Outlook China
Published on Dec 1, 2021 by Luke Hunt
A podcast with Bart Edes, currently a Professor of Practice at McGill University in Montreal, after spending decades in the field working in international trade and development policy and analyzing the transformative trends that are reshaping East Asia and the world.Edes has a refreshing outlook for the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), China, and their relationships with the West, which are constantly under scrutiny amid trade wars and constant talk of a potential conflict.Click here and listen..
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AUKUS & China
Published on Oct 30, 2021 by Luke Hunt
A podcast with Brad Murg. A paradigm shift has occurred in geopolitics, particularly across the Indo-Pacific with the re-emergence of the Quad security partnership and the AUKUS deal forged between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.This is a major issue for Southeast Asia where politics is already complicated by a dramatic rise in Chinese debt, which is threatening the region’s economy and has brought the glory days of its Belt and Road Initiative to an end.Bradley Murg Murg, distinguished senior research fellow at the Cambodian Institute for Cooperation and Peace, talks with The Diplomat’s Luke Hunt about these issues. Listen here..
BRI Glory Days are Over
Cash-strapped Southeast Asian countries should look beyond China and its Belt and Road Initiative for economic help as Beijing is seen focusing more domestically, analysts say.Regional governments have looked at the BRI to bolster their economies in coming years, but analysts have told VOA that Chinese generosity and foreign investment have limits and that Beijing is more concerned with shoring up its own economy than with new initiatives to promote post-pandemic growth elsewhere.Read and listen to more from Luke Hunt at VoA..
Russia's Response to AUKUS
Russia is attempting to expand its influence in Southeast Asia through meetings and plans with Association of Southeast Asian Nations members, say analysts, but appears not to have the military or financial power to become a larger player in the region.The effort includes Russian adoption of a five-year roadmap focused on trade and investment cooperation, the digital economy and sustainable development with the 10 ASEAN members. Meanwhile, at the Sixth Eastern Economic Forum held last month in Vladivostok, Vietnam offered itself as a bridge to connect ASEAN to Russia and the Eurasian Economic Union – an economic grouping including Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan — with analysts forecasting Moscow would seek to shore up regional political ties in response to....
Dividing the Spoils
A podcast with Keith Loveard and his 50-year career in journalism which has seen him develop special interests in a number of fields. Prominent among them is his focus on Indonesia, where he has lived for more than 30 years.This includes the struggle of moderate Islam against fundamentalist fanaticism, the climate crisis and, as he puts it, the pervading sickness of inequality across the globe.Loveard spoke with Luke Hunt about his new book, Indonesia; Dividing the Spoils, the country’s legacy of environmental decay and entrenched corruption, and the trends that have the potential to improve the situation. Listen here..