Sri Lanka's Political Implosion

Published on Aug 27, 2022 by Luke Hunt

A podcast with Ganeshan Wignaraja. Sri Lanka has been imperiled by a collapsing economy amid allegations of gross corruption by the Rajapaksa family which had ruled the island-nation for 17 years.Ganeshan Wignaraja is an internationally known development economist. He is a non-resident senior fellow at the Institute of South Asian Studies at the National University of Singapore and a senior research associate at ODI Global in London.He spoke with Luke Hunt in Colombo about the plight of his country. Listen here..

Vigilantes Saving Rainforests

Published on Jun 1, 2022 by Luke Hunt

A podcast with Karl Malakunas. Palawan island in the Philippines has emerged as a battlefield for a tiny network of environmental crusaders and vigilantes who are trying to protect its spectacular natural resources, powder-white beaches, and lush forests, which have made it one of Asia’s hot new tourist destinations.They are also the subject of a new feature-length documentary “Delikado” from director Karl Malakunas who pressed ahead with its production after one of the vigilantes was shot dead in 2011.“Delikado” follows Bobby, Tata, and Nieves as they risk their lives in trying to stop politicians and businessmen from destroying what is perhaps the Philippines’ last ecological frontier.The documentary also exposes how outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte’s notorious “war on drugs” has been....

Terrorism; Far Out

Published on May 24, 2022 by Luke Hunt

A podcast with Charlotte McDonald-Gibson. Security laws imposed around the world to curb the spread of COVID-19 enabled the authorities to crackdown on militancy, which resulted in a brief respite from they type of terrorist attacks that had become all too familiar during the first two decades of this century.But as author Charlotte McDonald-Gibson notes, the pandemic could lend itself to increased isolation and the same factors that have enabled groups like the Islamic State (IS), al-Qaida, and the now defunct Jemaah Islamiyah in Southeast Asia to find support from remote corners of the globe.In her latest book, “Far Out: Encounters with Extremists,“ the veteran foreign correspondent chronicles the lives of eight people who succumbed to the influence of hardliners,....

ASEAN's Place

Published on May 20, 2022 by Luke Hunt

A podcast with Carl Thayer. Last weekend’s U.S.-ASEAN Special Summit ended with the usual round of handshakes, backslapping and a watered-down joint statement, which again failed to name countries of concern, China and Russia.Carl Thayer, Emeritus Professor at the University of New South Wales at the Australian Defence Force Academy in Canberra, spoke with The Diplomat’s Luke Hunt about the summit and Vietnam, which is in an awkward position due to its reliance on Russian military hardware.He says efforts to maintain a “free and open Indo-Pacific” have been complicated by the Southeast Asian nations and their desire to be seen at the center of the framework, despite their growing and at times intractable differences.There are also issues with raising U.S.-ASEAN....

Troubled Waters

Published on Apr 29, 2022 by Luke Hunt

A podcast with Abby Seiff. The plight of the Mekong River and the impact of climate change, dams, and illegal fishing has raised alarms bells across Southeast Asia and beyond.But rarely reported are the lives of ordinary fishermen and their families who rely on the river and the Tonle Sap lake, which branches off the river from the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh and extends to Siem Reap in the northeast.Journalist Abby Seiff has sought to address that issue with her new book, Trpubling the Water: A Dying Lake and a Vanishing World in Cambodia.Seiff weaves stories of the past with the present issues plaguing the Mekong basin and the impoverished families who are struggling with everyday life. Many are heavily....

Workers Rights in Asia

Published on Apr 2, 2022 by Luke Hunt

A podcast with Dave Welsh. Independent trade unions in Thailand and Myanmar are currently doing it hard, with authoritarian regimes in both countries taking a dim view of labor activism and using the courts to silence complaints over plant closures and even disputes over railway safety.Charges against the State Railway Union of Thailand and13 unionists, including Sawit Kaevwan, head of the overall Thai Trade Union Movement, and court orders issued against major garment brands like Victoria’s Secret, Torrid, and Lane Bryant are among them.Dave Welsh is the country director for Thailand and Myanmar of the Solidarity Center, an international labor rights organization headquartered in Washington, D.C. with offices and programs in 60 countries. Listen here..

War & Hypersonics

Published on Apr 2, 2022 by Luke Hunt

A podcast with Carl Schuster, an adjunct faculty instructor at Hawaii Pacific University since 2000, after his retirement as a captain with the United States Navy, and he has since earned an academic reputation for his research on China, Russia, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).His specialties also includes hypersonic weapons, which Russia claims to have used in combat in Ukraine. China is also developing similar weapons.However, Schuster – Chief of Pacific Command’s Intelligence Operations and Director of Operations at the Joint Intelligence Center Pacific from 1994-1999 – remains skeptical about Moscow’s claims and its production capabilities.He spoke with Luke Hunt about Russia’s relationship with China and the impact that is having on broader ties with the Association....

Mekong Drought

Published on Feb 12, 2022 by Luke Hunt

A podcast with Brian Eyler. The lower Mekong River is entering its fourth year of drought with poor rainfall, climate change, and hydropower dams producing the worst conditions along Southeast Asia’s largest waterway in more than 60 years, threatening the livelihoods of up to 70 million people.The lower Mekong River is entering its fourth year of drought with poor rainfall, climate change, and hydropower dams producing the worst conditions along Southeast Asia’s largest waterway in more than 60 years, threatening the livelihoods of up to 70 million people.As a result, the Mekong River Commission (MRC) is urging the six Mekong countries to urgently address “regional low flows, water fluctuations, and drought.”In its latest report, “Mekong Low Flow and Drought Conditions....

Reds & Whites in Asia

Published on Jan 15, 2022 by Luke Hunt

A podcast with Darren Gall who left Australia more than two decades ago and has since established himself as a wine producer, taster, importer, and writer and played an integral part in promoting an industry which is now worth billions of dollars a year.That includes his stake in vineyards and wine-making facilities in Myanmar where businesses have been punished by the pandemic and last year’s military coup that ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.In 2005 Gall oversaw the selection and importation of 15,000 vine and 2,500 Olive tree rootlings from Australia into Thailand for the further development of the Chateau des Brumes winery in Wang Nam Keow, in the Mekong Plateau highlands of eastern Thailand.He says the....

Surviving Saigon in 1945

Published on Jan 1, 2022 by Luke Hunt

A podcast with Thierry de Roland Peel, who will shortly release his first book “Ashes from Annam,” which tells the story of how his mother and her family survived the incredible upheavals in Saigon at the end of World War II when the occupying Japanese realized they had lost.Central to the story is the family dog, Mephisto, a lively Groenendael, who delivered secret messages to the outside world as the frontlines surrounding their home changed constantly with the Japanese, French, British, and Vietnamese communists vying for control and influence.De Roland Peel also serves-up a delightful history lesson about a time and place that deserves greater attention, in particular how Japan kickstarted the first Indochina war, drawing the United States into....