Feb 25,2019 Open Forum

Washington Insights Vol. 7, No. 1

The first two months of 2019 have been an anxious time in DC, not only because of the suspense over government shutdowns but also because of the uncertainty over major forthcoming events. There is far more alarm being registered in anticipation of the second Trump-Kim summit than in the run-up to the Singapore summit. The […]

Editorial Staff
America First , code of conduct , free and open Indo-Pacific , Hanoi summit , Singapore Summit , TPP-11
Apr 28,2016 National Commentaries

A View from Indonesia

On March 20, 2016, a Chinese coastguard vessel intruded into Indonesia’s territorial sea near the Natuna Besar Island, the largest island in Indonesia’s Natuna Islands located in the South China Sea. The coastguard vessel intended to stop a Chinese fishing vessel, Kway Fey 10078, from being towed by an Indonesian fishery patrol boat, KP Hiu […]

Ristian Atriandi Supriyanto
code of conduct , Illegal fishing , Indonesian-Sino March confrontation , Nine-dash line , sovereignty
Feb 22,2016 Special Forum

Vietnam’s Management of China’s Maritime Assertiveness in the Post-Cold War Period

1In May 2014, China deployed a giant oil rig, Haiyang Shiyou 981 (HYSY 981), and a flotilla of more than 100 vessels to the area that Vietnam claims as its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).2 Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh protested loudly, declaring that “all necessary measures” would be taken to protect his country’s legitimate rights.3 […]

Do Thanh Hai*
code of conduct , Haiyang Shiyou 981 , Paracels , South China Sea , Spratlys , Vietnam-China relations
Jul 31,2015 Special Forum

Introduction to the Special Forum

ASEAN is an organization that symbolizes regionalism, collective action for the management of great power relations, and harmonious handling of civilizational and economic differences. It reached its pinnacle in the late 1990s and 2000s. Now it is struggling to play the expected, outsize role in all of these dimensions. In conditions of increased Chinese assertiveness […]

Editorial Staff
ASEAN centrality , code of conduct , Regionalism , South China Sea , US-China rivalry
Jul 31,2015 Special Forum

ASEAN’s Failing Grade in the South China Sea

Since around 2008, a worrying disconnect has been readily apparent in the South China Sea. On the one hand, competing claims to ownership of disputed atolls and their adjacent maritime space has led to growing discord between China and several countries in Southeast Asia, especially Vietnam and the Philippines, and propelled the problem to the […]

Ian Storey
ASEAN unity , code of conduct , Regionalism , Spratly Islands , UNCLOS
Oct 01,2014 Topics of the Month

Comparative Southeast Asian Military Modernization – 1

Southeast Asia’s military modernization over the last half decade has been impressive. Defense expenditures across the region have risen, on average, by nine percent each year since 2009, but the region’s countries have not been uniform in their approaches. The degree to which those countries with maritime interests have modernized their militaries appears to be […]

Felix K. Chang
Arms sales , code of conduct , defense expenditures , Indonesia , long-term commitment , Malaysia , maritime interests , Philippines , territorial ambitions , Vietnam
Nov 22,2013 National Commentaries

Southeast Asian Perspective

"China and International Law/Norms: Southeast Asian Perspective" Peaceful Development towards a Sinocentric Asia? China’s rise has resulted in a fundamental shift of the strategic balance in the world. While the United States and its alliance system remain dominant in security arrangements, China has become the center of economic gravity. In the wake of the US […]

Huang Jing*
Anti-unilateralism , ASEAN , BRICS , code of conduct , East China Sea , new type of relations , Peaceful Development , Rebalancing , Sinocentric , South China Sea