menu_open Columnists

The Diplomat

We use cookies to provide some features and experiences in QOSHE

More information  .  Close

UNCCD Executive Secretary Yasmine Fouad on Mongolia, Desertification, and COP17

COP17, which will be hosted by Mongolia in August, “comes at a pivotal moment for global action on land.”

yesterday 0

The Diplomat

Bolor Lkhaajav

China’s Live-Fire Drill Near Okinotorishima Tests Japan’s Maritime Nerves

The exercise highlights growing China-Russia naval interoperability while exposing competing interpretations of maritime law.

yesterday 1

The Diplomat

Takahashi Kosuke

Does Myanmar Still Have One Government to Recognize?

Much of the world still views Myanmar through a narrow diplomatic lens that cannot encompass the full political complexity of its conflict.

yesterday 0

The Diplomat

Teh Lip Li

China’s New AI Club: The World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization

Global tech governance is taking an institutional turn as a bloc-based system continues to solidify.

yesterday 2

The Diplomat

Gerald Mako

Japan’s New Flag Law Tests Free Expression

The law forbids publicly damaging, removing, or defacing a Japanese flag in a manner likely to cause others “extreme discomfort or disgust.”

yesterday 2

The Diplomat

Peter Chai

Truth as Resistance: Journalism’s Role in Defending Indigenous Asia

Journalism can help ensure that climate governance is guided by transparency, accountability, and justice.

yesterday 0

The Diplomat

James Gomez

Philippine Marine Injured in Clash With China Coast Guard at Disputed South China Sea Shoal

The two sides traded accusations over the confrontation at Second Thomas Shoal, a long-standing focus of maritime tensions between Manila and Beijing.

yesterday 7

The Diplomat

Sebastian Strangio

ASEAN Foreign Ministers Convene Meeting Under the Shadow of Iran War, Regional Crises

The bloc's foreign ministers are set to call for "the restoration of the safe, unimpeded, and continuous transit passage of vessels and aircraft in...

yesterday 9

The Diplomat

Sebastian Strangio

China’s Arctic Comeback

Many of China’s initial, ambitious Arctic objectives collided with political and logistical realities. Now Beijing is testing out an “Arctic...

yesterday 1

The Diplomat

Marc Lanteigne

How China Is Aiding Kazakh Efforts to Become Hyper Modern

As Kazakhstan pushes forward to become a leading tech hub in the region, China continues to prove itself a crucial partner.

yesterday 0

The Diplomat

Albert Otkjær

‘There Is Zero Accountability’: India’s ‘Cockroaches’ Question Modi and a Broken System

The Cockroach Janata Party is leading a youth-heavy protest movement that embodies the public anger with the BJP.

yesterday 1

The Diplomat

Tarushi Aswani

Ongoing Belt and Road Initiative Poses Strategic Risks in the Western Balkans

Infrastructure development, with a catch.

previous day 1

The Diplomat

Veronica Philbert

The Romanovs and ‘Invictus’ in the Impeachment Trial of Philippine Vice President

Sara Duterte claimed that she is "bloodied but unbowed" in the face of persecution by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his administration.

previous day 1

The Diplomat

Mong Palatino

Is Thailand’s PM More Concerned About Sound Cannabis Policy or Political Optics?

Amid a rise in smuggling, Anutin Charnvirakul has recently come out against the policy he once championed: the decriminalization of marijuana.

previous day 3

The Diplomat

Mark S. Cogan

Why Europe’s China Anxiety Is About More Than China

Brussels no longer sees China only as an economic actor. It sees China as a challenge to the organization of global order itself.

previous day 1

The Diplomat

Dingding Chen

Australia Updates Travel Warning For Laos After Announcement of Methanol Poisoning Charges

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said that she was “deeply frustrated and bitterly disappointed" at the leniency of the charges announced on Friday.

previous day 3

The Diplomat

Sebastian Strangio

5 Myths About the Five Eyes

There are persistent misunderstandings about what the intelligence partnership is, and what it actually does.

