Southeast Asian countries are facing challenging times. Push for further democratisation within the countries and the established regimes resistance to it has the possibility of jeopardising the region’s political stability and which may impede the movement towards a ASEAN Economic Community by 2015.
There are no properly functioning Asian security institutions or regimes to regulate Asia’s nuclear politics and has to rely on global institutions and regimes for regulation of its nuclear politics and management of nuclear order. Treaties like the NPT are struggling to provide stability in the world as in Asia.
While the main purpose of the protest movement is to end Thaksin Shinawatra’s influence and expose corruption, the sense of animosity and mistrust towards other countries among the Yellow Shirts and Democrat Party supporters is the by product that is severely affecting Thailand’s external relations with the US, other key partners, and its overall position in Southeast Asia.
This policy brief discusses some of the key trends in the Asia Pacific and sets out a long-term approach for India so as to maximise its security and developmental opportunities.
Vietnam’s president Sang’s visit to the US is historic in many ways and promises to bring in a new era of partnership through active trade relations and strategic alliance as a counterweight to China.
With increased cross-border mobility, instantaneous access to information and easy reach to small arms, terror attacks in India are finding new targets.
After years of political and economic isolation, Myanmar is opening up to investment particularly in the energy sector. There are however, accompanying uncertainties and risks.
The impact of discord and disharmony within the country has started manifesting itself in the economic sphere. Despite the US and EU relaxing their sanctions, development problems have started showing up.
Timely as it was, the Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s five-day China visit may be considered a success on all fronts. Leading the ‘strongest Australian delegation ever’ to China, Gillard pledged to give the relationship a ‘concrete shape’, which in Chinese Premier Li Kequing’s words, is already ‘comprehensive, constructive and cooperative’. This issue brief analyses Julia Gillard’s China visit in the context of rising Australia-China bonhomie.
Unless the leaders of varying political hue and institutional oligarchs, including the military and, above all, Su Kyi, show political wisdom, incidents such as those in Meikhtila, Yamethin, and state military action against the Karens and Kachins will continue to recur.
Southeast Asian democracy: New time and take
Southeast Asian countries are facing challenging times. Push for further democratisation within the countries and the established regimes resistance to it has the possibility of jeopardising the region’s political stability and which may impede the movement towards a ASEAN Economic Community by 2015.