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Council on Thai Studies (COTS): Call for Presentation Proposals
From Possibilities to Vision and Action: Preparing Viet Nam for Its Next Phase of Growth
New & Noteworthy
Council on Foreign RelationsAfter the Big Win, Mahathir Faces Reality
After the Big Win, Mahathir Faces Reality
After the initial euphoria, Mahathir and his government now confront major challenges on nearly all fronts. The Council on Foreign Relations' Joshua Kurlantzick looks at the political, economic and civil society landscape facing Malaysia in the wake of its recent political transition.
The DiplomatSoutheast Asia's Environmental Report Card
Southeast Asia's Environmental Report Card
No Southeast Asian country scores higher than a “B-,” in the author’s opinion, and overall, the situation for wildlife and wild ecosystems looks grim. We are now in the Anthropocene Era, and humanity’s demands for natural resources and wildlife products is having an incredibly profound effect on this region.
East Asia ForumMalaysia’s Modernisation Tsunami
Malaysia’s Modernisation Tsunami
Virtually all dedicated Malaysia-watchers professed themselves shocked by the result. But if leading modernisation theorists like Seymour Martin Lipset or Samuel Huntington were still alive — even in their fusty 1950s and 1960s guises — they wouldn’t have been surprised in the slightest.
International Crisis GroupThe Long Haul Ahead for Myanmar’s Rohingya Refugee Crisis
The Long Haul Ahead for Myanmar’s Rohingya Refugee Crisis
More than 700,000 Rohingya refugees from brutal military operations in Myanmar are stuck in Bangladesh, with returns to Myanmar unlikely soon and Bangladeshi goodwill being tested. In Myanmar, international partners must be allowed access to northern Rakhine State. In Bangladesh, donors must help both refugees and their local hosts.
New Mandala Notes from the campaign: election day’s dues
Notes from the campaign: election day’s dues
Amidst polling day’s febrile climate of expectations, the night before GE14 was, by comparison, relatively sombre. Both the incumbent Najib Razak and his nonagenarian challenger Dr Mahathir Mohamad made speeches at the same time, on air and online.
Tea CircleBridging the ‘Burma Gap’ in Conflict Studies
Bridging the ‘Burma Gap’ in Conflict Studies
As Burma’s civil war enters its 70th year— the longest running internal armed conflict in the world— fighting between the state and non-state armed groups is escalating across the country. A several years-long peace process is floundering. War amidst peace talks has been a paradoxical feature of the conflict for many years. More international attention on the conflict since 2011 has tended to emphasize the peace process, but not the actual dynamics of the political, social, economic and armed struggle which has divided the country since independence.
The Asia Foundation‘Seven Deadly Days’: Road Safety in Thailand
‘Seven Deadly Days’: Road Safety in Thailand
This week, many of Thailand’s 68 million people will celebrate Buddhist New Year, also known as “Songkran.” It’s a joyous time as families and friends reunite across the country to celebrate. Millions of Thai workers in Bangkok will return to their country homes for the holiday. However, because of the increased traffic, there will inevitably be a surge in crashes and road fatalities.
PrachataiThailand Update 2018 Featured on Prachatai Site
Thailand Update 2018 Featured on Prachatai Site
Prachatai.com recently a recap of all the Thailand Update 2018 talks
The New York TimesHow South Vietnam Defeated Itself
How South Vietnam Defeated Itself
In the early hours of Jan. 30, 1968, the first Communist rockets struck provincial capitals across South Vietnam. A nationwide ground assault followed, and by morning the next day, much of the urban South was besieged, including Saigon’s radio station, the South Vietnamese military headquarters and even the American Embassy.
ISEAS Yusof Ishak InstituteThe Trump Administration’s 2017 National Security Strategy and 2018 National Defense Strategy: Implications for Southeast Asia
The Trump Administration’s 2017 National Security Strategy and 2018 National Defense Strategy: Implications for Southeast Asia
The Trump administration’s 2017 National Security Strategy and 2018 National Defense Strategy identify strategic competition with China and Russia as America’s primary national security concern.
Both documents contend that the epicentre of Great Power competition is the IndoPacific region where China seeks to displace America as the paramount power in order to achieve regional hegemony and ultimately global pre-eminence.
An escalation in geopolitical competition between Washington and Beijing holds significant implications for Southeast Asia.
