The open trade foundation on which European and Asian countries have built their economic models is under threat. Cooperation between the two regions might mitigate the damage and rescue the rules-based trading order, writes Shang-Jin Wei.

Can an Asia and Europe compact rescue the global trade?

Southeast Asia has long debated the idea of a single transnational tourism visa. Gary Bowerman weighs the merits and the challenges of the idea.

Asialink Insights | Will an ASEAN tourism visa take off?

Historian Anthony Reid greatly contributed to the understanding of Indonesia with his writing on the nature of the Indonesian revolution and the foundation of the Indonesian state. Wayan Jarrah Sastrawan reflects on Reid’s work and values at a time when history is again thrust into the political contest.

Anthony Reid: Historian of the Indonesian Revolution

A plan to produce a new 10-volume history of Indonesia has exposed the power of political elites to control historical narratives for their own interests—at the cost of the quality of education and a critical understanding of the nation’s past, writes Ken M.P. Setiawan. 

(Re)writing history: The contest over Indonesia’s past

Amid concerns over China’s rise, European countries are turning their gaze to Asia. Former diplomat John McCarthy says regional players like Japan and Australia must work with the Europeans to ensure the new Biden Administration gives more policy weight to the region, and especially Southeast Asia. 

Europe's back

This year the United Nations marked the 50th anniversary of the entry into force of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT). But, as Professor Emeritus Ramesh Thakur, a renowned expert on nuclear control regimes, notes there is little to celebrate and even less to be optimistic about as the risks of nuclear war persist, especially in the Indo-Pacific. Some bold new thinking is required. 

Crisis and stability in nuclear triangle 

A dangerous assumption has long been made, perhaps innocently, in Canberra’s formulation of China policy that sufficient Australia literacy is in place in China to avoid disastrous misunderstanding and miscalculation, writes Diane Hu. 

China Australia literacy

Indonesia’s presidential candidates have had little to say on foreign policy. But whoever is sworn-in as President this year will face one of the most challenging international environments to confront a new Indonesian administration.

Indonesia missing debate

While the warming China-Russia partnership poses challenges for the Western-led international order, India faces its own dilemmas in how to handle relations between an old rival and an old friend, write Arun Sahgal and Anshita Shukla. 

China Russia India

The rise of China necessitates the rise of Australian knowledge of China. As David S. G. Goodman writes, this knowledge is vital to our economic prosperity and national security.

China studies Australia future

Australia once had a vibrant cultural relationship with China. Michael Keane asks, could its revival help ease current diplomatic tensions? 

Can culture help

China’s 'Asian way' is an all-embracing idea and a coded language to discredit other countries’ actions that are deemed harmful to China’s strategic interests, writes Hoang Thi Ha. 

Building peace

With the appointment of a new Catholic bishop in China, Pope Leo XIV has sent a signal he intends to follow the China policy of his predecessor. But as Mary Yuen writes, the Pope faces a long list of challenges to securing religious freedom.

Pope Leo’s China test

A year after Australian academic Sean Turnell was arrested in Myanmar following the military coup, his fate within a politically controlled and opaque judicial system remains uncertain. Charlotte Galloway argues fresh diplomatic approaches might be required to secure his release. 

Bring Sean Turnell home

At the heart of Hong Kong’s success has been its reputation as a bastion of the rule of law in Asia. But John P. Burns writes China’s imposition of a national security regime has fuelled judicial confusion and uncertainty.

Can ‘enemies of the state’ be acquitted? The rule of law in Hong Kong 

In David Armstrong’s Asian media review this week: Party quits Thailand’s governing coalition. Plus: Cambodia named a global cyberscam hub; Japanese PM empty-handed after Trump meeting; US tariff regime a critical test for ASEAN; New efforts to ease two-Koreas tensions; Indonesia revises history of anti-Chinese riots.

Thai Government in turmoil over embarrassing call – Asian Media Report

A satirical take on nepotism and corruption in Southeast Asia draws millions of followers disillusioned by inequality and the lack of opportunity, writes Brandon Tan Jun Wen.

The Bobby Saputra phenomenon: A homegrown satire on Crazy Rich Asians

Decades of India-Pakistan hostility has its roots in a historic failure—the insistence of Indian independence leaders on prioritising a unitary, and overly centralised, federal model that failed to address the question of how to accommodate the sub-continent’s profound diversity, writes Saeed Ahmed Rid.

One nation or two: The roots of India-Pakistan conflict

Amid rising protectionism and geopolitical tensions, Hoe Ee Khor and Jae Young Lee argue ASEAN+3 economies must reaffirm their commitment to free trade, focus on restructuring domestic industries and diversify trade relationships to reduce overdependence on any single market.

ASEAN+3 in a fragmenting world

As Prime Minister Anthony Albanese prepares to fly to Canada for the G7 summit, Stephen Nagy writes middle powers like Australia and Canada face a ‘prisoners dilemma’ that will strictly limit their cooperation in dealing with a powerful and recalcitrant United States.