Joshua Kurlantzick

Elections galore. But little relief from persecution for the Rohingya.

The pope is walking a fine line in meeting with senior Myanmar and Bangladesh officials.

On trade and human rights, Trump disappointed our allies and strengthened Xi’s hand.

She could have used the bully pulpit to change minds and indirectly influence the military.

300,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh as the army burns their villages and lays mines along the border.

The growing crises in mainland Southeast Asia are quickly spiraling out of control.

Kim Jong Un’s quest for absolute security could come back to haunt him.

His war on drugs has descended into a bloody killing spree that defies the rule of law.

The successor is widely disliked and has stumbled through a series of embarrassing missteps.

If the ruling goes against China and Beijing responds with a show of force, it will be a critical test of how far the U.S. will go to support its allies.

Duterte gave no signs he would moderate his anti-democratic promises, like killing criminals without trial or enacting policies without the legislature’s approval.

The number of critics of Beijing targeted outside China’s borders has grown exponentially, the author writes.

Indonesian, Malaysian, Philippine and Thai authorities say up to 1,200 have traveled to Syria and Iraq to fight with ISIS.

In recent years anti-trafficking efforts have broadened to include the seafood and fishing industries.

She must first find military allies who can protect her government from the armed forces.

A new report by Yale Law School says the UN should urgently investigate the fate of the Rohingya.

It’s not just China’s expansion in the South China Sea that is rattling the Southeast Asian nations.

The peace deal does not include two-thirds of the armed insurgencies.

The Thai government has to be more forthright if it wants anyone to trust the information it releases.

The government should stop pilots being overworked and taking drugs.

They were simultaneously shadowy and larger than life—but now they’re gone.

The rising power of generals within the governments of Asia is fueling the regionwide arms race.

China is starting to face consequences for its newly aggressive stance.

One big obstacle to aid is the politics of spending money on other nations’ problems. President Bush enjoyed a Nixon-goes-to-China credibility with conservatives, who tend to be more skeptical of foreign aid. But Obama’s low popularity among conservative voters makes it nearly impossible for him to sell an aid program to them. Reaching out in this way might feed into American stereotypes that Republicans are tougher on national security while Democrats prefer soft power.

Once the province of a few fringe players operating on the margins of Washington, lobbying for foreign countries has become big business for the most prestigious firms in D.C. According to data from the Department of Justice, the number of registrants—forms submitted by people registered to represent foreign countries—grew from about 1,800 in the first half of 2005 to 1,900 in the first half of 2009, the most recent data available.

While European leaders squabbled over the right kind of deficit reduction, Barack Obama used the recent G20 summit to make a different case: that the United States is dedicated to building a closer relationship with Asia.

For years Thailand was synonymous with images of paradise: it was a thriving democracy with a 1997 Constitution that enshrined protections for human rights. It was an economic powerhouse that posted some of the world’s highest growth rates in the 1980s and early 1990s, withstood the late ’90s Asian financial crisis, and grew by 5.3 percent in 2002 and more than 7 percent the following year, as the rebound from the crisis took shape. Investors and tourists bought into the image of a tranquil kingdom of lush beaches and mountains, welcoming people, and stable politics—a “land of smiles” so alluring, it drew more than 13 million tourists per year.

As Thailand’s protracted political crisis spirals into violence, with at least 20 people killed in the last few weeks, the protesters, the government, and many outside observers offer a similar diagnosis of the unrest: it is a class war between wealthy Bangkokians, clad in yellow, and the poor rural masses, clad in red.

The revolution wasn't digitized--because autocrats found ways to control the internet, rather than be controlled by it.

Touring Asia in November, Barack Obama hit all the usual presidential themes, including free trade, investment, and strategic alliances, except for one: human rights. During a scripted press conference in Beijing, Obama barely mentioned it. In Shanghai he offered only mild criticism of China's Internet blocks, saying he was a "big supporter of noncensorship." Obama's nonstatements amount to a clear break from nearly three decades of U.S. policy. From its engagement with the brutal Burmese junta to its decision to avoid the Dalai Lama when he first visited Washington during Obama's tenure to its silence over the initial outbreak of protests in Iran, Obama's administration has taken a much quieter approach to rights advocacy than his predecessors George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. "Conceding to China upfront doesn't buy you better cooperation further down the track," says Sophie Richardson of Human Rights Watch.Obama's waffling was hardly unique. Across Europe, Asia, and Latin America,...