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Published daily by the Lowy Institute

  • 3 Nov 2025
    • Myanmar

    The myth of “soft-liners” in Myanmar's military governments

    Andrew Selth
    Like any large organisation, Myanmar's military contains conflicting views. But the generals share a number of core beliefs.
  • 27 Oct 2025
    • Asean
    • Myanmar
    • Asylum seekers and refugees

    A sham election offers no end to Myanmar’s suffering

    Amy Chew
    For ASEAN, endorsing the junta’s charade would accelerate Myanmar’s descent while destabilising the region.
  • 17 Oct 2025
    • Aid & Development
    • China
    • Indonesia
    • Laos
    • Malaysia
    • Myanmar
    • Thailand
    • Vietnam

    Signal failure for China’s railway diplomacy in Southeast Asia

    Grace Stanhope
    As Indonesia renegotiates railway debt with China, other Southeast Asian nations face a cautionary tale about mega-projects.
  • 26 Sep 2025
    • Asean
    • Bangladesh
    • Hong Kong
    • Indonesia
    • Myanmar
    • Nepal
    • Thailand

    The youth are revolting as Asia's gerontocracy is showing its age

    Erika Isabel Bulan Yague , Lukas Nagel , Helen Berents
    Across the region, leaders twice the median age of their populations face sustained resistance from a new generation.
  • 25 Sep 2025
    • Asean
    • Brunei
    • Cambodia
    • Indonesia
    • Laos
    • Malaysia
    • Myanmar
    • Philippines
    • Singapore
    • Thailand
    • Timor-Leste
    • Vietnam

    Is the US really losing to China in Southeast Asia?

    Susannah Patton
    A major new research project published by the Lowy Institute says yes – but there’s more to the story.
  • 11 Sep 2025
    • China
    • Myanmar
    • Technology
    • United States

    Northern Myanmar: The latest stop in Trump’s rare earths escapade

    Henry Storey
    The likelihood of Chinese buy-in on US–Myanmar mining deals is remote.
  • 7 Aug 2025
    • Myanmar

    Myanmar’s other war: The battle for financial control

    Sean Turnell
    The country’s resistance movement is thwarting the junta via the banking suites and trading platforms of the world.
  • 24 Jul 2025
    • Asean
    • Myanmar
    • Timor-Leste

    Timor-Leste and navigating the ASEAN Way

    Flávio Simões
    Upset from the generals in Naypyidaw is a further test of Dili’s mastery of regional diplomatic choreography.
  • 15 Jul 2025
    • Myanmar
    • Trade
    • Diplomacy
    • United States

    False recognition, tariffs, Myanmar, and the lost art of letter writing

    Sean Turnell
    Myanmar’s military ruler celebrates receiving formal correspondence from Washington, seeing diplomatic validation despite sanctions.
  • 14 Jul 2025
    • Asean
    • Myanmar
    • Global Issues

    Can Malaysia nudge ASEAN beyond non-interference to tackle the scam crisis in Myanmar?

    Liu Weiyi , Asha Hemrajani
    Traditional principles are clashing with urgent need for coordinated response to the threat of transnational crime.
  • 2 Jul 2025
    • Myanmar

    Myanmar’s federal future cannot be built on the junta’s foundations

    Yuyun Wahyuningrum
    Grassroots democratic movements across Myanmar are forging new institutions while ASEAN struggles with diplomatic paralysis over the coup.
  • 20 Jun 2025
    • Asean
    • Cambodia
    • Indonesia
    • Laos
    • Malaysia
    • Myanmar
    • Philippines
    • Singapore
    • Thailand
    • Vietnam

    Myanmar and ASEAN’s parallel diplomacy trap

    Vu Lam
    In Southeast Asia, national imperatives are increasingly outweighing regional cohesion.
  • 20 Jun 2025
    • Bangladesh
    • Myanmar
    • Asylum seekers and refugees

    Destabilisation of refugee camps in Bangladesh could lead to a new exodus of Rohingyas

    David Brewster
    A security breakdown and aid reductions could push refugees to seek dangerous alternative routes.
  • 8 May 2025
    • Bangladesh
    • China
    • Myanmar
    • United States

    Is the United States really planning a proxy war in Myanmar?

    Andrew Selth
    Despite reports to the contrary, the likelihood of any Western country joining the conflict is vanishingly small.
  • 2 May 2025
    • Myanmar

    Myanmar earthquake: Why the junta has turned away aid

    Su Mon Thant
    In the aftermath of disaster, political preferences have taken priority over emergency relief.
  • 1 Apr 2025
    • Myanmar

    Might Myanmar’s earthquake be a catalyst for political change?

