Vietnam's Officials Face Confidence Vote

Published on Nov 24, 2012 by Luke Hunt

Under a new law just passed in Vietnam, communist officials in government – including the prime minister – will face an annual vote of confidence by the country’s 500-strong National Assembly that could help shore up confidence in the government and bureaucracy.The move is a welcomed one, given Vietnam’s latest tussle with corruption which has hampered its economy and raised doubts about the tenure of Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung due, at least in part, to his close associations with dubious business leaders in companies like ship builder Vinashin.Read more in The Diplomat..

An American Pivot in Asia

Published on Nov 16, 2012 by Luke Hunt

Last week, Barack Obama was re-elected to serve a second term as president of the United States. President Obama’s first trip abroad since his re-election will be to Southeast Asia from November 17-20 to attend the East Asia Summit (EAS), the regional grouping of 18 Asian-Pacific nations, including the United States, held in Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh. Mr. Obama’s visit will make history as the first time a U.S. president has ever visited the country.Underscoring the president’s attendance at the EAS will be his visits to Thailand and Burma (also known as Myanmar). President Obama’s trip to Thailand will commemorate 180 years of uninterrupted diplomatic ties, making it the oldest bilateral relationship the U.S. has with any Asian nation. Conversely,....

Time to Cool Burma's Rapprochement

Published on Nov 4, 2012 by Luke Hunt

Since Burma first initiated its political and economic reforms, businesses with an eye to profits and governments with a regional political strategy in mind have been gushing in their praise of Burma’s President Thein Sein.Problems elsewhere in the country were ignored and the President’s word that his government was doing its best was enough to placate critics of his country’s never ending internal conflicts.But the ongoing violence in Rakhine state pitting Buddhists against Muslims and Thein Sein’s rejection of outside mediation from the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and other interested groups is getting beyond the pale.Read more in The Diplomat..

Model's Death Haunts Malaysia

Published on Oct 28, 2012 by Luke Hunt

The prospects were tantalizing. The Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand (FCCT) knew this and advertised accordingly: “New revelations in the Altantuya murder case — Press conference by Musa Hassan, former national police chief of Malaysia.”The press conference was originally scheduled for Monday but then scrapped all together as Musa gave a brief interview with a Malaysian publication saying he knew nothing about his scheduled press conference, adding he was in Kuala Lumpur and not Bangkok.He also said he had no intention of talking to reporters about the infamous murder of the Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu who had also worked as a translator, adding he was puzzled about the speculation about his activities.Read more in The Diplomat..

Russia's Checkbook Diplomacy

Published on Sep 17, 2012 by Luke Hunt

Moscow is turning to financially vulnerable South Pacific nations to promote its foreign policy agenda thousands of miles away. Since returning to power as Russia’s president three months ago, Vladimir Putin has lived up to his well-honed reputation as the hard, no-nonsense man of East European politics by bullying his way into the internal affairs of neighbors with fearless abandon.He has served notice that Moscow will challenge the West’s naval dominance of the world’s oceans, moving to shore-up his country’s defenses from the Arctic Circleand its Western flank to its troubled southern borders,breakaway republics and even the South Pacific.Read more in The Diplomat..