Washington's view of ASEAN

Published on Sep 17, 2021 by Luke Hunt

A podcast with Guy Taylor, National Security Team Leader at The Washington Times, overseeing the paper’s State Department, Pentagon, and intelligence coverage. He has also reported from dozens of countries and seen his work honored by several journalism awards.Prior to joining The Times in 2011, Taylor was supported by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting and the Fund For Investigative Journalism and he served as an editor at World Politics Review.Taylor spoke with The Diplomat’s Luke Hunt about U.S. foreign policy in Southeast Asia under President Joe Biden, the re-emergence of the Quad, the debacle in Kabul, and the impact of rapid changes in international diplomacy and the implications for ASEAN and China. Listen here..

Russia Seduces Myanmar

Published on Mar 2, 2021 by Luke Hunt

Russia’s appetite for influence and lucrative arms sales in Southeast Asia has been whetted by the latest coup in Myanmar, where isolated generals remain distrustful of China but still require allies on the United Nations Security Council. Chinese investments had flourished in Myanmar under the now-deposed civilian government effectively led by former opposition figure Aung San Suu Kyi, and the military, also known as Tatmadaw, benefitted through state owned enterprises brought under its control before Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy won historic 2015 elections. However, relations between junta leaders and Beijing have long been strained over Chinese interference across their common border – an existential threat not shared with Russia – and Beijing’s assistance to long-running ethnic insurgencies, including....

China's White Paper

Published on Feb 2, 2021 by Luke Hunt

A podcast with academic Dr. Bradley Murg who has covered China for more than two decades and its impact across the region, particularly the Greater Mekong Subregion.In this podcast, he chats with Luke Hunt about China’s latest White Paper and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on its foreign policies within Southeast Asia, in particular the Mekong River and downstream countries, like Cambodia.Murg’s work focuses on Chinese aid and investment policy in Southeast Asia; the political economy of foreign aid; and the politics of the Greater Mekong Sub-region as a whole. Listen here..

Laos Firmly in China's Orbit

Published on Dec 12, 2020 by Luke Hunt

Laos is pushing ahead with four dams across the mainstream of the Mekong River, despite an escalating chorus of objections and crippling debt to Chinese state banks which resulted in the loss of control over its electricity grid to China.For almost two decades scientists and environmentalists have said Laos’ mega dam designs could irreversibly damage fish stocks, including endangered mammals like the Irrawaddy dolphin, and risked bankrupting the country. Read more here..

United States 2020 Elections

Published on Nov 22, 2020 by Luke Hunt

A list of stories written by Luke Hunt regarding the November 3 2020 elections in the United States.A Taliban endorsement worthy of our timesOf the few re-election endorsements enjoyed by Donald Trump, a double thumbs up from the Taliban was the most appropriate. After all, the US President gifted the hardline fundamentalist militia what its leaders crave most — fewer American troops, a promise to withdraw from Afghanistan and talks, lots of talks. Read more.Southeast Asia to benefit if Biden wins US electionFour years of the Trump administration have soured US relations with Southeast Asia, which he largely ignored, dispatching his low-level minions when it suited his trade war with China designed to please his white working-class base. Read more.Joe....