    Sean Turnell
    It is a characteristic of Myanmar’s military to have forgotten nothing, but likewise never to learn.
  • 31 Mar 2025
    • Myanmar

    In the aftermath of Myanmar’s earthquake, reports emerge of the junta attacking its own people

    Manny Maung
    Search, rescue and airstrikes seem a sadly predictable response by this cynical regime.
  • 25 Mar 2025
    • Aid & Development
    • Bangladesh
    • Myanmar
    • Asylum seekers and refugees

    Beyond politics: Australia’s role in solving the Rohingya crisis

    Arunn Jegan
    More than a million people in disease ridden camps in our region should be a national concern.
  • 19 Mar 2025
    • China
    • Myanmar

    China’s tightrope walk: Mediating in Myanmar

    Su Mon Thant
    Conflict along the border has spillover effects for China – and an increasingly evident geopolitical dimension.
  • 14 Mar 2025
    • Myanmar
    • Intelligence and security
    • Russia

    Russia to boost Myanmar’s imagery intelligence

    Andrew Selth
    Has the junta just struck a deal with Moscow to strengthen its monitoring and military capabilities?
  • 10 Mar 2025
    • Myanmar
    • Nuclear Non-Proliferation, Arms Control and Disarmament

    Myanmar's impossible plutonium puzzle

    Andrew Selth
    Is Myanmar hiding a secret nuclear reactor and reprocessing facility to produce the core ingredient for a nuclear weapon? Or was this just a scam?
  • 6 Mar 2025
    • Aid & Development
    • Cambodia
    • Indonesia
    • Laos
    • Myanmar
    • Philippines
    • Singapore
    • Thailand
    • Timor-Leste
    • Vietnam
    • Australia

    Missed signals: What Southeast Asia wants vs what Australia delivers

    Mira Sulistiyanto
    With US aid disappearing, a new report shows Australia has a chance to align development cooperation with the region’s challenges and Australia’s strengths.
  • 10 Feb 2025
    • Asean
    • Myanmar

    Escaping the ASEAN paralysis on Myanmar

    Aniello Iannone
    International organisations are often instruments for consolidating state power rather than agents of transformation, and ASEAN is no exception.
  • 29 Jan 2025
    • Myanmar

    Myanmar's “failed junta” turns four

    Andrew Selth
    The regime is in deep trouble but it is best not to be too optimistic about an early resolution of the conflict.
  • 16 Oct 2024
    • Asean
    • Malaysia
    • Myanmar

    Malaysia’s ASEAN chairmanship is a catalyst, not a panacea

    Angeline Tan , Yanitha Meena Louis
    Moving beyond regional deadlocks will take more than a single year.
  • 29 Aug 2024
    • China
    • Myanmar

    China puts the squeeze on Myanmar’s Tatmadaw

    Henry Storey
    Beijing’s approach to its troublesome neighbour belies claims that it has an innate mission to promote authoritarianism aboard.
  • 25 Jul 2024
    • Asean
    • Bangladesh
    • India
    • Myanmar
    • Asylum seekers and refugees

    Could BIMSTEC be the answer to the Myanmar question?

    Arkoprabho Hazra
    With a new charter and fresh ambition, a little-known regional organisation has as big summit coming up in September.
  • 12 Jul 2024
    • India
    • Myanmar

    India’s “Act East” ambition must navigate Myanmar

    Anubhav S Goswami
    A surprise ministerial appointment might hint at a new diplomatic initiative.
  • 11 Jul 2024
    • Myanmar

    Regime collapse in Myanmar’s Rakhine

    David Scott Mathieson
    Ethnic armed organisations are inching their way towards the complete expulsion of junta forces in the state.
  • 11 Jun 2024
    • Myanmar

    Myanmar’s war within a war: Informers and the trust deficit

    Andrew Selth
    In a country thick with spies and informers, suspicion can be crippling. History shows that confidence is hard to win back.
  • 20 May 2024
    • Myanmar

    Myanmar: If sanctions aren’t the solution, what is?

