Politics

Reading Time: 3 minutes Author: Kim Kee-seok, Kangwon National University In 2022, two political challenges lie ahead for the ruling Moon Jae-in administration and the Democratic Party of Korea — the nation’s 20th presidential…

Reading Time: 4 minutes Author: Kirill Nourzhanov, ANU In 2021, the five Central Asian republics celebrated 30 years of independence. They may not have fought for emancipation from the Soviet Union, but Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,…

Reading Time: 4 minutes Author: Arun R Swamy, University of Guam For India, 2021 was a year of trauma and portent. Alongside the continuing COVID-19 crisis — despite an ostensibly successful vaccination drive —…

Reading Time: 4 minutes Author: Kaewkamol Pitakdumrongkit, RSIS 2021 marked continued efforts by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to address the problems emerging from COVID-19 and pursue post-pandemic recovery. Some of the…

Reading Time: 4 minutes Author: Editorial Board, ANU It says a lot about Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo’s extraordinary mastery over Indonesian politics that year in, year out analyses of what’s driving domestic developments in Southeast…

Reading Time: 4 minutes Author: Kathryn Sweet, Canberra Despite closed international borders and rolling lockdowns due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic moved closer to its dreams of…

Reading Time: 4 minutes Author: Robert Ayson, Victoria University of Wellington As the first full year of Jacinda Ardern’s second term as New Zealand’s Prime Minister, 2021 began with the promise of political continuity….

Reading Time: 4 minutes Author: Deepa Ollapally, George Washington University Last year political and economic low points plagued Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government at home and abroad. The catastrophic second wave of COVID-19…

Reading Time: 3 minutes Author: Greg Raymond, ANU Thailand became less free and more authoritarian in 2021, as the democracy movement felt the heavy hand of Thailand’s illiberal constraints on basic civil liberties. COVID-19…

Reading Time: 4 minutes Author: Shyamika Jayasundara-Smits, Erasmus University Rotterdam In 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic provided additional cover for a regressive turn in Sri Lankan politics. The consequences of economic and political crisis became…