In a development that will surely impact growing US-Chinese tensions, US-backed opposition parties have won Thailand’s May 14, 2023, general elections. A US-backed client regime taking power in Thailand will impact China’s Belt and Road Initiative, threaten bilateral trade and tourism, and perhaps even undermine regional security. This is particularly so should Thailand now begin working more closely with Washington over matters in the South China Sea, over Taiwan, or a number of other points of contention the US seeks to use to unify the region…

On April 30, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the president of the Philippines, departed for a five-day trip to the United States of America. In a way, the trip served as the culmination of a number of in-depth assessments designed to probe the stance of all three significant players in the region who form the field of power in which the Philippines must somehow function. Early in January, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. traveled to Beijing to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping. A month later, he was welcomed in Tokyo by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. However, it should be emphasized that, in the context of the aforementioned probing process…

The issue of maritime piracy has always occupied a niche on the “dark” side of the mosaic and the multidimensional image of the modern world. History bears witness to the fact that every new stage of economic and commercial development of sea and ocean expanses, and the establishment of regular navigation, as a rule, has been accompanied by the emergence of pirate centers in the coastal areas. The state of affairs at the forefront of the fight against this criminal practice is characterized by remarkable changes at the present stage. After the last period…

Against the backdrop of growing global concern about the ubiquity of corruption and skepticism about the prospects for its eradication, there is heightened interest in “best practices” – real successes achieved by individual states in this area. The Republic of Singapore is a good example of a successful struggle to eradicate this plague in Asia. It has developed and implemented an effective strategy that has made it possible to eradicate corruption as a “way of life” in a historically short period of time and created one of the most important conditions…

The Southeast Asian Kingdom of Thailand is slated to hold general elections in May of this year. Thailand, with the second largest economy in ASEAN and with a population of nearly 70 million people, has grown far too close to China for Washington’s liking. Because of this, Washington sees the elections…

The US government, Western media, and supposed “human rights” organizations are condemning Cambodia for recently sentencing Kem Sokha, the former leader of the opposition party “Cambodia National Rescue Party” (CNRP), to 27 years in prison. While the arguments being made publicly revolve superficially around upholding “human rights” and “democracy,”…

Indonesia, a country of 275 million people, and Malaysia, a country of 33 million, are neighbors with many similarities. Malaysia and Indonesia have a shared history, culture, and religion, Islam. Their national languages belong to the same language family, making communication between their citizens simple. Furthermore, both Southeast Asian…

The People’s Republic of Bangladesh seeks to maintain a special status in the global geopolitical arena by refusing to join any defense alliances and attempting to remain neutral. This trend can be explained by the fact that China and India account for approximately 35% of all Bangladeshi imports, primarily machinery and energy...

The US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin's visit to the Philippines in early February further demonstrates the growing importance of the country in Washington's escalating struggle with Beijing for influence in the Southeast Asian subregion. This isn't the first time The New Eastern Outlook is examining the reasons for the special attention of both actors to Southeast Asia...

In the second decade of November this year, the focus of international political life turned to Southeast Asia. There, in Cambodia, Indonesia and Thailand, calendar meetings of several international associations were held with the participation of leaders from the region and beyond. The very concentration of such events in Southeast Asia is further evidence...

Elections in Southeast Asia’s Malaysia resulted in a political impasse requiring the nation’s constitutional monarchy to intervene, announcing Anwar Ibrahim prime minister. The elections unfolded shortly after the G20 meeting held in nearby Indonesia and the APEC 2022 forum held in Thailand. Taken together, we see both...

The global confrontation between the superpowers, the PRC and the US, affects every country in the world in one way or another. However, it primarily affects countries within the direct sphere of influence of competing giants. While the US sphere of influence is geographically fragmented and may include African and Asian countries...