Southeast Asia’s Arms Market: Growing ‘Commoditisation’?
Synopsis
If arms sales are increasingly a commodity business, governed mainly by price, it could increase regional militaries’ access to advanced military equipment and technologies. Still, other factors affect any true “commoditisation” of the regional arms market.
Lee Kuan Yew: The Sage and Giant from Southeast Asia
Synopsis
The late former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew may not have started warmly with Indonesia and ASEAN, but he eventually became a staunch supporter of Singapore’s large neighbour based on the trust developed with Suharto, which anchored the growth of ASEAN. How will the successor generation pursue his legacy?
Syphoning Confidence: Piracy and Fuel Theft in Southeast Asia
Synopsis
A spate of fuel-syphoning attacks on small tankers in the Straits of Malacca and South China Sea is helping to perpetuate a misleading narrative of resurgent piracy in Southeast Asia. However, they reveal transnational dimensions to maritime crime that require a concerted stakeholder response.