ASEAN–South Korea partnership is a reminder that it’s possible to establish influence on the grounds of stability, creativity, and compassion. By Mehmet Enes Beşer In the context of Southeast Asia’s post-Cold War experience of the disorder of a multipolar world of great power competition, economic fragmentation, and fluid security alignments, ASEAN continues to seek partners that will assist it in ...
A coalition of ASEAN and SCO could be the third way: pragmatic, regional, and with deep roots in Asian realities By Mehmet Enes Beşer More than three years have now passed since the Myanmar military overthrew the government in a coup, and the country remains torn apart by violence, turmoil, and deepening humanitarian crisis. The economy has imploded, civil war ...
Posted by by United World International 8 Min Read August 21, 2025 By Mehmet Enes Beşer In the 21st century, Asia is not just on the rise—it is remaking the world order. Home to over half the world’s population, the world’s fastest-growing economies, and a rich cultural tapestry of civilizations, Asia is fast becoming the gravitational center of world politics, ...
Only Bold Leadership Can Save It By Mehmet Enes Beşer ASEAN has, now for over two decades, been a balm of East Asian diplomacy—a convenor of regional gatherings, a guarantor of neutrality, and a symbol of collective muscle for small and medium powers. Its “centrality” dogma has come to pass from rhetoric; it has been an integral part of the ...
Rekindling the Flame By Mehmet Enes Beşer The new flare-up between Thailand and Cambodia in the year 2025 regarding the border dispute is just as much about historical antagonism as about unpredictable political undertows characterizing modern Southeast Asia. The most recent incident involving the mobilization of troops and nationalist posturing all across the region of the temples of the Preah ...
On the global context of the conflict. By Orçun Göktürk, from Beijing / China In recent days, a long-standing border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia has flared up once again: the Preah Vihear Temple and its surrounding area. This temple is not only a historical and religious monument, but also a symbol of sovereignty, national pride, and a focal point ...
A call to a third way—a third path—a path of defining Asia not by proxy wars, but by agency, balance, and collaboration. By Mehmet Enes Beşer The United States dominated Southeast Asia by sheer power and imposed its will through military alliances, naval presence, and economics for decades. While Washington presents its presence as a stabilizing one for freedom of ...
Institutionalization of climate action is what’s needed. By Mehmet Enes Beşer As the planet hurtles towards ecological tipping points, the climate crisis has reached not just an environmental crisis, but a civilizational emergency. Record-breaking heatwaves, disappearing coastlines, crashing biodiversity, and the oceans devouring land with an increasingly accelerating ferocity. Somewhere, this is felt—and politically under-served—more than in Southeast Asia. The ...
For the greater part of the region, the strategic issue is whether America is trustworthy. By Mehmet Enes Beşer The return to the world scene by Donald Trump, albeit more ambitious and with greater political desperation this time, has revived debates over the American foreign policy future—particularly in Asia. His caustic diplomatic style, transactional diplomacy, and disdain for multilateral organizations ...
But It Must Change to Earn Their Confidence By Mehmet Enes Beşer ASEAN has been at the very center of Southeast Asia’s political, economic, and diplomatic order for over five decades. It has preserved peace in a region formerly shattered by strife, facilitated trade integration, and become a convenor of dialogue between great powers. But in recent years, its influence ...