The fall of Bashar al-Assad: Lessons of transition
History offers cautionary tales for Syria. Libya and Iraq, both torn apart after the fall of autocratic regimes, failed to establish stable political orders. These examples…
Compromises will be necessary to avoid further confrontation and violence in the capital: Dawn
With tensions running high in Islamabad, one hopes this stand-off will be resolved through politics and dialogue.
A ‘paltry sum’ for climate crisis: Philippine Daily Inquirer
After two weeks of intense, exhaustive, and often contentious negotiations, the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan, that brought together nearly…
ASEAN Human Rights Declaration: Now and the road ahead
The ASEAN Human Rights Declaration, a nonbinding instrument that was adopted in 2012, must be transformed into an actionable framework to meet today’s needs, and one pathway…
Dealing with Trump’s comeback
Trade and defence are early flash points. Trump has long believed that the network of US alliances and the free-trade regime has allowed countries to take advantage of the US.…
Trump and autocratic leaders
What is being rejected by citizens in democratic countries, is the kind of economic system that has piggybacked on or has been partnered with political democracy.
Is Trump bad news for Malaysia?
The ASEAN summit, with or without President-elect Trump, will of course still go on as other world leaders from China, Russia, Japan will be attending but it is a test for PM…
The long wait for a woman president
But democracy is the real winner in this consequential contest because the speed with which Trump was declared the undisputed winner and the early decision of Harris to concede…
Duterte, Trump, and the question of ‘fascism’
Perhaps no thinker has better described what we are confronting in our era than the Italian philosopher Umberto Eco, who forwarded the concept of “Ur-Fascism,” namely a less…
Divided nation chooses US president in a bitter, closely fought race
Today, Americans go to the polls to choose their president, as well as winners in a slew of Congressional and local races. The US and the world await their verdict with bated…