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Back to the Table
2026
Southern peace talks set to restart, but the hard part lies ahead.
Pragmatists in Chief
- 2026
How Prabowo Subianto of Indonesia and To Lam of Vietnam become their respective countries’ top diplomat.
Behind the Promise (II): A Guide for Nepali Migrant Workers Entering Malaysia
- 2026
For Nepali workers heading to Malaysia, distinguishing formal contracts from informal broker promises is vital.
Unsung Frontliners
- 2026
Indonesia’s healthcare volunteers deserve real rights and appropriate compensation.
Behind the Promise (Part I): How Malaysian Jobseekers are Falling into Cross-Border Job Scams
- 2026
Masquerading as licensed agencies, transnational syndicates use social media to lure Malaysians into forced cybercrime.
Late to the Party
- 2026
Malaysia plays catch-up as regional neighbours quietly pivot toward pragmatic, bilateral dealings with Naypyidaw.
Parties and Privileges
- 2026
Plan for a new parliamentary threshold may squeeze out smaller parties, but money politics pose a bigger problem.
Ahead of GE16, Who Needs Whom?
- 2026
In post-BN Malaysia, coalitions are no longer fixed alliances—they are temporary, state-by-state marriages of convenience.
Is a Weakened US Dollar Affecting Singapore?
- 2026
Singapore is not choosing between the dollar and its rivals—it is building the infrastructure to profit from both.
Are Scholarships Out of Reach?
- 2026
Malaysian students face hidden barriers in the scholarship system.
Indonesia’s Troubled Waters
- 2026
Why reviving a neglected grand strategy might be the way to go.
Record Forex Reserves vs Rupiah Depreciation
- 2026
Indonesia hits record forex reserves, yet the rupiah weakens. Enforcing export proceeds is vital for 2026 currency stability.
Blurred Lines
- 2026
Where does formal police authority end and informal influence begin in Indonesia?
Horse-Trading, Yet Again
- 2026
Escalating violence and deep institutional distrust continue to derail peace negotiations between Bangkok and BRN insurgents.
Scholars: Sacred Politics and Religious Narratives in International Relations
- 2026
States instrumentalise religion as a technology of power, transforming sacred traditions into tools for foreign policy and hegemony.
PeaceTech AI Lab: Initiative for AI and Peacebuilding
- 2026
AI is evolving—and peacebuilding must too. Join SEAN-CSO’s PeaceTech AI Lab to build safer digital spaces across Southeast Asia.
Costing, Continuity and Outcomes: Malaysia’s New Youth Policy
- 2026
The credibility of Malaysia’s new youth action plan depends on the visibility of its implementation, financing and outcomes before the next policy cycle begins.
Hard Questions for Indonesia’s Development
- 2026
Large-scale state programmes require rigorous, independent evaluation of hidden political, social and economic variables.
Behind the Posture: Why Malaysia and the Philippines Diverge on China
- 2026
Domestic politics and institutional fragmentation explain different reactions to the Middle Kingdom’s claim in the South China Sea.
Essay: Ecocide, a Slow Science Reprise
- 2026
Southeast Asia’s lived environmental crises offer essential real-world groundings to redefine and criminalise ecocide in international law.
Highway Hierarchies: Rethinking Indonesia’s Toll Road Model
- 2026
Indonesia’s toll road network drives economic growth, but its class and geographic divides leave marginalised communities behind.
Did Myanmar Just Outmanoeuvre ASEAN and Thailand?
- 2026
Despite receiving a red-carpet welcome in Bangkok, Min Aung Hlaing offered no concessions, stalling Thailand’s diplomacy and ASEAN’s pursuit of peace.
Reading Pakatan Harapan’s Defeat in Negeri Sembilan
- 2026
The electoral loss exposes deepening voter fatigue over slow reforms, living costs and internal divisions.
Deadly Attacks Delay Southern Thailand’s Peace Process
- 2026
Deadly BRN attacks and military face-saving force a pause in Thailand’s southern peace process, triggering martial law.
Beyond the Ballot
- 2026
Low turnout in Johor is not apathy—Chinese Malaysian voters are simply redirecting their political influence beyond the ballot box.
The Johor Surge: Is UMNO Truly Back?
- 2026
BN’s electoral sweep reflects local strength, but extending this momentum nationwide remains a far tougher task.
