s intention in the Gaza issue and its role as an intermediary in the future peace efforts in the region post-Gaza summit marks an important step in projecting Indonesia's role as a gl

Australia’s prime minister Anthony Albanese, India’s prime minister Narendra Modi, US president Joe Biden and Japan’s prime minister Fumio Kishida at the Quad leaders summit in Claymont, Delaware, on 21 September 2024. Security and strategy have been the guiding principles in today’s geopolitical scenario. The ASEAN, or Association of Southeast Asian Nations, has been at the forefront of ensuring a secure and stable world. At the core of it lies a critical region, the Indo-Pa

Reform within Indonesia’s diplomatic machinery has become increasingly urgent. The global landscape both political and economic is undergoing rapid and profound transformation. Traditional alliances are being redefined, new blocs are emerging, and the once-stable rules of global trade are now in flux. Former U.S. President Donald Trump’s return to prominence has once again disrupted the foundations of multilateralism, while protectionist tendencies and great-power rivalries f

Introduction   In today’s world of rapidly shifting alliances and contested borders, regions that succeed are not the ones that rely only on geography or shared history, but those investing in building meaningful linkages among their people, economies, and institutions. Perhaps, Southeast Asia offers the most compelling examples. Despite its cultural diversity and political differences, ASEAN has managed to turn its neighbourhood into a community bound by trust and interdepen

Introduction The India-ASEAN narrative has evolved from a position of optimism in 2017 as the dialogue partnership turned 25, to a narrative of resurgence in 2022, and finally, the narrative of strategic repositioning and imperative reclamation as of today. What started as an executionary mechanism to  India’s Look East Policy  has now given rise to a regional partnership that has withstood geopolitical tremors and a systemic dismantling of the global order.  As regional stra

The relationship between India and ASEAN goes way far, beyond trade and strategy, rooted in centuries of cultural exchanges and shared heritage. India and ASEAN both recognise and underscore the importance of people-to-people diplomacy, and how it is becoming an important element of state-led initiatives as both regions continue to negotiate a multipolar world. India-ASEAN relations are often narrated through a simplified filter: India is seen as a counterbalance to U.S. inte

Introduction  As the world has been becoming increasingly influenced by digital infrastructure, a rising trust gap is developing around global tech ecosystems. Countries are becoming increasingly cautious about the excessive use of  Western or Chinese platforms  due to data colonization, spying, and economic blackmail. The concept of digital non-alignment has gained popularity: as geopolitical fault lines become more pronounced, the concept of developing sovereign, interopera

Indonesia, the world’s fourth most populous nation and Southeast Asia’s largest economy, is preparing one of the region’s most ambitious clean energy transformations. In June 2025, the state utility PLN launched its new Electricity Supply Business Plan (RUPTL) 2025-2034, placing renewable energy at the center of the country’s power future. The scale is striking: nearly 70 gigawatts of new capacity by 2034, with more than three-quarters sourced from renewables and storage. For

Since the recent U.S. election, many foreign policy thinkers and observers in Southeast Asia have expressed concerns about the potential impacts of a second Trump administration. Among their worries are the planned blanket 20% tariffs, reduced climate commitments and support to regional and multilateral mechanisms, and more importantly, increased security risk among key geopolitical flashpoints in the region, including in Southeast Asia. Given the predominantly cautious view

In 1966, French president Charles de Gaulle withdrew France from the integrated military command of Nato, on the grounds that the United States’ dominance of the transatlantic security alliance undermined not only French sovereignty but that of other European members. He later signed a cooperation agreement with the Soviet Union, showing by example what autonomous foreign policies could look like for a Europe of sovereign states. With the fall of the Berlin Wall, many Europea

The past week offered a glimpse into a new era in China’s relations with Southeast Asia. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit in Tianjin on August 31–September 1 and China’s Victory Day Parade on September 3 served as a diplomatic stage –and Southeast Asian heads of state from Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, and Myanmar were visibly present. Their attendance underscored a deeper reality: China’s neighborhood diplomacy has reached an inflection poin

In August, Indonesia’s largest maritime manufacturing company, the state-owned PT PAL , hosted a visit for US Congress Staffers from New York, California, South Carolina, West Virginia, Nevada, and Washington. The meeting was aimed at exploring and strengthening cooperation between Indonesia and the United States, particularly in the maritime defence and industries sector. At the meeting, PT PAL stated that they were ready to provide maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) se

It cannot be denied that the current world order is in transition. Conversations and public discourse in various international forums are raising similar and resonant questions—has the unipolar world of the United States reached its end, and what comes next? Is it multipolar? Or will we witness the resurgence of a Cold War 2.0 with the rivalry between the US and China? However, a new group of countries, known as the middle powers, has emerged. They possess sufficient politica

The global order is in disarray. Great power competition is intensifying, multilateral institutions are weakening, and long-standing alliances are under strain. Conflicts in Europe and the Middle East, economic fragmentation, climate shocks, and the erosion of global norms have deepened a sense of instability. The war in Ukraine has redrawn geopolitical fault lines, while violence in Gaza and regional tensions in the Red Sea and Persian Gulf threaten global trade flows. At th

After shelving its nuclear energy ambitions in 2016, Vietnam is now giving atomic power another chance. The reversal stems from both desperation and ambition – the crippling blackouts of 2023 that shuttered factories, mounting pressure from Western partners to abandon coal, and a newly consolidated leadership eager to project technological prowess. However, Vietnam needs to surmount several challenges to meet this renewed ambition. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s administr

