Indonesia must choose its direction in 2012 (Feb 4)
Author: Yasmi Adriansyah, ANU Indonesians have reason to be both optimistic and pessimistic coming into 2012. The question is: which outlook is more likely to prevail? In his New Year message, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) requested that all Indonesians work to maintain order. Acknowledging that the country’s political landscape is becoming more heated due [...]Markets and corruption in IndonesiaIndonesia’s struggle with reformAsia’s mixed outlook for 2012


Taiwan’s election results raise Chinese expectations (Feb 3)
Author: Sheryn Lee, ANU On 14 January, Taiwan’s incumbent president, Ma Ying-jeou, won a second term in office, obtaining 51.6 per cent of the popular vote while Tsai Ing-wen, his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) opponent, managed 45.6 per cent. Ma’s party, the Kuomintang (KMT), thus retained control of the Legislative Yuan, securing 64 of the [...]Taiwan and Hu Jintao’s end-year overturesTaiwan, China, and the WHOTaiwan: The Democratic Progress Party’s ‘China Syndrome’


Thailand’s floods: a message for regional business (Feb 3)
Author: Mark Carroll, Australian-Thai Chamber of Commerce The muddy floodwaters in Thailand having receded, one of the truths to emerge will be just how important the Thai economy is in both regional and global terms. Thailand is a manufacturing powerhouse. Countless small and large factories churn out a broad range of finished consumer goods for [...]The Japan-Thailand economic partnership agreement: Utilization and implementation issues from the perspective of ThailandAustralia’s floods and farmingThailand, a nation caught in the middle-income trap


AN ASIA TIMES ONLINE EXCLUSIVE : Taliban eat into Afghanistan's core (Feb 3)
Even as several tracks of peace talks with the Taliban open up, Asia Times Online has learned that senior members of the Western-trained and financed Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police plan to defect with vast numbers of their colleagues to the militants once foreign forces start to leave the country. - Hamza Ameer and Ihsanullah Tipu Mehsud (Feb 3, '12)


Rants and raves for new US pullout plan (Feb 3)
The surprise decision to phrase out a combat role for US troops in Afghanistan by mid-2013 has drawn mixed reaction in Washington, with critics of the 11-year international occupation cheering and neo-cons and other hawks assessing that the strategy will open the door to Kabul for the Taliban. The announcement comes as a critical juncture on a number of fronts. - Jim Lobe (Feb 3, '12)


THE ROVING EYE : Exposed: The Arab agenda in Syria (Feb 3)
Washington, London and Paris are falling over themselves to assure the real international community that the "Arab-led drive to secure a peaceful end to the 10-month crackdown" in Syria at the United Nations is not seeking another mandate for bombing a la Libya. But BRICS members Russia and China see it for what it is: no less than a crude drive for regime change. - Pepe Escobar (Feb 3, '12)


Question time for North Korea (Feb 3)
North Korea reportedly is producing middle-range missiles for export for Iran's defense in the event of a Middle East war that would make the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan look like brush fires. Closer to home, Pyongyang has fired off a series of questions to South Korea that are not necessarily expected to be answered. - Donald Kirk (Feb 3, '12)


Economic cooperation strengthened at India-Japan summit (Feb 2)
Author: Sanjana Joshi, ICRIER High-level political contacts between India and Japan since the year 2000 have produced a multitude of political documents. And as Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda wrapped up his official visit to India on 27–29 December, following the annual meeting between the Indian and Japanese prime ministers, the countries’ respective policy establishments [...]India-Japan closer economic partnershipHow the earthquake strengthened the Japan-US allianceIndia and Japan: poised to enter a new era


U.S. Military and the Philippines: What do Philippine Citizens Really Think? (Feb 2)
By Steven RoodNo sooner did I warn in last week's blog on my way to Washington, D.C., that there is "a danger that U.S.-Philippine relations will be viewed entirely through the lens of ‘the rise of China'" than I was greeted upon arrival by the morning front-page story in The Washington Post entitled, "Philippines may allow greater U.S. military presence in reaction to China's rise." The article stated that "the sudden rush by many in the Asia-Pacific region to embrace Washington is a direct reaction to China's rise as a military power and its assertiveness in staking claims to disputed territories, such as the energy-rich South China Sea."


Frustrated, Indonesians Demand Changes in Juvenile Justice System (Feb 2)
By Leopold SudaryonoAfter a series of reports emerged across the archipelago in recent weeks of children being arrested and prosecuted for petty crimes, Indonesians are raising questions about the state of juvenile justice in the country. The first was a confounding case that resonated around the globe: a 15-year-old boy from Central Sulawesi was incarcerated and tried last month...