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Each week The Diplomat Brief fills you in on the story of the week and points out developing stories to watch across the Asia-Pacific region. We also feature a question and answer session with a notable author, policymaker, or newsmaker.

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Recent issues

March 6, 2024

Is Thailand Reconsidering Its Myanmar Policy?

February 28, 2024

The Economics Behind India’s Farmers Protests

February 21, 2024

The Bank of Japan’s Year of Living Dangerously

February 14, 2024

What’s Driving Kim Jong Un’s New Regional Development Policy?

February 7, 2024

Thailand’s New Government Rebalances Its Relationship With China

January 31, 2024

The Uyghurs: Kashgar Before the Catastrophe

January 24, 2024

Gelephu: The World’s First Mindfulness City in Bhutan

January 17, 2024

Ram Temple Stirs Religious Fervor as India Readies for Election Fever

January 10, 2024

Understanding China’s Approach to Deterrence

January 3, 2024

Is the Judiciary Being Weaponized in Bangladesh?

December 20, 2023

The Islamic State’s High Stakes War in the Philippines

December 13, 2023

Southeast Asia’s Brewing Refugee Crisis

December 6, 2023

Bhopal’s Endless Health Crisis

November 29, 2023

From Green to Blue: The Political History of Ko Wen-je

November 22, 2023

An Indonesian Constitutional Court Scandal and an Election in Jeopardy

November 15, 2023

Does India Have an Assassination Program?

November 8, 2023

Where China’s Lithium Monopoly Comes From

November 1, 2023

Debt Bondage in Space, and Taiwan

October 25, 2023

How Kazakhstan Helps Russia Bypass Western Sanctions

October 18, 2023

Filipino Coastal Communities on the Frontlines of Climate Change

October 11, 2023

Don’t Worry About China’s Gallium and Germanium Export Bans

October 4, 2023

Taiwan’s Drone Industry Takes Flight

September 27, 2023

Landmines in Ukraine: Lessons for China and Taiwan

September 20, 2023

In India, Hindutva Schools Are Indoctrinating Poor Children

September 13, 2023

How China’s Belt and Road Took Over the World

September 6, 2023

Why Are Indonesians Illegally Selling Their Kidneys?

August 30, 2023

The Nepali Guards Caught in the Chaotic US Evacuation of Afghanistan

August 23, 2023

Could the Papua Hostage Situation Have Been Prevented?

August 16, 2023

The Tyranny of Fear in Tajikistan

August 9, 2023

How the Taliban Guard Afghanistan’s Border (and What It Says About Their Regime

August 2, 2023

China’s J-20 Gets Another Upgrade

July 26, 2023

The Zojila Tunnel: A Strategic Lifeline to Ladakh

July 19, 2023

In Cambodia, Hun Sen Searches for the Magic Political Formula

July 12, 2023

1 Year Later, Sri Lanka’s Struggle Continues

July 5, 2023

India as a Lender of Last Resort

June 28, 2023

Saudi-Emirati Competition in Southeast Asia

June 21, 2023

After 22 Years, ExxonMobil Finally Settles Indonesian Human Rights Case

June 14, 2023

Where Does Thailand's Politics Go From Here?

June 6, 2023

Remembering Vietnam’s Great Famine

May 31, 2023

Myanmar’s Fog of War

May 24, 2023

Southern Thailand’s ‘Insurgency Express’

May 17, 2023

Pakistan: In the Eye of the Political Storm

May 10, 2023

Great Escapes From the Clutches of the Myanmar Junta

May 3, 2023

How Does China Engage With Russia’s Media Market?

April 26, 2023

The Kazakhstanis Picking Sides in the Russian War in Ukraine

April 19, 2023

In Bangladesh, the War on the Press Rages On

April 12, 2023

Japan’s Official Security Assistance: The Sleeping Giant Stirs?

April 5, 2023

Glacial Melt is Dispossessing Nepal’s Indigenous Communities

March 29, 2023

In India, the State Challenges Independent Media

March 22, 2023

Ex-Student Protesters Prepare for Thailand’s Election

March 15, 2023

The Aura of Governance in Turkmenistan

March 8, 2023

Will Asian Diplomacy Stump ChatGPT?

March 1, 2023

China’s Transnational Repression and Modern Slavery in Italy

February 22, 2023

The Ukraine War Echoes in Ancient Samarkand

February 15, 2023

Disillusioned, Ladakh Turns to Protests

February 8, 2023

Indonesia Confronts the Past, While Sidestepping the Present

February 1, 2023

The China-Myanmar Economic Corridor, 2 Years After the Coup

January 25, 2023

What a Gay Flight Attendant’s Lost Discrimination Case Says About LGBTQ Rights in China

January 19, 2023

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s Departure

January 11, 2023

No Escape: Camp Survivor Describes Life Under House Arrest in Xinjiang

January 4, 2023

Kazakhstan’s Bloody January: Day 1

December 21, 2022

Demystifying China’s Role in Sri Lanka’s Debt Restructuring

December 14, 2022

Amid Ukraine War, Russia’s Northern Sea Route Turns East

December 7, 2022

How Zero COVID Protests Broke Through China’s Internet Censorship

November 30, 2022

Will India's Farmers March Again?