Washington PostDuterte makes lewd threat to female rebels in Philippines
Duterte makes lewd threat to female rebels in Philippines
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte told soldiers last week to shoot female rebels in their genitals, the latest of several violent, misogynistic remarks. Addressing a group of former communist rebels on Wednesday, Duterte, who served as a mayor before becoming president, appeared to encourage the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to target women in conflict.
ReutersMassacre in Myanmar: One grave for 10 Rohingya men
Massacre in Myanmar: One grave for 10 Rohingya men
On Sept. 2, Buddhist villagers and Myanmar troops killed 10 Rohingya men in Myanmar's restive Rakhine state. Reuters uncovered the massacre and has pieced together how it unfolded. During the reporting of this article, two Reuters journalists were arrested by Myanmar police.
Southeast Asia GlobeThe sound of silence: sexual abuse in Cambodia’s Buddhist pagodas
The sound of silence: sexual abuse in Cambodia’s Buddhist pagodas
An unregulated pagoda environment, the status of monks and the downplaying of male rape means that abuse of children in the monkhood is likely more widespread than anyone dares to admit
Weatherhead East Asian InstituteWEAI Mourns the Death of Former Research Scholar Jayne Werner
WEAI Mourns the Death of Former Research Scholar Jayne Werner
The Weatherhead East Asian Institute mourns the death of Jayne Werner, who served as a WEAI Research Scholar from 2010 through 2015. A Professor Emerita of Political Science at Long Island University, Dr. Werner was a leading expert on the contemporary politics of Vietnam. She also served as a past Co-Chair of the University Seminar on Southeast Asia in World Affairs at Columbia University.
The TelegraphMalaysia tourist board ridiculed for ‘hideous’ new logo
Malaysia tourist board ridiculed for ‘hideous’ new logo
"The technicoloured design, released on Friday at the ASEAN Tourism Forum in Chiang Mai, features clip-art style illustrations of the Petronas Towers, an orangutan and proboscis monkey wearing sunglasses, a turtle (also wearing sunglasses) and a palm tree."
ISEASGolkar’s Leadership and the Indonesian President
Golkar’s Leadership and the Indonesian President
ISEAS report analyzes Golkar's leadership crisis.
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NYSEAN Voices
Asia Society Policy Institute: Reconciling Expectations With Reality in a Transitioning Myanmar
The Asia Society Policy Institute, a NYSEAN Partner, released "Reconciling Expectations With Reality in a Transitioning Myanmar," an issue paper outlining the five critical challenges facing Myanmar today.
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Professor Margaret Scott in the New York Review of Books
Professor Margaret Scott, a cofounder of NYSEAN, wrote an article for the New York Review of Books, "The Truth About the Killing Fields."
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Indonesia at Melbourne: Talking Indonesia Podcast - resisting impunity
More than 50 years on from the 1965-66 mass killings and 20 years after the fall of the New Order authoritarian government, how is Indonesia facing up to this violent past? How does this past impact on the present? What is being done to resist enduring impunity in democratic Indonesia?
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Sidney Jones in The New York Times: How ISIS Has Changed Terrorism in Indonesia
Sidney Jones, director of NYSEAN partner the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict in Jakarta, writes that the series of terrorist attacks in Indonesia can tell us about the way supporters of the Islamic State are responding to the group's recent defeats in the Middle East.
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Terrorism analyst Nava Nuraniyah and Professor Margaret Scott interviewed in ABC Radio's 'Mothers to Bombers: the Underrated Threat of Indonesian Women Extremists'
In the wake of the family suicide bombings in Surabaya, a leading analyst warns that Indonesia urgently needs to track and understand dozens of women who were deported back to Indonesia after failed attempts to reach Syria.
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Indonesia at Melbourne: Talking Indonesia Podcast - 20 years after Soeharto
Indonesia at Melbourne's Talking Indonesia podcast features a discussion on the nature of Indonesian democracy and the trajectory of political reform, 20 years after the fall of Soeharto. Podcast host Dr. Dave McRae and Usman Hamid, Director of Amnesty International Indonesia, investigate the key achievements of the reform movement, the obstacles to further reform, and consider what lies ahead for Indonesia over the next 10 years.
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Professor John Gershman on Carnegie Council Podcast
Listen to New York Southeast Asia Network co-founder Professor John Gershman on the Carnegie Council's podcast episode.
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Professor Duncan McCargo featured on Bloomberg TV
Watch New York Southeast Asia Network's co-founder, Professor Duncan McCargo, discuss Mahatir Mohamad's electoral victory on Bloomberg TV
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