Several surveys were released in recent weeks assessing aspects of governance, security, and quality of life worldwide, including Transparency International’s Corruptions Perception index, the Clean Air Asia Report, and the World Justice Project’s Rule of Law index. We have summarized…
Cambodia
ASEAN’s Time to Invest in Timor-Leste
by cogitASIA Staff • • 5 Comments
By Liam Hanlon As Brunei assumes ASEAN’s chairmanship for 2013, one major question it faces is Timor-Leste’s bid for membership in the group. Despite some ASEAN members’ previous resistance to Timor-Leste’s entrance, the country’s sustained political and economic development over…
Putin’s Puzzling EAS Snub and Russian Ambitions in Asia
by cogitASIA Staff • • 2 Comments
By Jeff Mankoff When Asia’s leaders gathered in Phnom Penh for the seventh East Asia Summit (EAS) last month, one figure was notable by his absence: Russian President Vladimir Putin. For Russia, which is struggling to be accepted as a…
The Leaderboard: Tep Vanny and the Boeung Kak 13
by cogitASIA Staff • • 1 Comment
Who are they? The Boeung Kak 13 is a group of 13 women, ranging in age from 25 to 72, who live around what used to be Boeung Kak Lake near Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Tep Vanny, 32, is their de…
In Flight Reading: President Obama and the East Asia Summit
by cogitASIA Staff • • 3 Comments
President Barack Obama’s trip to Southeast Asia represents his first travels abroad since his re-election. Currently in Myanmar, the U.S. President will head to Cambodia for the East Asia Summit. Our CSIS Asia Team has compiled a series of materials…
ASEAN Centrality: The Case of RCEP
by cogitASIA Staff • • 0 Comments
By Jae-Kyung Park This year’s ASEAN Summit and related meetings will begin November 18 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Among the several hundred meetings the ASEAN Chair country hosts in a year, the summit meetings are the headlining events, with participation…
Free Speech and the Battle for ASEAN
by cogitASIA Staff • • 2 Comments
By Liam Hanlon In the last decade, several of ASEAN’s member countries recognized the need for greater regional integration to confront the challenges of the 21st century. They convinced their fellow members to go along, resulting in the 2007 ASEAN…
The Leaderboard: King Father Norodom Sihanouk
by cogitASIA Staff • • 0 Comments
Who is he? Cambodia’s beloved King Father Norodom Sihanouk was a key political leader for more than six decades. Sihanouk was born October 31, 1922, when Cambodia was still under French colonial rule. He was crowned in 1941 and presided…
Economics and the EAS: A Second Chance for the United States
by cogitASIA Staff • • 0 Comments
By James Wallar • In November 2011 the United States joined the East Asia Summit (EAS), taking a seat with the leaders of ASEAN member countries and the other major players in Asia: China, Japan and Korea (ASEAN + 3),…
ASEAN Won’t Help US to Manage China
by cogitASIA Staff • • 2 Comments
By Hugh White [Editor’s note: The following is a continuation of the ongoing debate between Hugh White & Ernie Bower about the geostrategic role of ASEAN in Asia. You can find Ernie’s initial commentary about the recent events in Phnom…