By John Brandon

John Brandon is The Asia Foundation’s Director for International Relations programs. He can be reached at jbrandon@asiafound-dc.org. For on-the-ground analysis of the situation in Thailand, click here for The Asia Foundation’s Country Representative in Thailand, James Klein’s, comments to the Christian Science Monitor. He can be reached at jklein@asiafound.org.

On September 8th, Thailand’s constitutional court rendered the decision that Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej must resign after being found guilty of violating a ban on ministers for taking money from a private company.  Article 267 of the constitution prohibits ministers from taking money from outside interests.  In this case it was for accepting money from a TV station to appear on his popular cooking show, “Tasting and Grumbling.”   Some may argue that rule of law has won the day as Samak has become the first Prime Minister to ever have to resign by court order.  Most former Thai prime ministers have fallen from power by military coup.  To Samak’s credit, which he has earned little as of late, he has agreed to accept and abide by the court’s verdict.

But does the constitutional court’s decision end the political paralysis Thailand is facing? 
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By Karl F. Inderfurth

Ambassador Karl Inderfurth, a Trustee of The Asia Foundation and contributor to America’s Role in Asia: Asian and American Views, summarized his recommendations for a new U.S. administration on how to strengthen the U.S.-India relationship for The Hindu. In the op-ed, he provides a seven-point agenda for the United States, which focuses on strengthening strategic ties, realizing economic potential, pursuing a broader nuclear dialogue, highlighting higher education, supporting India’s United Nations bid, collaborating more in the neighborhood, and promoting a cooperative triangle with China.

By Steven Rood

Steven Rood is The Asia Foundation’s Country Representative in the Philippines, where he has lived for 27 years. He can be reached at srood@asiafound.org.

After living as an American in the Philippines for 27 years, I’ve grown accustomed to explaining the U.S. electoral system every four years. As a political science Ph.D. whose dissertation was on elections in the United States, I fulfill this duty with pleasure.

Recently, I was in Davao, in the southern island of Mindanao, attending an evening session on the peace process (or, rather, the breakdown of the peace process) between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, when I received a call from Ricky Carandang, a TV host on the ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC), the local cable news network.  He wondered whether I could appear on his show the next morning to serve as a non-partisan commentator on the acceptance speech of Senator Barack Obama at the Democratic National Convention.  I hopped on a flight to Manila the next morning, making it into the studio just in time for air.
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By John Brandon

John Brandon is The Asia Foundation’s Director for International Relations programs. He can be reached at jbrandon@asiafound-dc.org.

Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej is struggling for his political survival and is increasingly finding himself in a “no win” situation. For the past week, a group of well-organized, anti-government protesters known as the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) has taken over and occupied Government House, Thailand’s equivalent of The White House. The protesters refuse to leave until Samak resigns. Since the occupation, the situation has worsened. On September 2nd, political tension erupted into violent street clashes between pro and anti-government supporters that left one person dead and more than 40 injured. These clashes are believed to have been instigated by members of the pro-government Democratic Alliance against Dictatorship (DAAD). In response, Samak has declared a state of emergency in Bangkok.

Under normal circumstances, protesters taking over Government House would be removed and arrested for their civil disobedience. But these are not normal times in Thailand.
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By James Klein

James Klein is The Asia Foundation’s Country Representative in Thailand. He can be reached at jklein@asiafound.org.

Once right-wing factions of the ruling People Power Party (PPP) began busing pro-government supporters into Bangkok under the banner of the Democratic Alliance against Dictatorship (DAAD) to confront the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD), the violence that erupted was predictable. PAD has been protesting against the government of Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej for the past 100 days and has held the ground of the Government House for the past week. They’ve been successful in maintaining a relatively peaceful demonstration, as they have in the past when organizing protests against former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in 2005 and 2006. However, when red-shirted DAAD forces have made an appearance on the streets, the DAAD resorted to confrontation and violence to force its point of view.
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By Zarah Rahman

Zarah Rahman was a 2007-2008 Luce Scholar based in The Asia Foundation’s Vietnam office, where she focused on public health issues.

I sat cross legged on the floor of a single room house at the end of a bumpy dirt road, drinking bitter green tea and looking at the faces of the men around me as they told us about their lives. The family’s few belongings were neatly stacked under the beds and family photos were pinned to the white walls. We - a group of public health researchers - were sitting alongside a group of young Vietnamese heroin addicts, several of whom were HIV positive, hearing a few of the stories behind the statistics on drug use and HIV here in Vietnam. These young men, mostly under the age of thirty, have watched many of their peers die from drug overdose or from AIDS, and have felt their own lives crumble around them.