    Morten B. Pedersen
    The local population invariably pays the price for financial punishment of the regime. So better for the world to directly support communities instead.
  • 10 May 2024
    • Myanmar
    • Thailand

    Thaksin Shinawatra’s Myanmar talks likely driven by politics and money

    Craig Keating
    This is not the first time the former Thai PM has showcased his supposed statesman qualities.
  • 8 Apr 2024
    • Myanmar

    Myanmar: Julie Bishop an inspired choice as UN Special Envoy

    Morten B. Pedersen
    She has status and networks, and comes from a country dedicated to peace and pragmatism.
  • 3 Apr 2024
    • Myanmar

    How the Myanmar regime is surviving

    David Scott Mathieson
    Despite some major wins by insurgent groups, the junta remains strong due to its control of arms and air power.
  • 2 Apr 2024
    • Bangladesh
    • Myanmar
    • Asylum seekers and refugees

    Myanmar: The junta’s forced conscription of Rohingyas

    Md. Himel Rahman
    The implications of this cynical act for people already oppressed could reverberate for neighbouring Bangladesh and across the region.
  • 13 Mar 2024
    • Bangladesh
    • Myanmar
    • Asylum seekers and refugees
    • Human rights
    • Migration

    A ring-fence around the Rohingya can’t last – Australia’s policy needs to change

    Arunn Jegan
    Seven years on, a temporary aid agenda is only extenuating the problem.
  • 12 Mar 2024
    • Myanmar

    Myanmar: What the generals hear might not be what the world means

    Andrew Selth
    History holds lessons for the gap between perceptions and policies.
  • 28 Feb 2024
    • China
    • Myanmar

    Could Myanmar become Beijing’s quagmire?

    Henry Storey
    The imperative to protect Chinese victims of transnational crime has set off a chain reaction that could jeopardise Beijing’s longer-term objectives.
  • 22 Feb 2024
    • Myanmar
    • Human rights
    • International law

    In defence of Aung San Suu Kyi

    Derek Tonkin
    Many in Myanmar have condemned what they perceive as seriously flawed Western criticism of the Burmese ex-leader.
  • 8 Feb 2024
    • Asean
    • Myanmar
    • Australia

    Myanmar and Australia: A partnership paved with good intentions

    Moe Thuzar , Kyi Sin
    Australia’s rationale for engagement has long been a hope to moderate the excesses of the regime. It does not seem to have listened.
  • 17 Jan 2024
    • Myanmar

    Three years on from the coup, what could help Myanmar’s opposition movement?

    Andrew Selth
    A range of practical measures could be taken. But the people of Myanmar seem destined to fend for themselves.
  • 13 Dec 2023
    • Aid & Development
    • Bangladesh
    • Myanmar
    • Asylum seekers and refugees

    Crunch time on Rohingya refugees

    David Brewster
    By bolstering assistance to Bangladesh, Australia can avoid a new source of maritime arrivals.
  • 4 Dec 2023
    • Myanmar

    Myanmar: The last days of the junta?

    Rahman Yaacob
    The rebels appear to hold all the initiative on the battlefield.
  • 22 Nov 2023
    • China
    • Chinese Trade
    • Myanmar
    • Southeast Asia
    • Thailand
    • Trade and Investment in the Asia Pacific
    • Australia and Asia
    • Quad
    • Australian trade, investment & economy
    • Trade

    Why is Myanmar’s new deep-sea port such hot property?

    Shaun Cameron
    An alternative route to the Strait of Malacca offers China, and others, a safer, faster and more efficient trade route.
  • 8 Nov 2023
    • Bangladesh
    • Myanmar
    • Australia and Asia
    • Human rights

    Australia’s chance to show global leadership on Rohingya displacement

    Jessica Marsh
    Honouring a pledge to be tough on borders without being “weak on humanity” will bolster Canberra’s aim of regional stability.
  • 7 Nov 2023
    • Myanmar

    Myanmar: a new abnormal

    David Scott Mathieson
    From enforced remittances to escalating drug use, non-conflict factors reveal a war-ravaged country in civil decline.
  • 13 Oct 2023
    • Myanmar

    Beware sensational claims about Myanmar’s security environment

    Andrew Selth
    Heavy on gossip, rumour and anecdote, too many stories about the junta-led country lack verifiable evidence.
  • 9 Oct 2023
    • India
    • Myanmar

    In Myanmar, India should also engage the opposition

    Bashir Ali Abbas
    Close ties with the junta risk leaving Delhi off side.
  • 28 Sep 2023
    • Myanmar
    • Thailand

    The new Thai PM has his work cut out on Myanmar

    Jitsiree Thongnoi
    After debuting at the UN General Assembly, the Thai PM must get to work on foreign policy issues, not least Myanmar.
  • 20 Sep 2023
    • Myanmar

    How credible are the casualty figures coming out of Myanmar?

    Andrew Selth
    The public relations war being waged in the international arena is just as important as the war being fought on the ground.
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