Who is he? Oscar Manutahi Temaru is the current president of Tahiti Nui (French Polynesia), an overseas territory of the French Republic. He is the leader of the pro-independence party Tavini Huiraatira (People’s Servant Party) and the Union for Democracy…
United Nations
The Leaderboard: Aye Maung
by cogitASIA Staff • • 0 Comments
Who is he? Dr. Aye Maung is chairman of the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party (RNDP) and a member of parliament of the Union of Myanmar representing Rakhine state in western Myanmar. Although the RNDP was only formed in 2010, Aye…
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…
Revitalizing the Bali Democracy Forum
by cogitASIA Staff • • 3 Comments
By Jeremiah Magpile The Indonesian Foreign Ministry in 2008 established the Bali Democracy Forum (BDF) as an intergovernmental platform to strengthen democratic institutions in the Asia-Pacific. The international community at the time, including the United States, lauded the BDF’s dialogue-based…
Video: The Dialog with Ambassador Ufuk Gokcen
by Murray Hiebert • • 0 Comments
Last week the CSIS Chair for Southeast Asia Studies had a chance to sit down with Ambassador Ufuk Gokcen of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. The Ambassador recently returned from Myanmar during an OIC observation mission that provided specific details…
Australia Earns its Place at the UN’s Top Table
by cogitASIA Staff • • 1 Comment
By Elke Larsen Australia clinched its second ever term as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council October 18. Domestic arguments that the $24 million diplomatic campaign was as a misuse of Australia’s aid budget rapidly faded as…
Easing of U.S. Trade Ban Could Gradually Help Lift Myanmar’s Impoverished Economy
by cogitASIA Staff • • 0 Comments
By Kate Rustici The United States decision to ease sanctions against Myanmar provides an economic boost to the government of President Thein Sein in response to its political reforms over the past year and bolsters the standing of the president…
The Leaderboard: Than Swe
by cogitASIA Staff • • 1 Comment
The Leaderboard profiles the people behind the policies of the Asia-Pacific. This post features Ambassador Than Swe, Representative of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar to the United States of America. Who is he? Than Swe is Myanmar’s new…
U.S. Senate Failing Geopolitical Test on the Law of the Sea
by Ernest Z. Bower • • 0 Comments
By Ernie Bower & Greg Poling The problem with convincing yourself that foreign policy is not relevant to your political career is that it can undercut the honest pursuit of the national interests of the United States. More than 30…
Strategic Implications of an Open Arctic – Part 3
by cogitASIA Staff • • 0 Comments
By Eddie Walsh [Editor’s Note: The following is the third post in a series on the Strategic Implications of an Open Arctic for the Pacific. You can read part one here and part two here] Norwegian Roald Amundsen is remembered…