Mark S. Cogan is an Associate Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies at Kansai Gaidai University in Osaka, Japan. He is a former communications specialist with the United Nations in Southeast Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Middle East.
Mark S. Cogan is an Associate Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies at Kansai Gaidai University in Osaka, Japan. He is a former communications specialist with the United Nations in Southeast Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Middle East.
Cambodia–Thailand tensions aren’t just about borders. They reflect domestic politics: an unstable but real Thai democracy versus Cambodia’s entrenched autocracy.
Myanmar’s December elections are a façade. AI-powered surveillance, facial recognition, and message monitoring have helped the junta crush dissent—locking in rule and offering a blueprint for digital authoritarianism.
Indonesia’s foreign policy is shifting: deeper BRICS engagement, de-dollarization moves, and balanced ties with the US and China signal Jakarta’s push for autonomy, diversification, and a stronger Global South voice.
In December, Thailand’s military junta lifted the ban on political activities in the country-- including as gatherings of over five people--ending some of the...
As Thailand’s 2019 election approaches, some in the country have begun to call for foreign observation of the country’s polls, scheduled for February 24....
Cambodia’s Foreign Ministry has announced that it had offered to resume cooperation in an effort to search for remains of Americans killed during the...
European Union Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström announced on October 5 that the EU had started a review of Cambodia’s duty-free access to European markets,...
Trilateral cooperation among China, Japan, and the ROK has been literally moving forward. At the Seventh Japan-China-ROK Trilateral Summit on May 9, the three countries...
Since his historic re-election after more than a decade of retirement, the 93-year-old veteran Mahathir Mohammed started his new term with a new anti-corruption...
In burying the hatchet, with his one time foe, Anwar Ibrahim, Malaysian PM Mahathir Mohammad exhibited immense pragmatism. An arrangement has been worked out,...
If power in sport now lives in city halls, boardrooms, and algorithms—not stadiums—how will the U.S. wield cities, capital, and code as it hosts the world’s biggest events over the next decade?
Four years on, Ukraine’s war drags across 1,200 km, cities in ruins and millions displaced. Russia entrenched, Kyiv defiant, the West divided—how long can a war of attrition outlast political will before exhaustion decides the peace?
After joining ASEAN in 2025, Timor-Leste is leveraging sustainable, high-value tourism to boost soft power, diversify beyond oil, and cement its regional role—positioning itself as Southeast Asia’s next authentic frontier, not its next mass market.
How close is Cuba to collapse? Energy strangulation, fading allies, and Trump’s oil squeeze after Venezuela’s shift have left Havana isolated and rationing. For the first time in decades, the regime’s survival feels uncertain.
Madrid 2026 wasn’t diplomacy—it was redesign. Washington moves past Algeria’s veto politics, backs Morocco’s autonomy plan, and seeds a Tunis-Rabat axis built on energy sovereignty, phosphates, and geo-economic integration. The Maghreb’s balance is shifting.
