Fueling Transition or Feeding Controversy? By Mehmet Enes Beşer As ASEAN countries race along their pursuit of cleaner, diversified energy systems, biofuels are a politically appealing, domestically sourced answer to rampant fossil fuel prices and greenhouse gas emissions. From Indonesia’s massive palm oil plantations to Thailand’s cassava fields that churn out ethanol, the region is blessed with biomass resources theoretically ...
Global context and probability of a US invasion of Venezuela. By Sergio Rodríguez Gelfenstein I would like to offer some guidelines that will contribute to understanding Trump’s war against Venezuela and its insertion into regional and global dynamics. I believe this situation must be viewed from two dimensions: the international and the domestic for the United States. Firstly, I think ...
Interview with Turkish political scientist Umur Tugay Yücel. Much about Syria remains uncertain, and even its near future is hard to predict. In this complex and unpredictable environment, we spoke with Turkish political scientist Umur Tugay Yücel, the author of the book “Decline of US Power and Rising New Powers”. Yücel shared his views on several critical issues: The likelihood ...
How a nation treats its migrants shows how it treats its future. By Mehmet Enes Beşer Few problems were as nakedly exposed as that of how Malaysia managed labor migration, the tension between political vulnerability and economic necessity. Malaysian economic hegemony for decades driven by, foreign migrant workers in the tens of millions–no less a proportion arriving on its shores ...
Towards Strategic Partnerships By Mehmet Enes Beşer Australian regional ambition resembles the manner the nation considers Indonesia, a country that holds a key position in the regional geopolitical constructs of Southeast Asia. The relations among the two neighbor nations stretch for decades and constitute economic, security, and diplomatic relations. The more the world goes internationally, regional inclusion of Indonesia by ...
By Ali Rıza Taşdelen The previous French government failed to finalize the 2026 budget and eventually collapsed. The newly formed Lecornu administration now faces the same fundamental challenge. So far, any government formed seems incapable of producing a budget that doesn’t rely on “austerity measures” as the solution. Yet they are up against a massive public outcry. French workers and ...
Interview with Ofer Cassif, Communist Party member of Knesset. On this Monday, US President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu are expected to meet in Washington. On the agenda is a possible stop of Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip, with a 21-point-plan circulating as the path ahead. Characterizing Israel’s actions against Palestinians “a genocide”, Ofer Cassif explains why ...
A struggle is taking place around the Okinawa military base. Here’s what its opponents say. By Shigeki Okamoto (Fukuoka Action Committee against the Warring Regime) In the recent House of Councillors election, the LDP-Komeito government became a minority ruling coalition, following the House of Representatives election in October 2024. However, the constitutionalist parties such as Japan Communist Party and the ...
The future depends on commitments. By Mehmet Enes Beşer Southeast Asia stands at the intersection of two compelling forces: the world’s rapidly accelerating demand for strategic minerals and increasingly integrated regional economies through trade agreements. Bauxite and nickel, copper and rare earth elements – ASEAN’s mineral resources are more strategically valuable than ever before. As the world shifts to low-carbon ...
From Pakistan over Nepal to Indonesia… By Sergio Rodríguez Gelfenstein This year, 2025, saw the United States escalate its actions in Asia to unprecedented levels. In April, India and Pakistan continued their long history of conflict following the attack by the Resistance Front (TRF), an offshoot of the Pakistani terrorist group Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, in Kashmir, which left 26 Indian tourists and ...