Will the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) transform Southeast Asian economies in 2015?
Memo #322 By Kai Ostwald – kai.ostwald [at] ubc.ca and Krislert Samphantharak – krislert [at] ucsd.edu December 31, 2015 is the launch date of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), possibly the most ambitious undertaking to date of the ten-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Envisioned as the culmination of decades-old economic integration efforts to […]
In Myanmar, Let’s Make a Deal
Memo #320 Myanmar’s Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement has the potential to end decades of conflict, but a political solution will have to wait. By Brandon Miliate – bmiliate [at] gmail.com Today there is the real possibility that Myanmar’s sixty-year history of ethno-national insurgencies might be coming to an end. After decades of stagnation and intermittent fighting, […]
Restoring Indonesia’s Direct Regional Elections: Stability in a Divided Society
Memo #317 Indonesian President Pak Joko Widodo must fight to reinstate direct regional elections to maintain social stability. By Matthew J. Bock – m.bock [at] alumni.ubc.ca and Geoffrey Macdonald – gpmacdonald [at] gmail.com Joko Widodo, referred to as Jokowi, was inaugurated as Indonesia’s seventh president on October 20, 2014. President Jokowi represents a new era of […]
Whither Area Studies?
Memo #316 Advancing the project of Comparative Area Studies and fruitful Area Studies Comparisons: an Intervention from Europe By Jürgen Rüland – juergen.rueland [at] politik.uni-freiburg.de & Mikko Huotari – mikko.huotari [at] merics.de There is no universal ultimate golden mean between disciplinary research and area studies. Viable intermediate positions are eventually dependent on an individual researcher’s […]
After the Massacre of 2011: Challenges to Peace and Security along the Mekong River
Memo #312 By Kai Chen – chenkai [at] zju.edu.cn In the so-called “Mekong River massacre” of October 2011, 13 Chinese merchant sailors working on the Mekong were seized and murdered by members of the Hawngleuk Militia led by its Burmese leader Naw Kham. Later captured in Laos and extradited to China, Naw Kham was found […]
The Perilous Start and Uncertain Future of the Jokowi Era in Indonesia
Memo #311 Editor’s Note: On Friday, October 10, 2014, UBC’s Institute of Asian Research hosted a conference examining the theme, “The Jokowi Era: A New Age for Indonesia?” In advance of this gathering, one of its participants, Dr. Kai Ostwald, provided us his take on what the election of “Jokowi” signified for the world’s third largest democracy. By Kai Ostwald […]
The Year in Malaysian Politics: Democracy’s Crooked Trajectory
Memo #310 By Kai Ostwald – kai.ostwald [at] ubc.ca In the run-up to Malaysia’s 13th General Election in May 2013, optimists argued that the country had finally transitioned from decades of semi-authoritarian rule to a competitive de-facto two party system of democracy. The election itself exposed several flaws in the system, namely that high levels […]
Sustainable Tourism Governance in Bulacan Province: Practical Steps towards Collaboration
Memo #304 By Rosa Hsuan-Ju Shih – rosa.hj.shih [at] gmail.com With eco-tourism and cultural tourism gaining ground in Bulacan Province, Philippines, sustainable development will be a challenge so long as tourism development itself remains a fragmented process without a guiding framework. How best to define “sustainable tourism development” is one immediate challenge facing decision-makers and stakeholders […]
The Thai Political Crisis of 2014: Necessary Cultural and Historical Background
Memo #303 By Jim Placzek – james.placzek [at] ubc.ca The key to understanding the current crisis in Thailand is Thai national identity. For decades a government office has been successfully promoting symbols of this identity. The central symbol of that identity is the monarchy. The elite of Thailand, including the military, have been called “the […]
The Business of Saving the Angat
Memo #299 By Sarah Thomas – sarah.thomas [at] alumni.ubc.ca Over 99 percent of all businesses in the Philippines are small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and they represent seventy percent of the country’s labour force. With such numbers, while the environmental impact of small and medium enterprises is not well known, one can surmise that it […]