Contracting HIV/AIDS from infected needles is an urgent problem facing countries all over the world and, in Vietnam, HIV/AIDS in Vietnam cannot be separated from injection drug use, primarily of heroin. While the overall prevalence of HIV is under 1%, the rate among drug users is estimated to be 32%, with rates as high as 66% in some provinces. Sharing needles and unsafe injecting is the cause of 50 to 60% of HIV cases here.
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By V. Bruce J. Tolentino and Gretchen Kunze

With its GDP growing at an average of 6-7% annually since 2000, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) is a country on the move. Not very fast when compared to its rapidly-burgeoning neighbors China and Vietnam, but fast when compared to its historically languid pace.

In meeting after meeting with senior Government officials and representatives of the international community during a recent visit to Laos, our hosts often stressed that Laos is no longer an isolated, landlocked country; rather, “Laos is a ‘land-linked’ country!” they enthusiastically declared.

Historically, being landlocked has been regarded as a disadvantageous position. Landlocked countries are cut off from sea resources such as fishing, and more importantly, have no access to seaborne trade, which makes up a large percentage of international trade. Thus, coastal regions tend to be wealthier and more heavily populated than inland areas. In the case of Laos, this disadvantage is strikingly apparent, as Laos is the only landlocked country in the whole of Southeast Asia.

Yet the Lao government is determined to transform this traditional limitation by promoting the perception that Laos is a land bridge, providing the most direct overland transport routes between its seaboard neighbors.
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By Michael H. Armacost and J. Stapleton Roy

Michael Armacost and J. Stapleton Roy are Trustees of The Asia Foundation and co-chairs of the forthcoming volume “America’s Role in Asia: Asian and American Views“. An advance, electronic version of the report will be available on Friday, August 22nd at www.asiafoundation.org. The published volume will formally debut in Washington, DC on September 10th. For more information, please contact Amy Ovalle at aovalle@asiafound.org.

The presumptive presidential candidates are taking the global stage. Senator John McCain has traveled to Colombia, Mexico, and Iraq. This summer, Senator Barack Obama embarked on travels to Europe, Israel, the West Bank, Iraq, and Afghanistan. However, east of Afghanistan, lie some of the most strategically important countries to U.S. foreign policy — and they are missing to date from both candidates’ itineraries.

Whoever wins in November will inherit a decent hand to play in Asia; the region is not currently in crisis. Our relations with the great powers there — Japan, China, Russia, and India — are generally solid. Asian economies have sustained robust growth despite the current U.S. slowdown. Counter-terrorist efforts in Southeast Asia have produced some impressive results. Six Power Talks have succeeded in putting a cap back on North Korea’s plutonium program, albeit at a higher level than in 2002.

Despite this, the region deserves greater attention.
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By Han Sung-Joo, Tommy Koh, and C. Raja Mohan

Han Sung-Joo, Tommy Koh, and C. Raja Mohan are the co-chairs and authors of the Asian Views of U.S. foreign policy in Northeast, Southeast and South Asia, featured in the forthcoming volume, “America’s Role in Asia: Asian and American Views”. An advance, electronic version of the report will be available on Friday, August 22nd at www.asiafoundation.org. The published volume will formally debut in Washington, DC on September 10th. For more information, please contact Amy Ovalle at aovalle@asiafound.org.

Ambassador Han Sung-Joo is currently the Chairman of the Asan Institute for Policy Studies; Tommy Koh is the Ambassador-At-Large at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Singapore, and Chairman of the Institute of Policy Studies and the National Heritage Board; and C. Raja Mohan is currently a professor at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

The election of a new American president is an event of great importance not only to the United States, but to the entire world. Asians from all walks of life have been following the 2008 presidential primaries with great interest and admiration. The world has seen a democratic process where neither wealth nor pedigree — race nor gender — are obstacles to securing America’s highest office. Asians are looking at the November 2008 election with great anticipation and are curious about the next American president’s foreign policy toward a multi-polar world where countries like China, India, and Russia are increasing their power and influence. America’s 44th president will face many challenges once in office. Read more…

For further information please contact Mr. Ichal Supriadi, ANFREL Mission Director, at ichal@anfrel.org.

Accredited by the Philippines’ Commission on Elections (COMELEC), the Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) deployed 22 international election observers representing seven Asian countries (Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand) to observe regional elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). On election day, 11th August 2008, observers were deployed in all ARMM provinces, including Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Shariff Kabungsuan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi. A total number of 443 precincts (polling stations) were observed. The ANFREL observers have been in the Philippines since 1st August 2008. The mission was conducted in the ARMM in partnership with the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), 16 Muslim civil society organizations, and the Darul Ifta Assembly of the Philippines, with support from The Asia Foundation and the Government of Canada through the Canadian International Development Agency.

The executive summary can be read here. In sum, the ARMM elections were generally conducted with less violence. The new systems were certainly a welcome improvement over the manual system in previous elections. That the COMELEC accredited and welcomed both local and international observers demonstrate an openness to further strengthening Philippines democracy.