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A protester wears a mask of US President Donald Trump in front of the US embassy in Seoul, South Korea, on March 16, during a demonstration against Trump’s request to dispatch warships to the Strait of Hormuz. Photo: AFP
War and conflict

Macroscope | Trump’s war is uniting the world, just not how he might have expected

The war on Iran could prompt middle powers to go beyond forming coalitions independent of the US and align more openly with China.

Malaysia

Asian Angle | Malaysia’s LGBTQ crackdowns aren’t hypocrisy, they’re politics

China economy

Macroscope | China is weathering the Iran war oil shock better than others in Asia

Asean

Opinion | Tariffs grab headlines, but non-tariff barriers decide winners in Asean

Trump’s flashy tariffs get the attention, but non-tariff barriers are what truly kill competition and leave firms and consumers worse off.

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US President Donald Trump (left) and Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim hold up signed documents on a trade deal in Kuala Lumpur on October 26, 2025. Photo: AFP
US President Donald Trump (left) and Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim hold up signed documents on a trade deal in Kuala Lumpur on October 26, 2025. Photo: AFP
China-India relations

Opinion | India’s reopening to Chinese investment reflects strategic pragmatism

Concerns about signalling weakness misread India’s careful policy design. Foreign investment rules have not been abolished, only recalibrated.

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War and conflict

Opinion | Who will be the real winner from the Iran war fallout? Not the US

With no clear goal or timetable for ending the war, the US president is running out of options.

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Asia housing and property

The View | Why Iran war disruption isn’t enough to unsettle Asia’s hotels

While higher energy prices pose a threat to global travel, Asia’s strong regional travel demand and diversified source markets offer resilience.

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A tourist poses for a photo doing the traditional Thai greeting during his visit to the Temple of Dawn in Bangkok on January 19. Photo: EPA
A tourist poses for a photo doing the traditional Thai greeting during his visit to the Temple of Dawn in Bangkok on January 19. Photo: EPA
Asean

Opinion | Underwater and unprotected: why Asean and the EU must secure subsea lifelines

With global data at risk from hybrid threats, Southeast Asia and Europe need to look past declarations to secure our shared data arteries.

War and conflict

Opinion | US attack on IRIS Dena shows that wars know no borders

The sinking of an Iranian naval frigate off Sri Lanka’s coast is a grim reminder of how easily conflicts can spill into unexpected places.

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US, Israel war on Iran

Macroscope | Trump hasn’t counted on financial blowback from his war with Iran

As Washington fights a war with global economic ramifications, allies may soon begin to reassess their financial support of US coffers.

Iranians work as smoke rises from an oil refinery struck in Tehran, on March 8, amid joint Israeli-US attacks. Photo: EPA
Myanmar

Opinion | Myanmar’s junta staged an election. It couldn’t stage legitimacy

A closer look at the vote raises doubts about whether the generals can hold the country hostage in the long term.

Supporters of the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party wave party flags in Naypyidaw, Myanmar, in October 2025. Photo: AP
Supporters of the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party wave party flags in Naypyidaw, Myanmar, in October 2025. Photo: AP
Hong Kong economy

Opinion | Hong Kong can play vital part in boosting crucial China-India relations

India is a vibrant, emerging and complex power with much to offer the city and China as a whole.

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US, Israel war on Iran

As I see it | Trump and Netanyahu’s Iran quagmire is wrecking the global economy

While bombs are being dropped on communities that may seem far away for some, the ripple effects of war in the Middle East are truly worldwide.

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War and conflict

Opinion | US-Israeli war on Iran makes a mockery of global governance rules

Inevitably, the world will be split between those committed to peace and harmony, and those who want to fight to secure dominance.

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US President Donald Trump gestures during a visit to Verst Logistics in Hebron, Kentucky, US, on March 11. Photo: Reuters
Hong Kong housing

Opinion | When homes are small and costly, dreams of having a family shrink

In Asian cities, imagining family life has become the real work of adulthood – shaped by square footage, commute times and childcare options.

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Potential homebuyers visit a development sales office in Hong Kong on November 15, 2025. Photo: Dickson Lee
Potential homebuyers visit a development sales office in Hong Kong on November 15, 2025. Photo: Dickson Lee
Energy

Opinion | Why Asia’s future depends on breaking the shackles of fossil fuels

The choice facing Asia is clear: pay the large, one-time cost of transition or keep paying the unpredictable price of vulnerability.

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War and conflict

Opinion | Iran strikes are a wake-up call to regulate military AI

Amid a lack of regulations and binding agreements on the use of artificial intelligence in war, the risks to civilians will only increase.

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Asia housing and property

The View | 4 reasons Asia’s property will endure despite Iran war headwinds

Asian property’s sources of resilience are potent and multifaceted, with the drivers of sentiment distinct from those in financial markets.

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A view of residential and commercial buildings in Tokyo on August 18, 2025. Photo: dpa
A view of residential and commercial buildings in Tokyo on August 18, 2025. Photo: dpa
North Korea

Opinion | Under Kim Jong-un, North Korea is burying the dream of reunification

The Workers’ Party Congress signals a different form of “liberation” – securing regime survival through nuclear deterrence, not the liberation of the Korean peninsula.

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Thailand

Asian Angle | How to win an election in Thailand: stage a rebrand, rely on rural votes

Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul put Bhumjaithai’s technocrats centre stage, while letting provincial barons run the real campaign.

Australia

Opinion | Australia needs to make its stance on the Iran attacks known

By refusing to condemn these legally baseless strikes, the Albanese government risks choosing ‘might is right’ over the UN Charter.

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Members of the Iranian diaspora in Australia celebrate US and Israeli military strikes on Iran outside Iranian embassy in Canberra on March 1. Photo: EPA
China-Middle East relations

Opinion | US-Iran conflict puts China’s pragmatism to the test

For Beijing, the danger is less about losing Iran as a partner than losing stability in the energy-rich Middle East.

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Illustration: Craig Stephens
Illustration: Craig Stephens
War and conflict

Opinion | Pakistan’s forever war and the politics of exhaustion

What Pakistan needs is not war with Afghanistan but urgent efforts to fix its economy, security and divided society after disruptive decades.

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Asean

Opinion | Fatigue is rewriting the US-China soft power contest, starting in Asean

At a time when no one has bandwidth left, soft power is being won by being the partner that feels usable, steady and low-risk.

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US, Israel war on Iran

Opinion | US war on Iran isn’t likely to go as planned

US war planners have overlooked viewing their adversary through realpolitik in the past. They now face a far more organised opponent.

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US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth speaks during a news conference at the Pentagon on March 2, in Arlington, Virginia, the US. Photo: Getty Images/TNS
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