In Asia: Weekly Insight and Features from Asia

At the 15th ASEAN summit, held this past October, ASEAN inaugurated its Inter-Governmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR).  The announcement was met with criticism from some quarters, but ASEAN called it a “historic milestone” in its 42-year history of community-building in the region. During the summit’s concluding statement, ASEAN said that the AICHR “gives concrete [...]

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This week Barack Obama will make his first trip to Asia as President of the United States. In addition to paying state visits to China, Japan, and South Korea, President Obama will meet with 20 national leaders in Singapore to attend the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. Although member countries vary in economic clout [...]

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From 2002 to 2006, The Asia Foundation implemented a series of exchanges for 80 promising young professionals from Southeast Asia and the United States to help develop a better understanding of one another’s region. This program was initiated by the Foundation because of concern that fewer Americans had been involved with Southeast Asia since the [...]

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On Thursday, November 5, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace will host and stream live a discussion on President Obama’s trip to Asia next week. Asia Foundation Trustee Douglas Paal, who is Vice President for Studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, will discuss President Obama’s trip with Michael Pettis, a senior associate in [...]

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Historically, the idea of piracy carries with it a romantic image of sailing ships, handsome swashbucklers like Errol Flynn, and Jolly Roger flags. But in recent years maritime piracy has become a security problem of substantial proportions. Attacks of late have most notably occurred off the Coast of Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden, [...]

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In a recent piece on Foreign Policy.com, The Asia Foundation’s Yeling Tan and Ann Florini, a professor and director of the Centre on Asia and Globalisation, National University of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, challenge the traditional norms in ranking countries for their openness and transparency, and present surprising scenarios of two [...]

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Less than a month after taking the oath of office, President Barack Obama has shown he wants to engage with Asia in a serious, meaningful way. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s first overseas trip is not to Europe or the Middle East, but to Asia. Her high-profile, week-long trip to Japan, Indonesia, South Korea, and [...]

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