previous day 2

The Diplomat

Srdjan Vucetic And Hager Ben Jaffel

Philippines’ Lazaro Dismisses Criticisms Over ASEAN’s ‘Informal Meeting’ With Myanmar FM

Last week, the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar said that agreeing to the meeting was a sign of the ASEAN special envoy's "timidity and poor...

previous day 3

The Diplomat

Sebastian Strangio

Australia’s Tuvalu Migration Deal Tests the Limits of Climate Mobility

The Falepili Union offers Tuvaluans “mobility with dignity.” But unless Australia also protects Tuvalu’s workforce, the landmark agreement could...

previous day 3

The Diplomat

Olya K-Mehri

With New AI Governance Organization, China Seeks to Formalize Its Global AI Influence

The World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization may prove to be China's most ambitious effort yet to shape the future deployment and...

previous day 1

The Diplomat

Michael Caster

China, the US, and Nuclear Energy Geopolitics in Southeast Asia

Nuclear reactor exports are becoming an increasingly important arena of strategic competition.

17.07.2026 3

The Diplomat

Yu-Hsuan Yeh

EU-Japan-South Korea Cooperation Is Indispensable Now

The trilateral is more feasible – and more important – than ever before.

17.07.2026 4

The Diplomat

Gi-Wook Shin

Progress on the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan Railway, Some Challenges Remain

Under discussion for 20 years, the CKU Railway is finally under construction with some hurdles surpassed and other challenges ahead.

17.07.2026 3

The Diplomat

Jildiz Nicharapova

China, North Korea Exchange High-Level Visits

The visits extend a string of high-level exchanges as Beijing works to keep pace with Pyongyang’s deepening ties with Moscow.

17.07.2026 3

The Diplomat

Mitch Shin

What India’s Operationalization of Integrated Battle Groups Means for Pakistan

Since the inception of the IBGs, they have been framed as formations to launch offensive operations against Pakistan under the nuclear overhang. Now...

17.07.2026 6

The Diplomat

Abdul Moiz Khan And Usman Haider

Papua New Guinea Just Closed Taiwan’s Economic Office

Taiwan’s diplomatic space is shrinking along a vital Pacific energy route.

17.07.2026 3

The Diplomat

Domingo I-Kwei Yang

Pakistan Adopts Wait-and-Watch Approach as US and Iran Return to Hostilities

Pakistan continues to view the Islamabad MoU that it facilitated as the most viable framework for de-escalation.

17.07.2026 5

The Diplomat

Umair Jamal

Is Taiwan Pinning Its Strategy on an Outdated Vision of America?

Amid generational shifts and Trump-era transactionalism in the U.S., Taiwan should take a page from Singapore’s book.

17.07.2026 3

The Diplomat

Ivan I-Wei Huang

Europe Still Has Leverage Over China

Brussels should use the leverage before it slips away.

17.07.2026 3

The Diplomat

Tim Rühlig

The EU’s Contradictory Narratives on China

Both sides are trying to sustain trade talks and practical cooperation, but the EU’s new security definition of China may complicate this progress.

17.07.2026 3

The Diplomat

Linsheng Hong

A Conversation With Mahabat Sadyrbek About the Kyrgyz Language

“When a language becomes accessible, it becomes visible. And when it becomes visible, it becomes part of international scholarship and global...

17.07.2026 4

The Diplomat

Catherine Putz

More Than 500 Feared Dead After Reported Shipwrecks Off Myanmar’s Coast, UN Says

The reports come on top of the 300 people already reported missing or drowned in the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal in 2026.

17.07.2026 10

The Diplomat

Sebastian Strangio

The State of Cambodia’s Online Scamming Industry

A conversation with journalist and advocate Nathan Paul Southern.

17.07.2026 10

The Diplomat

Luke Hunt

Philippines Issues Formal Protest to China Over ‘Dehumanizing’ State Media Video

The Department of Foreign Affairs demanded the "immediate takedown” of the AI-generated video, in which the Philippines was depicted as a monkey.

