In Asia: Weekly Insight and Features from Asia

In September, my colleague William Cole and I wrote about a revolution in data analytics that is affecting how many of us in the development field manage and analyze information. In that blog post, we expressed support for the growing open data movement that is an integral part of this transformational moment.

> More

Among the assets of the annual Survey of the Afghan People is the fact that the data is collected from men and women, and disaggregated as such. In this way, not only does the survey allow for a nuanced look at attitudes across geographic regions, ethnic groups, and age ranges, but it opens a window into the differences between women and men’s perceptions.

> More

On November 19, leaders of the 18 nations that comprise the East Asia Summit (EAS) will meet in Bali, Indonesia, to discuss a broad array of political, security, and economic issues. For the first time, the United States will participate as a full-fledged member. For much of the post-Cold War period, the U.S. approach to institution-building in Asia…

> More

President Barack Obama will be the first U.S. president ever to attend an East Asia Summit (EAS), to be chaired by Indonesia in Bali on November 19. This summit comes at the end of a major Asia-Pacific tour for President Obama, beginning with APEC in Honolulu,a visit to Australia, and continuing on with the 19thASEAN Summit and EAS in Bali…

> More

As world population reached 7 billion last week, stories about the implications of population growth saturated the media. While total population counts offer broad “sound bite” appeal, the underlying structure of population has far greater socio-economic, political, and environmental implications. Population composition by sex, age, ethnicity, educational attainment, political orientation, or geography matters for everything from school planning to environmental management and even to political stability.

> More

Last week, Nepal’s political parties reached agreement on the future of 19,602 Maoist ex-combatants, breaking years of political log jam. In Asia spoke with Asia Foundation Nepal country representative, George Varughese…

> More

In the early weeks of October, people across Thailand experienced great heartache and even disbelief as they watched news coverage of rising floodwaters submerging several sizable industrial factories north of Bangkok one by one. During the first weeks of the flooding, we listened patiently…

> More

On November 15, The Asia Foundation will release findings from “Afghanistan in 2011: A Survey of the Afghan People” – the broadest and most comprehensive public opinion poll in the country covering all 34 provinces. Candid, first-hand data was gleaned from face-to-face interviews with more than 6,300 Afghan citizens…

> More

This week, representatives from renowned museums of Asian art from across Asia and the United States met from November 8-10 in a pioneering conference organized by theAsian Art Museum of San Francisco. The Asia Foundation’s Margaret F. Williams Memorial Fellows in Asian Art Program…

> More

Last month, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India and President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan signed a wide-ranging Strategic Partnership Agreement in New Delhi. Karzai’s visit came shortly after the assassination of former Afghan president Burhanuddin Rabbani…

> More