The Shan state of Myanmar is the largest producer of illegal drugs within the infamous Golden Triangle—a tri-junction at the Myanmar, Laos and Thailand borders.
US and EU sanctions against key Russian arms producing firms, design bureaus and export organisations have had significant implications for Russian arms importing nations.
The fluid geopolitical situation arising out of the Russian military intervention in Ukraine has added to the challenges of Turkmenistan’s leadership in implementing their stated neutrality-based foreign policy doctrine.
Far-right extremism, rooted in the anti-Semitic, White supremacist Nazi and Fascist ideologies of the 20th century, has gained popularity across first world countries.
Through the lens of land acquisition by the State for development in India and China, an extensively and compulsorily strong State intervention has been witnessed. It pushes forward asymmetric neoliberal reforms, draws value surpluses from land development, and frequently uses mandatory coercive measures, when necessary, to accelerate the economic development process. The current reform has not substantially revised, but in fact, has sustained this model of development.
Thailand has been at the core of the Asian Values debate since the 1992 World Conference on Human Rights. Sufficiency Economy Philosophy (SEP) is a concept developed by the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej to consolidate his approach to governance and development. Integrating values borrowed from Theravada Buddhism such as benevolence, emphasis on the middle way and on the public good. This article explores the development of SEP focussing on the role of values and leadership styles.
Going by the economic growth patterns of China, India, Japan, South Korea and ASEAN countries with corresponding decline in the Western economic heft, it was often claimed that the 21st century will be the Asian Century. This might be in doubt due to the pandemic and geopolitical contestation between China and the US, where new faultlines are being drawn. Moreover, India and China being in a potential conflict zone, the dream of the Asian Century might have receded even further.
