- Inside Phnom Penh's empty 'excellencies-only' new skyscraper.
- Why language, and the very basic translation of democratic concepts, is failing Myanmar as it reforms.
- The Thai junta will stay on until 2017, says the deputy chairman of the National Legislative Assembly.
- The UN tribunal on the South China Sea dispute gave China until August to submit documents in its case against the Philippines (good explanation here). If Manila wins the case, a UN-directed ban on reclamation is plausible.
- The US Pacific Commander joined US surveillance flights over the South China Sea.
- Malcolm Cook looked at opinion polls in the Philippines, noting that 'polling numbers strongly suggest that China would reap a major and sustained soft power victory in the Philippines if it changed policy and reduced its vitriol and increased its commitment to international arbitration in its border dispute with the Philippines.'
- CSIS's Murray Hiebert argues that warming Vietnam-US ties revolve around the South China Sea. The result could be the completion of the TPP agreement.
- BBC's Jonah Fisher interviewed Myanmar's Commander-in-Chief and arguably the country's kingmaker, Min Aung Hlaing. Three take-aways: (1) the military won't roll back its role in Myanmar politics until ceasefire agreements are signed; (2) Min Aung Hlaing will retire next year when he says he reaches the obligatory retirement age of 60; (3) he noted that 'If people ask me to do this duty (become president), I will decide then'.
- Zach Abuza looks at Ramadan violence in Thailand's deep south:
