In Asia: Weekly Insight and Features from Asia

Season’s Greetings! On behalf of In Asia‘s editorial board and bloggers, we thank you for your engagement and continued readership throughout the year. We’ll be taking a short break, but will return on January 9 for a special “Forecast: Asia in 2013″ edition. In the meantime, catch up on a few must-read pieces and highlights on the most pressing events and issues in Asia throughout 2012.

> More

December 8-10, The Asia Foundation supported six highly regarded Burmese women entrepreneurs to attend the South Asia Women’s Entrepreneurship Symposium in Dhaka. The symposium, hosted by the U.S. State Department, brought together over 100 women entrepreneurs from across Asia to discuss shared challenges that limit their economic and political opportunities. Read more.

> More

This month, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was at the center of a flurry of diplomatic activity as members gathered in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh for the annual summit meeting, as well as a series of high-level “ASEAN plus” meetings…

> More

Last week, Barack Obama was re-elected to serve a second term as president of the United States. President Obama’s first trip abroad since his re-election will be to Southeast Asia from November 17-20 to attend the East Asia Summit (EAS), the regional grouping of 18 Asian-Pacific nations, including the United States…

> More

On November 19, Barack Obama will visit Burma (also known as Myanmar). History will be made as Mr. Obama will be the first U.S. president to ever visit the country. But he won’t be the first Obama. The president’s grandfather, Hussein Onyango Obama, reportedly served in Burma during World War II…

> More

Rangoon shimmers under a blue sky in mid-October, but the gentle breezes announcing the coming end of the year soften the edge of the heat and allow for the day to ease gracefully into the evening. The city is more spread out than one would expect, with tree-lined streets wrapping around lakes and gardens…

> More

This past week, Asia Foundation President David D. Arnold led an official delegation to Burma (also known as Myanmar). During this historic visit, President Arnold called on the President of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar U Thein Sein in Nay Pyi Taw on October 23…

> More

Earlier this month, I attended the 2012 IMF-World Bank annual meeting in Tokyo for the first time and, as expected, talks about the eurozone crisis dominated discussions. However, some very compelling conversations revolving around Asia’s role in this environment and beyond…

> More

“Everyone has been speaking about how change has come to Burma, and I would like to say that it’s important that you make haste sensibly,” Nobel laureate and elected parliamentarian of Burma (also known as Myanmar), Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, said to a packed, eager audience at The Asia Foundation’s offices…

> More

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Nobel laureate, elected parliamentarian, and political opposition leader of Burma (also known as Myanmar) came to Washington last week, on the first leg of her historic trip to the United States. This Friday, she makes her way to San Francisco…

> More