November 23, 2022

Can China and the US Cooperate on Climate Change?

November 16, 2022

Iran’s Mass Protests Are Impacting Lives in Pakistan

November 9, 2022

Nepalis Feel the Human Toll of Qatar’s World Cup

November 2, 2022

What's Next for Russians Who Fled to Kazakhstan?

October 26, 2022

5 Takeaways From China’s Big Leadership Announcement

October 19, 2022

Can Vietnam Weather the Coming Era of Great Power Competition?

October 12, 2022

Life in a Far-Flung Corner of the Taliban Emirate

October 5, 2022

In Kashmir, Counterinsurgents’ Widows Fight to Save Their Sons

September 28, 2022

Russia’s Energy Game in Asia

September 21, 2022

Bailouts Won’t Save Sri Lanka. Ending Dynastic Politics Might.

September 14, 2022

Taiwan’s Greatest Vulnerability Is Its Energy Supply

September 7, 2022

Is Myanmar’s National Unity Government Ready to Govern?

August 31, 2022

Ladakh at the Crossroads

August 24, 2022

China and California: The Anatomy of a PRC Subnational Lobbying Campaign

August 17, 2022

Japan’s Outsider Caste

August 10, 2022

Higher Education in Taliban-Ruled Afghanistan: Threatened But Not Gone

July 27, 2022

What the Indo-Pak Ceasefire Means to Locals Along the LoC

July 20, 2022

From Prison, Kazakh Journalist Makhambet Abzhan Explains His Case

July 13, 2022

The Rajapaksa Regime Is Gone. What Next for Sri Lanka?

July 6, 2022

Russia-Ukraine War: Implications for Asian Geoeconomics

June 29, 2022

Asia Can’t Save Russia’s Energy Sector

June 22, 2022

Indonesia’s New Plans for Papua Can’t Hide Its Decades of Failures

June 15, 2022

China’s Pacific Push Is Already Remaking the Region

June 8, 2022

Australia’s New Government Faces an Economic Trial-by-Fire

June 1, 2022

Ethnic Armed Groups Eye Post-coup Myanmar

May 25, 2022

In Nepal, New Roads Threaten an Ancient Culture

May 18, 2022

Why Taiwan Can’t Copy Ukraine’s Civil Defense Blueprint

May 11, 2022

K-Dramas Resurrect Long-Buried Memories in Vietnam

May 4, 2022

Turkmenistan Takes Policing Women’s Bodies to the Next Level

April 27, 2022

The Peculiar Case of Elections Under the Taliban

April 20, 2022

Prophecies, Rituals, and Resistance in Myanmar

April 13, 2022

Sri Lanka’s Oppressive Stability Starts to Crumble

April 6, 2022

The China-Solomon Islands Security Deal Changes Everything

March 30, 2022

Cambodia Weaponizes COVID-19 in Its Struggle Against Striking Workers

March 23, 2022

Why Australia’s Indigenous People Fear the Police

March 16, 2022

War in Ukraine and Taiwan’s ‘Like-Minded Diplomacy’ in Europe

March 9, 2022

Kazakh-Russian Relations in the Context of the War in Ukraine

March 2, 2022

In Tajikistan’s Pamir Mountains, Tensions Simmer Dangerously

February 23, 2022

Myanmar: From Hopeful Spring to Scorching Summer

February 16, 2022

What a 19-Year-Old Study Tells Us About China’s J-20

February 9, 2022

Nepal’s Fierce MCC Debate

February 2, 2022

Myanmar’s Military Mindset

January 26, 2022

Forced Prison Labor in China: Hiding in Plain Sight

January 19, 2022

After Kazakhstan Crisis, China Will Reassess Its Influence in Central Asia

January 12, 2022

Information Chaos in Kazakhstan

January 5, 2022

The Final Flights of the Afghan Air Force

December 22, 2021

China’s Investment Drive and Africa’s Disjointed Infrastructure

December 15, 2021

Myanmar’s Media Adapts to the World’s Harshest Oppression

December 8, 2021

Inside Dostum’s Mansion: Afghanistan’s Inequality Laid Bare

December 1, 2021

Who Are Kashmir’s 'Hybrid Militants'?

