Southeast Asia

Lately, the news coming out of Timor-Leste is quite reminiscent of the political reality drama, that was Ferdinand Marcos’ Philippines – corruption, assassination plots, and intrigue in abundance. On Monday July 13th, the 27 people accused of the February 2008 “assassination attempt” of  East Timor’s President Jose Ramos-Horta, began trial.   The case is a puzzling […]

Human Rights Come to ASEAN? On Monday, in Phuket, Thailand, ASEAN laid out plans to formally adopt the ASEAN Inter-governmental Commission on Human Rights (AIGCHR) at its regional meeting in October of this year.  The commission will have a mandate for greater human rights education, information dissemination, and inter-regional capacity building.  It will be be […]

-AP has published more on the Indonesia Hotel Bombing suspect, Malaysian born,  Noordin Mohammad Top.  The U.S. State Department believes he aided in financing the 2002 and 2005 Bali bombings.  After becoming radicalized in an Islamic boarding school ran by the Indonesian Muslim cleric, Abdullah Sungkar, he underwent  training in the Southern Philippines and joined […]

The United States maybe  in the initial stages of a Southeast Asian foreign policy overhaul; the Obama Administration is not only reconsidering its sanctions against Myanmar, but also reevaluating America’s policy toward the entire Southeast Asian region.  Brian McCartan has an informative article on the recent removal of Cambodia and Laos from the United States’ […]

CNN is reporting that Malaysian-born Noordin M. Top is believed to have been involved in the recent bombings at the Jakarta Marriott and Ritz Carlton, in the Mega Kuningan business district: Top is reportedly an officer, recruiter, bombmaker, and trainer for the JI group that was involved in a previous attack on the Marriott — […]

At approximately 8AM in Kuningan, Jakarta, simultaneous bombs detonated at the Marriott and  Ritz-Carlton Hotels.  At least 8 people have been killed in the blasts and over 100 wounded.  At least a dozen foreigners were injured, including citizens of Australia, Norway,  South Korea, and India. During a press conference, recently re-elected Indonesian President Susilo Bambang […]

A recent series of  mysterious bombings in the Philippines have led some to wonder if it is just a more severe case of  the usual-suspects, Muslims separatist groups based in Mindanao, or a possible conspiracy led by the Filipino army, the Arroyo opposition, or the Macapagal-Arroyo government itself. The Philippines has seen more than 60 […]

Is Aung San Suu Kyi’s star power waning after nearly two decades of political and social isolation under house arrest?  What affect is this having on the countries democracy movement?   These questions are explored in a recent  New York Times article.  There is no way to tell how representative this person is, but… “I […]

Notwithstanding the paralysis of the World Trade Organization’s Doha Round and the current global economic recession, bilateral and regional trade deals have continued to progress in Southeast Asia. Over the last decade, ASEAN has negotiated free trade agreements (FTA) at breakneck speeds, signing deals with Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. It is also in the […]

This week, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (aka SBY) easily won a second five-year term as Indonesia’s president, running away with 62% of the vote, according to official polling data, although a precise vote count is not yet available. SBY will be the first Indonesian president to be re-elected and the second to be chosen by […]