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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.
Backing the Wrong Horses: American Blowback From Vietnam to Afghanistan
By Rizal Ramli
Washington has repeatedly intervened in other nations, with ostensibly good intentions. Yet it has achieved none of its purported foreign policy goals.
Show Us Your Credentials: The Battle for Myanmar at the UN
By Patrick Phongsathorn
For the General Assembly to accord recognition to Myanmar's junta would effectively sanction armed seizures of power.
How the Movement for Black Lives Can Help Myanmar Activists
By Eraldo Souza dos Santos
As Martin Luther King, Jr. once wrote, “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
Relief Agencies Should Push for Independent Access to Myanmar’s Rakhine State
By Laetitia Van Den Assum and Kyaw Hsan Hlaing
Since the February coup, the Arakan Army has reportedly gained effective control of 75 percent of the state's townships.
Uzbekistan Should Do More to Help Afghans
By Mihra Rittman and Hugh Williamson
Tashkent has assisted Western countries in evacuating some Afghans, but Uzbekistan can and should do more.
Rebooting the Japan-US Alliance
By Kenzo Fujisue
With economy increasingly becoming the new decisive battlespace in the looming China-U.S. Cold War, the alliance needs an urgent reboot.
Ahead of Hong Kong Elections, Companies Must Act to Protect Digital Rights
By Angeli Datt and Isabel Linzer
The private sector may be forced to choose between enabling and resisting state repression.
Hostage Diplomacy Is Against China’s Interests
By Susana Malcorra
Normalized relations between China and the West should not be taken for granted. The fates of the two Michaels are test cases for the direction Beijing chooses.
Afghanistan Shows White Privilege in Action on the Geopolitical Stage
By Chandran Nair
Western exceptionalism and privilege have long been entrenched in geopolitics – and war.
Rohingya Refugee Children Are Being Denied an Education
By Habibu Rahman
The only education accessible to children in the world’s largest refugee settlement is provided by a network of unsupported community-based Rohingya schools.
On Day of the Disappeared, US Has Eyes on Bangladesh
By Carolyn Nash
The Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission held a hearing on increasing use of enforced disappearance to silence dissent, undermine independent media, and intimidate human rights advocates in Bangladesh.
The World Must Act to Avert a Humanitarian Catastrophe in Afghanistan
By Mary-Ellen McGroarty
An even greater tide of hunger is at Afghanistan’s doorstep as food supplies dwindle and prices soar.