Asia Pacific

Collins Chong Yew Keat Key Takeaways Strategic Deepening of Ties — The Nikkei Forum and related engagements underscore Malaysia’s growing role as a key partner for Japan in semiconductors, energy (LNG), AI, critical minerals, and supply-chain resilience. This moves the relationship beyond the traditional “Look East Policy” toward high-value …

Dr. Ju Hyung Kim The United Arab Emirates’ move to revive the acquisition and local production of South Korea’s K9 self-propelled howitzer is more than a conventional arms deal. This reflects a broader shift in Gulf security thinking amid the ongoing Iranian war. For years, military modernization in …

Hadi Elis For nearly eight decades, the conflict in Balochistan has been portrayed by Islamabad as a separatist insurgency threatening Pakistan’s territorial integrity. Yet for many Baloch nationalists, the struggle is not about separation from Pakistan—it is about liberation from what they regard as a historical occupation. Their …

“The Russia–Ukraine War has now exceeded the duration of the First World War, yet Russia is short of achieving its original political objectives, and Ukraine, supported by NATO, hasn’t given up.” This prolonged contest of wills has morphed into a grinding, industrial-age war of attrition fought with twenty-first-century …

National flags of NATO members flutter at the alliance’s headquarters in Brussels, Belgium April 2, 2025. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo/File Photo Last Tuesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told European defense ministers that Article 5 the collective defense clause binding NATO together for 75 years was now conditional on …

The ongoing war in Iran has caused the largest oil supply shock in history, resulting in daily production losses that are unprecedented. However, the oil crisis linked to the 1979 Iranian Revolution remains the largest when considering total cumulative supply loss. This situation has drawn comparisons to past …

Marta Rehnman After decades of a rule-based international order built on the principle ofnational sovereignty and territorial integrity and equal interactions based on  multilateralism, which emerged after two world wars driven by nationalist expansionism and imperial rivalries, a new era of geopolitics ruled by great powers who are …

Ibrahim Ahmad The international order is falling apart, happening visibly, rapidly, and in ways that no longer surprise even the most committed defenders of the post-1945 liberal framework. The United Nations Security Council has not been able to do anything about the problems in Gaza and Ukraine. The …

Turkey has sought to reassure allies that the United States remains committed to NATO despite growing concerns over Washington’s future role in the alliance. Ahead of the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkish Defence Minister Yasar Guler said the alliance is adapting to an evolving security environment rather than …