Bangladesh at UNGA 2024: Glitter, gold, and ground reality
Historians may characterise Yunus's visit as the second most auspicious moment for the country in the UN.
The Asian View
The Quad and China
The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or simply Quad, is a grouping of four Indo-Pacific nations, US, Japan, Australia and India. Its fourth inperson Quad leaders’ summit was…
Early Philippine-Indonesia relations
The Maritime Museum or Museum Bahari in Jakarta, tucked away in an 18th-century Dutch East India Company warehouse far from the usual tourist and shopping areas, reveals many…
Natural disasters: Does Nepal ever learn?
It’s time all parties, big and small, took the issue of natural disasters more seriously.
ASEAN and the South China Sea: Constraints and pathways
While ASEAN has no formal arrangements for de-escalating or resolving a conflict involving a member state, given that it is not a military alliance but a trade bloc, it has at…
Liberalism vs conservatism
"My fervent hope is that liberalism would not transform into licentiousness for that would subvert the rule of law. And conservatism would not convert to authoritarianism like…
South Korea’s obsession with designer handbags
What is striking is that in South Korea, the land of designer handbags, the story about Korean first lady Kim Keon Hee receiving a gift from pastor Choi Jae-young of a Lady Dior…
Big tech vs. nation-states
Overseas-based tech giants like Meta, Google, Apple, X, Netflix or Amazon have become so powerful and dominant that some nation-states have difficulty controlling and curbing…
The unravelling of a corrupt enabling system
As expected, this north-south coalition of the Philippines’ two most powerful political dynasties could not outlive the limited purpose for which it was forged.
Why is the BJP playing the ‘Bangladeshi infiltrator’ card?
Led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has placed "infiltration" of Rohingyas and Bangladeshis at the core of its high-decibel campaign for…