Author: Richard Javad Heydarian

Almost one year into office, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte continues to rule with characteristic sound and fury. Under his watch, the Southeast Asian nation has experienced a radical reorientation of both its domestic and foreign policy. Read more…

Author: Joseph Franco, RSIS

The impending fall of Mosul and Raqqa have stoked concerns over the future of Islamic State (IS) fighters. As the coalition dragnet falls upon the so-called caliphate, it is expected that jihadists will try to escape, either returning to their home countries or coalescing into other conflict regions. Southeast Asia has recently been cast as the potential site for a replacement caliphate. Mindanao’s decades-long struggle with Islamist extremism has made it a constant trope for analysts seeking to portray the southern Philippines as the next epicentre for international terrorism. Read more…

Author: Eric Batalla, De La Salle University

Senator Leila de Lima, Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte’s most outspoken critic, is in trouble. Read more…

Authors: Darren J. Lim and Victor Ferguson, ANU

Since Seoul and Washington announced the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system on the Korean peninsula in July 2016, Beijing has responded with a range of measures to express its disapproval. Chief among these is an apparent strategy of economic coercion designed to pressure Seoul into reconsidering.  Read more…

Authors: Mieczysław P Boduszyński and Tom Le, Pomona College

Former US president Barack Obama sought to move the United States away from what he saw as costly, distracting and unwinnable entanglements in the Middle East. Instead, he pivoted his foreign policy efforts towards Asia where he believed that US military, political and economic engagement could reap much greater rewards for the country. Read more…

Author: Jeffrey Ordaniel, Pacific Forum CSIS & GRIPS

Since Donald Trump’s inauguration, many analysts have anticipated that the United States would return to a unilateralist approach to international security. Initial statements from the new administration hinted at a change in Washington’s Asia policy away from the multilateral diplomacy and engagement championed by Obama’s ‘rebalance’ to Asia. Read more…

Author: Cesar Virata, Manila

The 2016 mid-year general election in the Philippines delivered power to the Philippine Democratic Party-Power of the People (PDP-Laban) and a new president, Rodrigo Duterte. With the change in national leadership, the Philippine economy has continued to perform well, growing at 6.8 per cent. Read more…