With a victory of the ruling Barisan Nasional, it was tempting to write
off the results of this Sunday's election as another missed opportunity to
reform Malaysia's chronic status quo. Yet,
the patterns of change are already there: one only needs to recognize them.
Two years after the tsunami that killed
thousands and triggered a nuclear meltdown, it is intriguing to observe how the
'triple disasters' might also have reinvigorated civic participation and
activism in an otherwise politically apathetic society. What does this mean for the future of Japanese democracy?
The recurring three-part drama, Unsuccessful Diplomacy-North Korean Belligerence-United Nations Sanctions, is airing on our screens once again. How do we we break the cycle - and finally get North Korea to change its behaviour?
For
the first time in south-east Asia, an HIV-positive women's group in Indonesia
is using the CEDAW Shadow Report to challenge the forced sterilisation
and violence against positive women
When the rice harvest season finishes in a few weeks, fields in India will turn black as farmers burn thousands of
acres. This practice shows one of the
failures of the Green Revolution, with devastating regional and global consequences. A food-security-obsessed India cannot ignore these
issues for much longer.
Despite a prominent presence in the campaign, US policy towards China is very unlikely to change - especially on the hyper-sensitive topic of human rights.
As
a somewhat reluctant member of the American orbit in the Asia-Pacific region,
Australia carefully watches the election – amused but slightly worried by
its "cranks and crazies" (as the Australian treasurer recently called
the Tea Party).
A long-awaited review on the conduct of United Nations agencies during the last stages of the war in Sri Lanka is still unpublished, and its terms of reference are shrouded in secrecy. There are further doubts over its authorship and process. All this raises questions over how seriously Ban Ki-moon and his colleagues take the issue, says a Sri Lankan observer who writes under the pen-name Vidura.
The last war between Asia's giants erupted in October 1962. Fifty years on the respective works of a Chinese and an Indian intellectual define the shape of their 21st-century contest, says William A Callahan.
The man who was variously Cambodia's anti-colonial leader, king, prime minister, prince, and exiled figurehead is inseparable from his country's modern history, says David Chandler.
In order to understand how the ‘Rohingya crisis’ has come to pass we
need to consider the narrative
built by three groupings of international actors - the Burmese government, host
countries for Rohingya who have fled and the international community at large.
Pyongyang looks and feels different under Kim Jong Un's leadership, but how much do new buildings, markets and facades reveal about the direction of policy? Charles K Armstrong, who recently visited North Korea, reflects.
The self-organising efforts of migrant workers and rights activists across China offer a vital insight into the nature and future of modern Chinese society, says Hsiao-Hung Pai.
The territorial dispute between regional powers has the potential to escalate. All the more reason for the Chinese elite to lead rather than follow public opinion, says Kerry Brown.
Nepal is still awaiting a new constitution to complete its transition from a decade of conflict to democracy. So far, political leaders' control of the drafting process has handicapped progress. But the four-year debate has also created a foundation on which to build, says Leena Rikkila Tamang.