Against the backdrop of growing contemporary threats to international security around the world, the countries of Southeast Asia (SEA) are no exception and, just like everyone else, have to deal with terrorism, cyber-attacks, the spread of dangerous diseases, and natural disasters. Given the cross-border nature of most security issues, this is a technically extremely difficult task to achieve in a single country, much less in a region…

On 21 March this year, Indonesia officially announced the results of the general election held on 14 February, which elected a new President and Vice President, as well as the composition of the central parliament and local governments in all 38 provinces of the country. The official results of the most important part of the single day’s voting, for President and Vice-President, do not differ much from the exit polls published a day later.

The “ASEAN-Australia Summit” was held in Melbourne on 4-6 March this year and was dubbed “special” because it was the 50th since its inception. It should be noted that Australia was the first external partner since the founding of this association in the late 1960s of the last century, which now includes all (except Papua New Guinea) of the countries of Southeast Asia. The three days of events culminated in the adoption of the lengthy (11-page) “Melbourne Declaration – A Partnership for the Future”. In one way or another, the document touches on almost all the major issues…

Since the beginning of the year, there have been two significant developments for Southeast Asia that could, over time, have a significant impact on the strengthening of ASEAN’s position and the opportunity for the association to finally become an independent center of power. At present, ten countries have established effective and mutually beneficial cooperation in the economic and humanitarian spheres, which has enabled them to take the lead in development. At the same time, they have not yet been able to converge…

Japan is currently facing a number of serious political and economic challenges, forcing the country’s political-military leadership to respond accordingly. On January 30, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida presented an extensive policy report on the Japanese government’s plans for 2024 at the regular session of the country’s parliament, which meets once a year.  In the foreign policy section, Fumio Kishida outlined the following trunk lines…

At no time, at least in its modern history, has Myanmar ever been a peaceful place – and for that, the British Empire is to blame. For the sake of administrative convenience, London grouped together in one nation peoples of vastly different ethnic origins, languages and cultures who previously had no idea they were living together in a single country. Following its independence in 1948, Burma was driven by continuous localized conflicts between numerous ethnic groups and the central government…

In the previous article, you and I examined the relations between Russia and the ASEAN organisation – one of the fundamentally important “players” in the Asia-Pacific region. This is the largest and most successful association in Southeast Asia, which in geo-economic terms occupies one of the leading places in Asia and unites a region with a population of over 600 million people. Now I propose to talk about the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, a multilateral regional association with the participation of 21 economies, including Russia, which discusses…

“Our country is fully open to an extensive dialogue on pressing issues on the regional agenda, intends to continue to actively participate in efforts to build a system of interstate relations in the Asia-Pacific region based on equality, mutual benefit and respect for each other’s legitimate interests” – Russian President Vladimir Putin told the participants of the Eastern Economic Forum held in Vladivostok, the Primorsky Krai capital, last September, once again designating such a complex and diverse region as the Asia-Pacific as one of the priority frontiers of the country’s modern foreign policy…

Since the end of October this year, the situation in Myanmar (thirty years earlier called Burma) has again been the subject of increased attention from world news agencies. Although not as close, of course, as in the cases of armed conflicts in Ukraine, and now in the Middle East. However, the first reports of a sharp intensification of hostilities between government forces and armed formations of several insurgent movements, which began simultaneously in various regions of Myanmar, standing many hundreds of kilometers apart, did not pass the front pages of world publications…

Amidst the ever-evolving global politics, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) convened their inaugural summit in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia at the end of October 2023. This summit signaled evolving ties between the two blocs at a time when the focus of attention of the whole world is on Israel’s genocide in Gaza. ASEAN comprises ten member countries which include Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar. The organization was founded in 1967. Meanwhile, the foundation of the GCC was laid in 1981, and it consists of Oman…

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi paid a visit to the United States from October 26 to October 28, 2023. His delegation had discussions with their American counterparts, led by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. Additionally, President Biden and Wang Yi had a special guest meeting. This has grown to be an extremely significant occasion. Among other things, this indicates that the two superpowers intend to maintain bilateral channels of communication to express their respective opinions on issues pertaining to Beijing-Washington…

The historic Summit of Leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was held towards the end of October in Riyadh. By all accounts, it was the first in history to draw up a new strategic plan for closer integration of two substantial and influential blocs. Two well-known figures chaired the summit: Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud and Indonesian President Joko Widodo. The Riyadh conference established platforms for political discourse, security cooperation, climate change mitigation…