ASEAN Archives - Political Economy Journal

QUAD; creating an atmosphere of pessimism against China

24

Jul

ASEAN, Australia, China, COVID, India, Japan, Quad, Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, the United States

QUAD; creating an atmosphere of pessimism against China

BY: William Holmes PEJOURNAL - Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's legacy as the founder of the QUAD in 2007 was supposed to bring "freedom and prosperity" to the Asia-Pacific area, which ran into problems; and the group was able to meet only once in 2007 and ended its work with a military exercise. With the withdrawal of Australia from the group, which was done due to the improvement of its relations with Beijing, the group's activities were interrupted for more than a decade. In 2012, Japan promoted the group's idea as a "QUAD of democratic security" and thus challenged…

RCEP: The world’s largest commercial agreement and its consequences on global hegemony.

15

Nov

ASEAN, Asia-Pacific, RCEP, Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership

RCEP: The world’s largest commercial agreement and its consequences on global hegemony.

BY: Begona Arechalde PEJOURNAL - The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is a project for the expansion of the free trade area in Asia and Oceania that began to be forged in 2012. After 8 years of negotiations, the ten ASEAN countries (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, that includes Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Brunei), China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand reached an agreement on November 15 that encompasses 30% of the world’s GDP and 2.1 million people. The meeting, held by videoconference due to COVID-19 safety reasons, was attended by…

The Quad; A Complement or Replacement for ASEAN?

14

Nov

ASEAN, China, Indo-Pacific, Mutual Defence Treaty, Quad, Quadrilateral Security Dialogue

The Quad; A Complement or Replacement for ASEAN?

BY: Gabriel Joel P. Honrada* PEJOURNAL - There are two emerging guarantors of the multilateral rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific. First is the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) between the US, Australia, Japan, and India. Second is the Association of Southeast Asian States (ASEAN). Both organisations attempt to uphold the rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific, albeit via different means. The Quad provides a tangible enforcing presence and backs up the rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific with the threat of military force. In comparison, ASEAN takes a softer approach of interaction, socialisation, and integration to preserve the same. In view of China’s…

What is the US looking for in Thailand amid pandemic?

09

Aug

ASEAN, ballistic missile, China, COVID19, hypersonic missiles, Military, Pooya Mirzaei, South China Sea, Thailand, USA

What is the US looking for in Thailand amid pandemic?

PEJOURNAL - Thailand, one of the first countries to be affected by the outbreak of coronavirus, ranked high in the fight against corona and has not had a single new case of infection in the last two months. In this regard, the Corona Fighting Headquarter in this country has created very strict rules and protocols for people and foreign tourists, and this decision has been very effective. On August 3, at 7:00 AM, 71 U.S. troops from the island of Guam flew OAE6555, a privately-owned passenger aircraft, to U-Tapao Airport in Sattahip District, Thailand. The U.S. troops, under Alternative State…

Covid-19; The curious case of ASEAN countries

05

Aug

ASEAN, China, COVID-19

Covid-19; The curious case of ASEAN countries

BY: Chaitra Arjunpuri PEJOURNAL - When Covid-19 hit the East, first China, then Thailand, Japan, and South Korea last year, the West observed the situation carefully from the other side of the world. Not many of them expected how severely they would be hit very soon, as the death toll rocketed over 200,000 in Europe and 600,000 in the United States. As of now, the US, Italy, Spain, France, and the UK are all ahead of China with the highest numbers of reported cases and deaths. Though Southeast Asian countries, Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, were among the first to be hit by COVID-19, the US has become the new global epicenter of the pandemic,…

Political Economy Journal: Thailand – United States relations

29

Jul

ASEAN, Cat’s Eye, CIA, CIA Black Site, Pooya Mirzaei, South China Sea, Thailand, Udon Thani, Udorn RTAFB, United States

Political Economy Journal: Thailand – United States relations

In accordance to recent U.S. activities in South China Sea PEJOURNAL - Kingdom of Thailand, located in the heart of South East Asia, inheriting the historical name of Indochina, can act a very crucial geostrategic role in both regional scale tensions (such as India China rivalry) and global scale conflicts (such as U.S. China tension in South China Sea). Thanks to its stable situation in ASEAN region and regarding to its eco-cultural stereotype, Thailand can also be a very important place for conducting intelligence and security operations. Below, we reviewed the milestones in Thai U.S. relationship, amid the unstable geopolitical…

13

Jul

ASEAN, Belt and Road Initiative, China, COVID-19, IMF, pejournal, Political Economy Journal, South Asian, South China Sea, Sri Lanka

China’S string of pearls in peril

BY: Navomee Ponnamperuma* PEJOURNAL - In recent months, China has come under much scrutiny for its policies, starting from their mismanagement of the current global pandemic to the renewed hardline approach taken towards Hong Kong. Amidst the chaos, many in the West have overlooked the economic stronghold China has been building in the South Asian region, thanks to President Xi Jinping’s project of the century, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). A project that certain academics refer to as China’s ‘debt-trap diplomacy’. Contrary to Western institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, China offers a…