Asean
A bleak view of Southeast Asia
ASEAN's 50th anniversary last month prompted one enthusiastic commentator to suggest that the organisation deserves a Nobel Prize but a recently published book by a long-time…
Timor-Leste’s critical window on ASEAN
Amid the celebrations of ASEAN's 50th birthday last week, the question of whether Timor-Leste will soon be granted full membership lingers.
ASEAN membership is the cornerstone of…
As Malaysia turns 60, its economy is stuck in third gear
Saudi Aramco, Riyadh's state-owned oil behemoth, has been investing heavily in Malaysia's economy, injecting $7 billion into the Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development…
Economic diplomacy brief: Foreign policy split, ASEAN links and Japan commerce 60 years on
Paper cuts
The prospect of the foreign policy White Paper emerging as a longer term bipartisan framework must be in doubt after the Labor Party demanded this week that its Asian…
Australia and ASEAN: The next 50 years
Australia's future, and our future prosperity, are inevitably in Asia.
Julia Gillard pointed to this in 2012 when she launched the ‘Australia in the Asian Century’ White…
All eyes on North Korea at ASEAN
Just over a year ago, Manila was celebrating an unprecedented international ruling in its favour against China in the disputed South China Sea. This weekend, the city played host…
Economic diplomacy brief: Summit budgets and mixed messages from Australia’s foreign investment
Turnbull's regional legacy?
The spending contrasts between the softer and harder aspects of international policy in the 2017 Budget have underlined again how aid is being…
Why Trump attending Southeast Asia’s summit season is good news
Last month US Vice President Mike Pence announced in Indonesia that President Donald Trump would attend the US-ASEAN Summit and East Asia Summit (EAS) in the Philippines and the…
ASEAN Summit: An exercise in omission
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summits are largely defined by what is left unresolved and unsaid, rather than what is acknowledged in the chair statements. The…
Don’t waste time trying to get Trump to Manila
Over the last two months, Australian and Southeast Asian officials have been urging their US counterparts to ensure President Donald Trump shows up at two major summits in…