November 24, 2021

Reviewing China’s New Stealth Fighters

November 17, 2021

Cambodia’s History, Viewed Through Sihanoukville

November 10, 2021

How Taiwan Underwrites the US Defense Industrial Complex

November 3, 2021

Myanmar’s Missing Millions

October 27, 2021

Is the Islamic State in Afghanistan Targeting China?

October 20, 2021

A Remote Corner of Afghanistan Offers a Peek Into the Future of the Country

October 6, 2021

The Indians Still Stranded in Afghanistan

September 29, 2021

Pakistan’s Fake Vaccine Certificates

September 22, 2021

Anti-China Sentiment and South Korea’s Presidential Race

September 15, 2021

Is Malaysia’s Forced Labor Problem Getting Better?

September 8, 2021

Why Is Iran So Keen on Joining the SCO?

September 1, 2021

Arakan Army Seeks to Build ‘Inclusive’ Administration in Rakhine State

August 25, 2021

What Price Would Afghans Have to Pay for Peace?

August 18, 2021

COVID-19 Shrank India’s Burgeoning Middle Class

August 11, 2021

Eswatini, Taiwan’s Last Partner in Africa

August 4, 2021

How China Helps the Cuban Regime Shut Down Protests

July 28, 2021

Myanmar’s Armed Resistance at the Crossroads

July 21, 2021

Serdar Berdimuhamedov and Turkmenistan’s Digital Transformation

July 14, 2021

What Russia’s National Security Strategy Has to Say About Asia

July 7, 2021

South Korea’s Free and Open Indo-Pacific Dilemma

June 30, 2021

How Pakistan Is Helping China Crack Down on Uyghur Muslims

June 23, 2021

Myanmar’s Civil Disobedience Movement

June 16, 2021

What the G-7 Summit in Cornwall Means for Asia

June 09, 2021

Malaysia Aims to Speed Up COVID-19 Vaccination Campaign

June 02, 2021

Hip-Hop Resurfaces in India-Administered Kashmir

May 26, 2021

Can China’s Israel-Palestine Peace Plan Work?

May 19, 2021

The Danger of Defending the Defenseless in Myanmar

May 12, 2021

With COVID-19 Rampant, Indonesia Braces for the Holidays

May 5, 2021

West Bengal Elections: Mamata Banerjee Pushes Modi’s BJP Back

April 28, 2021

Pakistan’s COVID-19 Vaccine Campaign Crawls Along

April 21, 2021

The Missing Uyghur Children

April 14, 2021

Can Japan and the US Lead the Way to 6G?

April 07, 2021

China-Iran Relations: The Myth of Massive Investment

March 31, 2021

China’s Social Credit System: Speculation vs. Reality

March 24, 2021

What Does the India-Pakistan Ceasefire Mean for Local Kashmiris?

March 17, 2021

The Litmus Test for Hong Kong’s Financial Future

March 10, 2021

How Are Thailand’s Youth Protests Impacting Foreign Investment?

March 03, 2021

In One Australian State, Trade With China Is Still Booming

February 24, 2021

The Future of India’s Farmer Protests

February 17, 2021

Did China Build a Spy Network in Kabul?

February 10, 2021

How China’s 17+1 Became a Zombie Mechanism

February 03, 2021

Russia’s Losing Bet on China in a Post-COVID World

January 27, 2021

China Consolidates Its Commercial Foothold in Djibouti

January 20, 2021

India’s Protesting Farmers Aren’t Going Anywhere

January 13, 2021

J-20: The Stealth Fighter That Changed PLA Watching Forever

January 6, 2021

What Is the Truth About COVID-19 in North Korea?

December 23, 2020

Fire From the Sky: The Afghan Taliban’s Drones

December 18, 2020

China’s Military Actions Against Taiwan in 2021: What to Expect

December 9, 2020

Inside India’s Farmer Protest

December 2, 2020

Beyond Ideologies: The Many Tehreeks of Pakistan

November 25, 2020

Australia and China: It’s Complicated

November 18, 2020

Inside Afghanistan’s Education Crisis

November 11, 2020

Before Trump, South Korean Conservatives Also Claimed a ‘Stolen’ Election

November 4, 2020

Taiwan’s Overall Defense Concept, Explained

October 28, 2020

Toothless and Terrified: The State of Pakistan’s Media

October 21, 2020

What the Fate of Freed Taliban Prisoners Means for the Afghan Peace Process

October 14, 2020

A Nuclear North Korea’s Wake-up Call

October 7, 2020

Suganomics: Abenomics Minus Yasukuni?

September 30, 2020

003 and More: An Update on China’s Aircraft Carriers

September 23, 2020

Voice From the Himalayas Amid Tensions Along the China-India Border

September 16, 2020

What to Expect From Japan’s New Leader