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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.
January 11, 2021
China Is Making Support for Democracy a Crime in Hong Kong
By Frances Hui
Nearly all of the city's prominent pro-democracy voices have been arrested or forced into exile.
January 09, 2021
To China, Spades Are Trumps
By Harry Harding
China has inherited the confidence of Khrushchev’s famous declaration to the West: “We will bury you.”
January 08, 2021
Want a Rules-Based Order for the Indo-Pacific? Start With Diego Garcia.
By Peter Harris
The U.S. pushing for the divesting of colonialism in the Chagos Archipelago would be a good place to begin.
January 08, 2021
The Capitol Siege and the Crisis of American Statecraft
By Sebastian Strangio
If Joe Biden wishes to renew global democracy, he would do best to start in his own backyard.
January 07, 2021
American Shame
By Abhijnan Rej
The storming of the US Capitol on January 6 marks one of the darkest days in recent American history.
January 07, 2021
A Letter from a Cambodian Woman in Exile
By Mu Sochua
Prime Minister Hun Sen’s onslaught against the Cambodian opposition has not ceased.
January 05, 2021
Is China the 21st Century’s Great ‘Going Concern’?
By Francis P. Sempa
Halford Mackinder is famous for his “heartland” theory, but another of his major theoretical constructs may be more relevant to China's rise.
December 31, 2020
Taiwan Needs to Be a Part of the UK’s China Strategy
By David Green
The willingness (or lack thereof) to embrace Taiwan is a bellwether of how serious liberal democracies are about countering CCP threats to their ideals.
December 24, 2020
Challenges to Democracy and Hopes for Peace and Justice in Myanmar
By Gus Miclat
For a multicultural society like Myanmar, the greatest test of democracy is whether the government treats its minorities equal to the majority.
December 23, 2020
Displaced, Stranded, Unprotected: ASEAN’s Migrant Workers
By Geoffrey Ducanes, Puja Dutta and Nicola Nixon
The case for greater cooperation in the protection of ASEAN’s migrant workers.
December 23, 2020
The Pandemic Drags On. But What About Infrastructure?
By Amrita Malhi
Australia can't, and shouldn't, compete directly with China on the funding of hard infrastructure.
December 17, 2020
The New Poor: ASEAN Tackles the Challenge of Rising Inequalities
By Puja Dutta, Deepali Khanna and Nicola Nixon
The pandemic worsened an already precarious situation for many largely due to gaps in social protection systems.