The geopolitical imperative for a self-reliant South Korea
US President Donald Trump’s abrupt directive on August 16, 2026, to drastically scale back the joint “Ulchi Freedom…
Sanctions without exit strategies are fracturing the global economy
Wars in the 21st century aren’t fought only with missiles and soldiers anymore. Increasingly, they’re fought through banking…
Upstream nuclear, downstream rice: ecological MAD on the Mekong
In mid-June 2026, Russian state agencies signed an agreement with Laos to study the feasibility of building small…
How US muddle made a bad Iran war a quagmire
We have been loath to write about the ceasefire given the limitations and the ongoing circus around the…
Why the West keeps missing the point on Russia
In early June, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky published an open letter to Vladimir Putin proposing a face-to-face meeting…
What Indonesia’s finance chief really brought back from Beijing
When Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa landed in Beijing last week, the official agenda appeared straightforward: secure support…
Why Europe should erect high and hard trade barriers on China
As regular readers of this blog know, I’m pretty ambivalent about trade barriers as an economic policy. On…
Beijing vows to retaliate as EU warns of China Shock 2.0
Beijing has threatened to retaliate after the European Union’s executive body called for a more robust response to…
War heats up as Russia, Ukraine trade drone and missile attacks
Over the past month, there has been a notable increase in the intensity of the air war in…
AI euphoria getting reality check in South Korea, and vice versa
TOKYO — Few market visuals are more striking than the South Korean won and the Kospi index suddenly…
How China quietly erased Taiwan from coffee’s world stage
When Bala stepped onto the podium in San Diego in April, holding the trophy for the 2026 World…
Taiwan’s Cheng will face a tough crowd on US visit
Fresh from consultations with Chinese paramount leader Xi Jinping in April, Cheng Li-wun, the Chairwoman of Taiwan’s Kuomintang…