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David Hutt

David Hutt is a journalist and commentator. He is a research fellow at the Central European Institute of Asian Studies (CEIAS), and a columnist at The Diplomat and Radio Free Asia.

David Hutt is a journalist and commentator. He is a research fellow at the Central European Institute of Asian Studies (CEIAS), a columnist at The Diplomat and Radio Free Asia, a contributor to the Economist Intelligence Unit and DW, and an associate editor at Contemporary Southeast Asia. He also writes the Watching Europe In Southeast Asia newsletter.

David Hutt has been Southeast Asia columnist at The Diplomat since 2016, writing weekly about Southeast Asian politics. He was formerly based in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. He was president of the Overseas Press Club of Cambodia between 2018 and 2019. He can be followed on Twitter @davidhuttjourno.

Posts by David Hutt

December 20, 2023

Nguyen Phu Trong Would Find An Ally In Dickens

By David Hutt

The political vision of the Communist Party chief is built on a bedrock of Victorian moralism.

December 18, 2023

Laos’ Economic Woes Will Continue In 2024

By David Hutt

Given their connection to structural features of communist rule, there will be no quick respite from the economic woes.

December 14, 2023

What’s Happening At Cambodia’s Ream Naval Base?

By David Hutt

U.S. assessments of the Chinese role in the base's refurbishment have shifted subtly over the past year.

November 24, 2023

In Cambodia, Foreigners Cannot Own Land. Or Can They?

By David Hutt

There are signs of growing tensions between the country's private sector and its rentier political elite.

November 22, 2023

Myanmar’s NUG Needs To Win the Peace

By David Hutt

As the collapse of the military junta begins to seem possible, attention turns to what might be established in its place.

November 17, 2023

How Far the Rot of Corruption Has Spread In Vietnam

By David Hutt

Nguyen Phu Trong believes he can purge and purify the Communist Party. But what if corruption is not a quirk of the system, but its essence?

November 07, 2023

Will Cambodia’s Private Debt Become National Debt?

By David Hutt

Private debt, much of it concentrated in the rapidly deflating real estate sector, has already emerged as a political problem for Prime Minister Hun Manet.

October 31, 2023

Can Laos’ Communist Party Recover From the Current Economic Crisis?

By David Hutt

The ruling Lao People's Revolutionary Party has grossly mishandled the economy, but there is no political alternative – at least for now.

October 24, 2023

In Hun Manet’s Cambodia, It Is the Perception of Change That Matters

By David Hutt

The country's new prime minister is bound to the system created by his father. But for some foreign governments, it is enough that there is a new face at the top.

October 13, 2023

Hun Manet Backs Down On Tax, but He Cannot Deny a Hike Is Coming

By David Hutt

If the new-look government is to fulfill its grand economic promises, it will need to vastly increase domestic revenue collection.

September 20, 2023

Cambodia’s Thin-Skinned Princelings Are Forcing Newspapers Out Of The Country. It Isn’t All Bad.

By David Hutt

Given the perils of producing meaningful journalism within Cambodia, the future of the country's media might well lie abroad.

September 18, 2023

Is There Any Southeast Asian Autocrat That the US Won’t Do Business With?

By David Hutt

Hypocrisy is an inevitable part of power politics. But there are limits to how far a nation like the U.S. should compromise.