TOKYO — As Japan steps into its global engagement role as the host of the 2023 G7 Summit in Hiroshima, a new legal platform is being proposed to combine both accelerations of cross-border data flows with individual privacy protection measurements… Read More »Balancing Data Sharing and Privacy Protection: The Japan-ASEAN Digital Innovation
Jakarta, Indonesia – Top Southeast Asian diplomats gathered in Jakarta for the 56th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (56th AMM) on July 12, 2023. During the two-day summit, many discussions took place, opening with the violent conflict in Myanmar, followed by… Read More »56th ASEAN Foreign Minister Meeting : Reaffirmation of Southeast Asia as a Nuclear Free Zone
Amid the Pride Month celebrations across the United States and all over the world, the Human Resource Campaign (HRC), an organization advocating for the rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, intersex, asexual, and more (LGBTQIA+), calls… Read More »Civil Rights Group Human Resource Campaign Issues Guidebook for LGBTQ+ Communities in the US
On July 2-4, 2023, the Indonesian Minister of National Development Planning Suharso Monoarfa discussed the Blue Economy’s framework and propensity for growth to member countries at the ASEAN Blue Economy Forum 2023. Member states found the framework favorable, resulting in… Read More »Indonesia Advocates Blue Economy Framework to ASEAN Member Countries, Progress Ensues
Bangkok, Thailand – In an effort to address the conflict in Myanmar, Thailand hosted an informal regional peace talk with Myanmar’s military junta on June 19. Representatives of Laos, Cambodia, Brunei, Vietnam, India, and China gathered at the conference to… Read More »Growing Frustration on Myanmar Fuels Regional Split in ASEAN
NUSA DUA, Bali – The 20th ASEAN Chief Defence Force Meeting (ACDFM) was successfully run in Bali on 5-9 June 2023. All military chiefs of the bloc were in attendance except for Myanmar, instead represented by Brigadier General Phyo Zaw… Read More »ASEAN’s First Joint Military Drills: ASEAN Centrality or Lost in Translation?
The unique geographical position of Southeast Asia at the center of the Indo-Pacific region has made it geopolitically significant. With a coverage area of 4.49 million square kilometers and a population of over 660 million, the Association of Southeast Asian… Read More »Opportunities for ASEAN Within the Brewing Global Superpower Maelstrom
East Nusa Tenggara – Timor Leste Prime Minister, Taur Matan Ruak, set foot in Indonesia on Tuesday afternoon, May 9, 2023, to attend the 42nd ASEAN Leaders’ Summit — marking the country’s first participation in Southeast Asia’s foremost regional grouping.… Read More »Path to A Brighter ASEAN: Timor Leste’s Membership Journey
Singapore – Against the backdrop of a rapidly evolving geopolitical landscape, Singapore continued to host the 20th Shangri-La Dialogue on 2-4 June 2023, bringing together ministerial-level delegates, senior defense officials, and academics from 41 countries, including the United States Secretary… Read More »The Shangri-La Dialogue 2023: Intensified Sino-American Tensions and Indonesia’s ‘Strange Move’ in Charting the Ukraine Peace Plan
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — On May 15, 2023, the National Election Committee (NEC) had disqualified the Candlelight Party from registering for the election because it had submitted a photocopied version rather than an original copy of the 1998 registration documents… Read More »Constitutional Council Ends Roar: Cambodia’s Top Opposition Party Failed to Overturn Poll Ban