An Old China Hand is the New Ambassador in Beijing

By Brian Wong

A short-term priority for the Ambassador would likely be a comprehensive tour of key cities across China – especially one in which there exist Indian consulates. Key medium-term indicators of Doraiswami’s tenure would include the level of access to the senior echelons of the Chinese bureaucracy – which could prove difficult, especially in the run-up to the 21st Party Congress next year – as well as a prospective articulation by Beijing of a new, constructive strategic doctrine (a "tí fǎ" 提法) laying out a positive roadmap for the Sino-Indian relationship.

Navigating the South China Sea: Southeast Asia's Strategic Choices

By Barbora Valockova

The South China Sea sits at the intersection of sovereignty, security, competition and cooperation. Around one-third of global shipping worth trillions of dollars annually transits its waters, and its seabed holds significant reserves of oil and natural gas alongside some of the world's most productive fishing grounds. For the hundreds of millions of people living along its shores, the sea is a source of food, income, and livelihood. Yet overlapping territorial and maritime claims involving six claimants, an intensifying rivalry between the United States and China, and accelerating environmental pressures have made this vital waterway one of the most contested spaces in the contemporary international system. How should Southeast Asian states respond to these compounding challenges is an important governance question with significant implications for regional order in the decades to come?

The Chicken-and-Egg Question for ASEAN: Which Comes First, Readiness or Integration?

By Abigail Andrada

Timor-Leste’s accession to ASEAN revives a long-standing chicken-and-egg question in regional integration: should institutional readiness precede membership, or can integration itself generate readiness? While accession offers opportunities for deeper economic integration and cooperation, Timor-Leste’s limited institutional capacity raises concerns about premature integration and uneven implementation.

Two limits on middle power activism in the Indo-Pacific

By Kanti Bajpai

One of the great security worries of small and medium powers (SMPs) in the Indo-Pacific is the rivalry between China and the US – how it could lead to a kinetic conflagration over (say) Taiwan, and how it could increase pressures to take sides between the two great powers, thereby reducing SMP agency. The region also faces other security dangers, including non-traditional security challenges. The focus of this essay, however, is the China-US rivalry on the SMPs.