U.S. President Donald Trump’s approach to the Indo-Pacific has been defined less by strategic foresight than by political undoing. In his first term, he withdrew the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership , exited the Paris Climate Agreement , sidelined ASEAN, and undermined multilateral diplomacy. Now in his second term, the pattern continues. He withdrew from the Paris agreement – again. The Pentagon has launched a formal review of AUKUS , the trilateral alliance

What is the fundamental contradiction shaping our world today? Some might say it’s the dichotomy between democracy and autocracy – a staple of former US president Joe Biden’s world view. However, that perspective seems outdated. Biden’s successor, Donald Trump, is well known for being transactional. Last month he said Washington would lift sanctions on Syria, although the country’s new government hasn’t put it on the path to democracy. Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has

O n Tuesday, the Republic of Korea held a historic presidential election, following the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol in late 2024. This marked only the second time in South Korea’s democratic history that an election has followed an impeachment, underscoring the strength of its institutional framework.  Despite recent political turbulence, the election proceeded peacefully and with an unprecedented voter turnout of 79.4 percent, the highest in nearly three decades.

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s South China Sea policy has many contradictions and inconsistencies, particularly regarding China’s nine-dash line. In separate joint statements Indonesia has shown an inconsistent stance on China’s maritime claims. Indonesia’s parliament is in the process of   ratifying a treaty signed with Vietnam last year,  delimiting their exclusive economic zones in the South China Sea. Prabowo is committed to ratifying the treaty and is planning

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s meeting with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto on his first international visit set defence, trade and investment firmly at the center of the agenda. Albanese was welcomed to the palace by dozens of soldiers on horseback, around 3,000 school children waving flags, and a military ceremony, a typical reception for a foreign leader under Prabowo’s administration.  While the visit signals that Indonesia is a clear priority for the

Twenty-two hours from New York, I recently landed in Jakarta for a whirlwind three-day visit. From ministerial offices to coffee shops, from formal interviews to off-the-record conversations with government officials, business leaders and journalists, a common thread emerged everywhere I went: Indonesia is brimming with ambition, but carrying a quiet, persistent worry. The ambition is unmistakable. Officials speak of unlocking 8 percent growth, building industrial strength an

Amid an intensifying geopolitical rivalry, Japan’s strategic posture remains resilient and relevant to regional peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region. In April 2023, Japan announced a new initiative named “Official Security Assistance (OSA)”, aiming to “deepen security cooperation” with like-minded countries by “providing equipment and supplies as well as assistance for infrastructure development” to foster their security and deterrence capabilities. A document post

In the era of heightened geopolitical competition in nascent technologies, it is tempting to view the artificial intelligence (AI) race as centred around two key players – the United States and China. At the Politburo’s April 25 economic-analysis meeting , Chinese President Xi called upon the nation to “achieve self-reliance and strength”, according to a Xinhua readout, and “secure a competitive edge in AI” – stopping short of naming the US. Reciprocally, the US views China’

This piece discusses President Xi Jinping's recent trip to Vietnam, Cambodia, and Malaysia from April 14–18, 2025, through a Southeast Asian perspective. The trip highlights its significance for Southeast Asia and sheds light on ASEAN's relations with major global powers. In essence, President Xi leveraged the global uncertainty caused by Trump’s tariffs to strengthen ties with Southeast Asian neighbors. Three key highlights of the trips stand out and are easy to remember. Fi

The recent state visit by China’s President Xi Jinping to Phnom Penh, capped by 37 new agreements and a pledge to deepen an “all-weather Cambodia-China community of shared future”, was intended to reaffirm Beijing’s centrality in Cambodia’s foreign policy. But the visit coincided with Phnom Penh’s ongoing recalibration of its external engagement – carefully balancing ties with Beijing while opening space for deeper engagement with the West. Since taking office in 2023, Prime

As Chinese President Xi Jinping wrapped up his April tours of Vietnam, Malaysia, and Cambodia, Beijing’s message to Southeast Asia was unambiguous: China offers stability and partnership in contrast to American “unilateral bullying,” “hegemonism,” and “protectionism.” The timing of the visit could hardly be more opportune. Like the rest of the world, Southeast Asia has been reeling from Trump’s “Liberation Day” reciprocal tariffs. His proposed levies—as high as 49 per cent—

Since Indonesia’s election period, President Prabowo Subianto—then still a presidential candidate—advocated for a “good neighbor” approach in shaping the country’s foreign policy. While this concept was not elaborated in detail, many assumed and encouraged Prabowo’s government to better articulate this idea to more grounded initiatives. Borneo offers a compelling case study in this regard, thanks to its strategic geographical location and abundance of natural resources and bi

Donald Trump’s neglect of Southeast Asia, coupled with controversial foreign policy decisions like his Gaza proposal and the abolishment of USAID, is eroding US credibility and trust in the region. As ASEAN states seek alternative partnerships with middle powers and China capitalises on Washington’s missteps, America risks losing its strategic influence in the Indo-Pacific. Only a few weeks back into the White House, it seems that Donald Trump has already lost credibility and

More than a decade since the announcement of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the ambitious project faces mounting scrutiny, despite its outward appearance of driving rapid development growth. The so-called BRI 2.0 vision, which promises to  be “smaller, greener, and smarter,” is Beijing’s response to widespread criticism of the earlier phase of the BRI. Cambodia, a key BRI recipient, offers a revealing case study of China’s evolving strategy. Between 2000 and 2021, C