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The Debate
The Debate is our home for the best opinions from around Asia. Whether it is negotiating with Iran, responding to North Korean provocations, discussing Japan's looming demographic issues, or considering the new balance of power in the Asia-Pacific, some of the region's leading thinkers offer their take.
Calm Down About Taiwan’s New Premier
By Michael A. Turton
If a tree falls in a Taiwanese forest, cross-Strait relations are tense.
Towards a Resource Efficient and Pollution Free Asia-Pacific
By Shamshad Akhtar and Erik Solheim
This week sees the first-ever Asia-Pacific Ministerial Summit on the Environment.
Finally, Strategic Clarity in the South China Sea. Is the Taiwan Strait Next?
By Joseph Bosco
Routine FONOPS in the South China Sea are long overdue -- as are Taiwan Strait passages.
North Korea is Clearly Not Feeling the Pain
By Liang Tuang Nah
Real economic pressure remains the only real option to curb Pyongyang's proliferation.
America, China and the South China Sea: False Premises and Wishful Thinking
By Mark J. Valencia
Like other rising great powers before it, China wants to bend the international system to further its national interests.
China’s Quiet Drive to Normalize Repression
By Arch Puddington
Leaders in Beijing have avoided opprobrium for appalling actions on their behalf.
What Twitter Taught Me About (Nuclear) War With North Korea
By Franz-Stefan Gady
Are social scientists trivializing nuclear war on the Korean Peninsula?
India Should Reach Out to the People of Gilgit-Baltistan
By Prateek Joshi
Last year, Modi remarked that the people of Gilgit had thanked him. Now it’s time to reach out to them.
China and India: A Lesson in Conflict Resolution
By Amitai Etzioni
In a violent world, the two behemoths offer a welcome respite.
What China Learned About India at Doklam
By Ankit Panda
What comes after the Doklam saga will matter greatly for the relationship between China and India.
Doklam Heralds the Arrival of a Confident and Assertive India
By Rajeev Chandrasekhar
The world’s largest democracy has begun to calmly and maturely assert its place in Asia and in the world.
Remembering the Disappeared: 1118 Days Without Ahmed
By Lorena Cotza
On International Day of the Disappeared, the story of one vanished man in the Maldives.