INASIA
Weekly Insights and Analysis
Myanmar Democracy: Small Steps on a Long Journey
For decades, Myanmar was governed by a small military elite, accused of acting solely in their own interests. The introduction of a new constitution in 2008 was a dramatic and significant development, creating 14 new state and region governments and parliaments and...
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This Land Is Our Land: How Drones Can Advance Property Rights in the Philippines
The Philippines has a real estate problem. Half the real property in the country—approximately 12 million parcels of land—has no legal title. Like many countries in Asia, the island nation is experiencing rapid urbanization, and a large proportion of these urban...
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Mongolia: Increasing Citizen Participation in Local Decision-Making
As rural Mongolians continue to move to the capital, Ulaanbaatar, in record numbers, the city has struggled to provide needed services, especially in the rapidly growing ger areas. The Municipality of Ulaanbaatar, under new leadership since 2016, has sought to improve...
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No Silver Bullet for Women Entrepreneurs
Women’s entrepreneurship is a top regional concern in Asia, where women own more than half of the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in some countries. Even where women are starting businesses at relatively high rates, however, their profits and growth are...
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Internet Inaccessibility Plagues “Social Media Capital of the World”
The Philippines has been called the social media capital of the world, as millions of Filipinos spend an average of almost four hours a day on social media sites, particularly Facebook, the highest social media use in the world. Filipinos are known to be early...
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Dismantling Pakistan’s Tribal Areas
On May 31, 2018, Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas, or FATA, formally ceased to exist. Home to five million people, and covering more than 27,000 square kilometers, these seven tribal districts have attracted enormous international attention in the last...
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ASEAN: Shaping the Future of Regional Development in Southeast Asia
Development cooperation is taking on new geopolitical significance. Earlier this month, the U.S. Congress passed legislation create the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, which is intended to help stimulate private-sector infrastructure investment in...
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Nepal Human Rights: Too Many Cooks?
How many national human rights institutions (NHRIs) does it take to protect human rights? Are the rights of disparate groups better protected by multiple, specialized agencies, or is a single institution with a broad mandate more efficient and effective? The framers...
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#Palukuat (Palu is Strong)
It was towards dusk on Saturday, September 28. At 6:02, four minutes after her father had picked her up from work, there were loud explosions. The world would later learn that a magnitude 7.4 earthquake had struck Palu, in Sulawesi, Indonesia, followed by a tsunami....
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