2023/01/16 |
No International-backed End in Sight to the Misery in Myanmar
The most likely outcome in Myanmar is that longstanding hesitation about entanglement in a wider war will discourage foreign players from taking more aggressive, interventionist approaches.
2023/01/11 |
Ukraine Crisis Doesn’t Herald a New Era for Refugee Rights in Japan
Japan’s focus on limiting the number of long-term sojourners severely limits the protection available to refugees, with an emphasis on controlling numbers seeming to dominate decision-making.
2022/12/30 |
Southeast Asia’s Tech Industry Goes From a Gallop to a Canter
ASEAN’s economic growth is projected to be above 5% in 2022 and 2023, outperforming China for the first time.
2022/12/23 |
Japan Steps Closer to Global Military Power
The loosening of arms exports controls and proposed increase of the national defense budget to 2% of GDP over time signal paradigmatic shifts in Japan’s security posture.
2022/12/19 |
Kishida’s Difficult Year
Support for Kishida’s government has plummeted to below 30%. Next year will be no easier with local elections scheduled in April and big issues on the table such as mounting security challenges, a declining birth rate, and overcoming obstacles to economic reform.
2022/12/15 |
Deterrence Across the Taiwan Strait Demands a Diplomatic Touch
A survey in 2022 showed that simply informing citizens in Taiwan that the U.S. would come to help them in a war created a significant boost in their willingness to defend themselves.
2022/12/09 |
Dwindling Economic Opportunities for China’s Youth Fuels Discontent
Without addressing high levels of youth unemployment, China will see a generation of lost youth who may look for disruptive ways to voice their despair.
2022/12/06 |
European Institutional Complexities and EU-Taiwan Relations
The European Union and its member states are enhancing their political relations with Taiwan, but it comes more expressly from the action of their legislative branches rather than their executive actors.
2022/11/25 |
Japan Must Reform Its Inflexible Work Culture
The labor force is diversifying, not just demographically, but also in terms of people’s needs and preferences. It’s time for organizations to adapt to workers — and not the other way around.
2022/11/08 |
Developing Asia Adapts to the Dollar’s Strength
A strong U.S. dollar will likely continue for the near future. Asian economies need to prepare for a rough 2023.
2022/11/02 |
Japan Warily Welcomes Back International Travelers
In his parliamentary speech in October, Kishida presented his plan to revive the Japanese economy, including a pledge to increase international tourist spending beyond the pre-pandemic high in 2019.
2022/10/28 |
Judicial Repression Becomes the Norm in Hong Kong
As of 2022, more than 100 civil society organizations and trade unions have been dissolved or closed in Hong Kong under the threat of the National Security Law.
2022/10/19 |
The 20th Party Congress and the Crowning of Xi Jinping
Xi Jinping’s maneuverings to ensure his personal domination in the CCP, long in the planning, threaten to upset a bedrock of the durability of the party.
2022/10/06 |
Okinawa’s Elections Expose Problems With Military Coexistence
Okinawa’s role in Japanese security was reinforced by China’s military drills in the Taiwan Strait following U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan.
2022/09/28 |
Church Drama Is a Dilemma for Kishida
Distaste for Abe and his fellow politicians’ links to the Unification Church has propelled a moral panic about controversial religious organizations in Japan, bringing to mind the media-driven alarm following the sarin gas attacks in 1995.
2022/09/19 |
Yoon Scrambles To Restore Domestic Confidence
With approval ratings bottoming out at 24%, President Yoon Suk-yeol carried out the first reshuffle of his office, but it's too early to tell whether the move will restore domestic confidence in his presidency.
2022/09/08 |
Malaysia’s Institutional Uncertainty
Despite graft conviction, Najib Razak’s return to power could be imaginable given the power dynamics in UMNO. As a first step, he is now seeking a pardon from the king.
2022/09/01 |
Japan’s Women Lawmakers Remain Seated
Japan’s celebration of record high number of women who won seats in the upper house may not stand up to close scrutiny.