17.07.2026 10

The Diplomat

Sebastian Strangio

New Zealand’s Trade Agreement With India Reflects a Foreign Policy Shift

The nation is looking to expand and balance its economic and security relationships – and India is at the top of the list.

16.07.2026 5

The Diplomat

Guy C. Charlton And Xiang Gao

What the West Bengal Egg Row Says About Indian Society

The BJP government, whose support base includes traditionalist Hindus, moved to drop eggs from the midday meal program in Kolkata.

16.07.2026 3

The Diplomat

Akhilesh Pillalamarri

How Water Is Becoming Pakistan’s Nuclear Threshold

The real danger lies not in the immediate scarcity of Indus water flowing from India into Pakistan but in the widening gap between how they interpret...

16.07.2026 5

The Diplomat

Qamar Cheema And Mir Ahmad Murtiza

Playing for a Place in the World Through Taiwan’s Baseball Diplomacy

International sport offers something that conventional diplomacy often cannot: a stage on which Taiwan can appear before a global audience.

16.07.2026 5

The Diplomat

Jozef Huljak

The Gap Between Reform and Local Power in Uzbekistan

One woman’s attempt to stand for election as mahalla chairperson reveals the barriers that remain to inclusive self-government in Uzbekistan.

16.07.2026 4

The Diplomat

Sharifa Madrahimova

Why China Will Not Sell 5th-Generation J-35 Fighter Jets to Pakistan (Yet)

For China, the decision to sell the J-35 would carry ramifications far exceeding those of any previous Chinese arms sale.

16.07.2026 3

The Diplomat

Yang Xiaotong

Why Gen Z Is Back on the Streets in Bangladesh

A controversy centered on Bangladesh's Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) exam brought students back out to protest.

16.07.2026 5

The Diplomat

Md Faruk Hassain

Myanmar Military and Some Rebel Groups Ready For Talks, Thai FM Says

ASEAN special envoy Ma. Theresa Lazaro held separate talks with military-backed negotiators and six rebel groups in Pattaya earlier this week.

16.07.2026 10

The Diplomat

Sebastian Strangio

Bloomberg Ordered to Pay $357,000 in Damages After Losing Singapore Defamation Case

The High Court ruled that a 2024 article on the city-state's luxury real estate market maliciously defamed ministers Tan See Leng and K. Shanmugam.

16.07.2026 10

The Diplomat

Sebastian Strangio

How Social Media Posts Are Fueling the Dehumanization of Malaysia’s Rohingya Population

The growing negative sentiment about the community bears a disturbing resemblance to the narratives that justified their mass expulsion from Myanmar...

16.07.2026 8

The Diplomat

Alex Howlett

Pakistan’s Operation Shaban Targets Both the TTP and BLA in Balochistan

Operation Shaban is in response to a deadly terrorist attack on July 7 in the Mangi Dam area, which claimed the lives of 27 police personnel.

15.07.2026 10

The Diplomat

Umair Jamal

The Film ‘Satluj’ Revisits a Turbulent Chapter in India’s Counterinsurgency History

A biopic on human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra puts the spotlight on thousands of enforced disappearances and secret cremations carried out by...

15.07.2026 5

The Diplomat

Kavita Chowdhury

China Can’t Talk About Birth Rates Without Talking About Rural Pensions

The need to support elderly parents, particularly in rural areas, is an underappreciated factor in China's declining birth rate.

15.07.2026 5

The Diplomat

Lijing Gao

Amid the Afghanistan-Pakistan Conflict, India-Taliban Diplomatic Ties Are Strengthening

India’s diplomatic outreach to the Taliban has increased tremendously over the last year.

15.07.2026 3

The Diplomat

Muhammad Murad

South Korea’s Biggest Criminal Justice Reform

Controversy is raging over how – and how much – to shave the prosecutors’ inordinate powers.

15.07.2026 4

The Diplomat

Eunwoo Lee