Photo source: CNN By Naveed Qazi | Editor, Globe Upfront Myanmar’s crisis has dragged on into a protracted and embittered conflict between the junta government, run by the Tatmadaw, and a disparate range of opposing forces with competing agendas – from pro‑democracy dissidents to ethnic armed organisations in states such as Kachin and Shan. Since the military coup in 2021, estimates suggest that more than 50,000 people have died, including thousands of civilians. The Tatmadaw tentatively maintains its grip on power in core territories such as Yangon, Mandalay, and Naypyidaw, but its influence in peripheral regions, especially in the north, is increasingly tenuous. Popular disillusionment and internal splintering within the military have contributed to inefficiencies and the effective failure to maintain control across roughly half of the country’s territory. Against this backdrop, Myanmar’s neighbours, particularly Thailand, face mounting pressure to assume a more robust role in ...

  Photo source: DD News By Naveed Qazi | Editor, Globe Upfront External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar’s five‑day tour of Singapore, the Philippines and Malaysia in March 2024 was part of India’s broader effort to deepen engagement with ASEAN. His visit came at a time when India’s relations with Southeast Asia have grown more slowly than with partners such as Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. Yet the trip underscored India’s recognition that ASEAN remains central to its ‘Act East’ policy and Indo‑Pacific strategy. In Singapore, Jaishankar met Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, with discussions focusing on digital cooperation, fintech, food security and skills development. Singapore has long been India’s strongest economic partner in ASEAN, and the visit reinforced the importance of building on this foundation. In Manila, Jaishankar’s remarks were more strategic. He called for ‘staunch adherence to a rules‑based order’ and ...

  Photo source: East Asia Forum By Naveed Qazi | Editor, Globe Upfront The CIA has suggested that President Xi Jinping has instructed China’s military to be ready by 2027 to conduct a successful invasion of Taiwan. Former CIA Director William Burns made this point in 2023, and analysts such as Edan Morag at the Institute for National Security Studies have further reiterated that 2027 is seen as the year China could have the capability to forcibly unify Taiwan. Taiwanese defence experts, reported by Fang Wei‑li and Jonathan Chin in the Taipei Times, clarified that Beijing’s goal is to prepare for military unification by 2027, not to set a fixed date for war. This threat loomed large over Taiwan’s January 2024 elections. Lai Ching‑te of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won the presidency with around 40 per cent of the vote, defeating Hou Yu‑ih of the Kuomintang (KMT). As Brian Hart and Jude Blanchette noted in their analysis for CSIS, the election drew global attention because ...