Banking on Bullion: An Indonesian Idea Ready for Export?
- 2026
Indonesia’s bullion banking model drives rapid corporate growth, but supply disruptions and hesitant households challenge its full potential.
Sabotage, Disinformation and Fragile Peace
- 2026
Public resistance from Thai generals and ISOC disinformation scandals threaten to derail fragile peace negotiations with southern BRN separatists.
Is Malaysia Building Surveillance Faster Than It Can Govern?
- 2026
Malaysia’s massive AI surveillance expansion and mandatory social media ID checks outpace its data governance laws and security track record.
Sex and Prayer on a Friday
- 2026
A surreal Friday market at Makassar’s largest mosque challenges narratives of conservative Islamic homogeneity.
Seks dan Sembahyang di Hari Jumat
- 2026
Sebuah pasar Jumat yang surealis di masjid terbesar di Makassar menantang narasi kehomogenan Islam konservatif.
Indonesia Must Produce a New Defence White Paper
- 2026
Without an updated Defence White Paper, Indonesia’s recent military modernisation risks alarming its regional neighbours with strategic ambiguity.
Striking Gold: Singapore’s Bold New Bullion Play
- 2026
Singapore is aiming to launch an over-the-counter gold clearing system and sovereign vaulting services by late 2026 to capture physical bullion flows fleeing Western asset-freeze risks.
Feature Report: The Minister, the Circus and the Bureaucracy
- 2026
Nadiem Makarim’s trial exposes the volatile friction between startup tech disruption and a deeply entrenched, risk-averse state bureaucracy.
Article Series: Political Implications of the Iran War for Southeast Asia
- 2026
Our Chief Editor’s note on the political implications of the Iran war for Southeast Asia.
Iran War: Political Implications for Indonesia
- 2026
The Iran war sparks public backlash over Prabowo’s perceived alignment with Washington and exposes Indonesia’s domestic vulnerabilities.
Clear-Cut Sympathy
- 2026
A dramatic disconnect lands Prabowo in a political hot seat as his decision to join Trump’s Board of Peace and implement a sharp 30% fuel hike collides with overwhelming domestic sympathy for Iran.
Manila’s Energy Emergency and Calls for Regional Response
- 2026
The energy emergency, political tension and aggressive targeted assistance expose the Philippines’ vulnerability to the Iran war.
Bombs Dropped in Iran Affect Anwar’s Political Survival
- 2026
A global energy crisis forces Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to slash “BUDI95” fuel quotas, risking middle-class backlash ahead of vital state polls.
Twin Crisis Tests Conservative Rule in Thailand
- 2026
A twin crisis of regional border friction and the Iran war tests Prime Minister Anutin’s conservative coalition as record trade deficits and soaring energy costs squeeze traditional patronage networks.
Security by Algorithm?
- 2026
In Malaysia, the governance of defence-related AI remains comparatively underdeveloped.
Ambition Over Reality
- 2026
Indonesia’s aggressive 8% economic growth strategy traps the state in an extractive cycle, impeding its ambitious 2050 net-zero climate commitments.
Did Thailand Just Hand Cambodia a Legal Windfall?
- 2026
Anutin’s termination of MoU 44 backfires as Cambodia triggers UNCLOS compulsory conciliation, turning a toxic border conflict into a legal battle for US$300b in offshore gas.
Extremely Precarious, Incredibly Vulnerable
- 2026
A new regulation caps ride-hailing commissions at 8%, but the structural absence of formal employment rights leaves millions of Indonesian “mitra” inherently vulnerable.
Brunei’s Ticking Fiscal Clocks
- 2026
As its oil depletion horizon tightens to 27 years, Brunei remains ASEAN’s sole holdout against dual-mandate sovereign wealth consolidation—trapping capital in passive foreign equities while domestic diversification starves.
Three-Envoy Tour Reveals White House Strategic Retrenchment
- 2026
The Trump administration views the Indo-Pacific not as a theatre for security counterbalancing but as an economic resource to be extracted.
Singapore-Tokyo Partnership Secures Middle Ground Amid Global Tensions
- 2026
As regional uncertainty grows, Singapore and Japan have strong reasons to deepen practical security cooperation while preserving an open and inclusive regional order.
Champagne Dreams on Coffee Budget
- 2026
Critics warn the ageing platform’s US$450 million refit cost risks derailing the national budget for defence.
