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.
The international community has all but abandoned support for Cambodia’s national elections, scheduled for July 29. A string of events have outraged Western governments...
The world witnessed a historic moment of peace and reconciliation between two Koreas on April 27, 2018. The Korean Peninsula turned upside down after...
When the American strategic ‘pivot’ to Asia collapsed, China took the mantle of hegemonic leadership in Southeast Asia. The question of how to respond...
As China continues to expand its military presence in disputed areas of the South China Sea, Vietnam has sought to balance Beijing’s activities through...
China has profoundly influenced the geostrategic environment in Asia and the Pacific. Myanmar retains a crucial position in emerging Chinese regional order. The direction...
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.
