Southeast Asia’s Growing Importance to Global Trade
![ASEAN and Australian leaders at a summit in Melbourne, Australia, March 4, 2024. Photo credit: George Chan / SOPA Images via Reuters Connect.](https://static.jstribune.com/jst-site/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/10175117/asean_n-1-1024x554.jpg)
The world is in the initial stages of an evolution in the structure of global trade. While popular narratives about the era of globalization described a wide dispersion of trade flows and supply chains to all corners of the world, the reality was different. Global trade remained very concentrated. For example, close to 40 percent […]
Southeast Asia between Major Powers: Lessons for the Middle East
![US President Joe Biden with ASEAN leaders during the 2022 ASEAN summit in Cambodia, November 2022. Photo credit: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarqu](https://static.jstribune.com/jst-site/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/02144304/asean_n-1024x554.jpg)
I once asked a Vietnamese friend what an impending leadership change in Hanoi meant for his country’s relations with China. “Every Vietnamese leader,” he replied, “must get along with China; every Vietnamese leader must stand up to China; and if you cannot do both at the same time, you don’t deserve to be the leader.” […]
The ASEAN Model: A Vision of Middle East Integration Beyond the Abraham Accords
![Asean Summit in Bangkok (top) and The Negev Summit in Sde Boker (bottom). Photos credit: Koki Kataoka / The Yomiuri Shimbun, REUTERS](https://static.jstribune.com/jst-site/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/02144549/Asean_narrow-1024x554.jpeg)
The summit of foreign ministers came together on relatively short notice. It was unstructured, informal, with little of the staff work or pre-negotiation that normally precedes such gatherings. The agenda was slim and general, and the outcome rather modest. But viewed through a historical scope, the results were transformational. I am not referring to the […]