Ear to Asia

overlapping claims and ambitions fought out not just by coast guard vessels, but in newsrooms. A single encounter with China’s Coast Guard can be cast as defence of sovereign waters or as a manufactured crisis, depending on the outlet. Even naming con

The war that erupted on February 28, 2026 between the United States, Israel, and Iran has triggered one of the most significant geopolitical and economic shocks in recent history. Yet the conflict has not gone to plan for the US-Israel side, with Iran r

Despite decades of democratic reforms following the fall of President Suharto, Indonesia’s political landscape remains shaped by a resilient class of oligarchs. From the national stage to newly decentralized regions, these powerful networks have adapt

In Afghanistan today, a generation of young people is being shaped inside classrooms that feel very different from the ones their parents knew. For girls and women, state-regulated madrasas are now the only legal path to education at all. For boys in ma

Earlier this year, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney drew international attention with a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, in which he warned that middle powers face an increasingly difficult international environment as great powers become