Haze Pollution and Peatlands: Can ASEAN Finally Breathe Easy?
Synopsis
President Jokowi’s visit to Riau Province recently and his comments on fires and smoke haze have raised hopes across the region. But the mere act of blocking canals on peatlands is, but one, of many interrelated and multifaceted issues he has to tackle.
Lessons of Two Disasters: Building Resilience from Within
Synopsis
The onslaught of super typhoon Hagupit has once again raised fears of massive destruction and high casualties in the Philippines. Being prepared helps mitigate the impact of destructive typhoons.
Online and Offline Pledges of IS: Creating a Nexus of Authority
Synopsis
Besides its para-military campaign, ‘Islamic State` (IS) is also waging a global battle for ideological hegemony over Islamic concepts of statehood and governance. An important part of this strategy is its use of offline and online pledges to create long-range command patterns and to radicalise individuals.
China’s Anti-Corruption Campaign: Understanding the Rationale
Synopsis
Since President Xi Jinping assumed the leadership of China in 2012, the most extensive anti-corruption campaign has been underway in the world’s second largest economy. What really lies behind the current campaign?
If SAARC Stumbles: Go for Sub-regional Alternatives
Synopsis
The SAARC continues to stumble along in its difficult path to forge regional integration. South Asian countries should instead go for bilateralism and sub-regionalism targeting East Asia.
Western Muslim Converts and Violent Extremism: Issues and Strategies
Synopsis
The number of Muslim converts in the West involved in violent extremism is an emerging issue. Increased community intervention and supportive counselling for converts may be helpful in countering radicalism.
Putting A Price on Carbon: From Lima to Paris 2015
Synopsis
The 20th session of the UNFCCC Conference of Parties in Lima now underway until 12 December 2014 will discuss how to put a price on carbon. The question is how can a carbon price bring us closer to our emission targets?
Securing ASEAN’s Cyber Domain: Need for Partnership in Strategic Cybersecurity
Synopsis
The ASEAN region cannot afford a security lapse as the digital domain is supposed to propel its development. ASEAN should lead in forging partnership in strategic cybersecurity.
Fixing Global Finance: Unfinished Business
The 2008 financial crisis was hugely damaging. The focus of reform has been on increasing banks’ required capital. Together with the other measures taken, this makes a repetition of 2008 less likely. However, the crisis also taught us that financial markets do not work as well as we thought. Financial innovation has made the markets more volatile, short-term focused and more pro-cyclical. Not much has been done to address this issue. This paper suggests that the government-guaranteed banking sector should be separated much more clearly from the rest of the financial sector, which should be more explicitly identified as a risky sector. This separation would change the way the financial sector is managed (with conservative management returning to the banking sector). Such beneficial changes would reduce the size of the financial sector, which currently attracts too many of our best brains.
The South China Sea Disputes: Singapore as an “Honest Broker”?
Synopsis
Singapore has talked about being an honest broker between China and Southeast Asian claimants of the South China Sea. Can and should Singapore play such a role?