Columns

Asean’s central principle is consensus and neutrality. The bloc operates through careful and quiet dilpomacy, avoiding public confrontation and maintaining a balance between major powers. – BERNAMApix

What card will Trump play at Asean summit?

WITH the clock ticking down on President Donald Trump’s expected attendance at the Asean Summit in Kuala Lumpur, opposition to the invitation has intensified on regional social media. However, none of ...

9 Hours

Trump’s UK visit: Statecraft or show?

IT is not often that we have all the camps in the British media united in celebrating the visit of a political leader from another country.

However, this happened with the right, left and centre of the ...

Flowers, photos and other items lie at a memorial for Kirk at the Turning Point USA headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona, US on Sept 12. – REUTERSPIC

Kirk’s death: Impact in US, world

THE assassination of Charlie Kirk has dominated not only the news in the US but also the news around the world.

Foreign governments and international organisations that have been focusing on President ...

While the words of European leaders may be about compassion and peace, their policies are shaped by opportunistic considerations of power, security, domestic politics and self-interest. – REUTERSPIC

Europe’s peace rhetoric a facade

PERHAPS the most cynicism-producing event of the year was the rush by seven European leaders to Washington to lend support to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for his meeting with President Donald Trump, ...

Satirical take on Rubio, Trump and Bessent on Asean

A FICTIONAL pick-up of a recent recorded exchange between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, President Donald Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

Rubio: Morning, Sir. Morning, Boss.

Trump: Yeah. ...

Apart from marginalised political and mediocre diplomatic leadership, the biggest obstacle to Rubio’s efforts to persuade Southeast Asian governments of the US’s good intentions is the widening credibility gap between its rhetoric and actions. – REUTERSpix

Rubio’s Asean mission undermined

THE public relations angle on the US Secretary of State’s website and Western media’s foreign affairs and business coverage of Marco Rubio’s recent visit to Southeast Asia was, unsurprisingly, predictable. ...

Forbes has noted that Labubu is not just a niche trend, it is at the centre of Pop Mart’s explosive growth. – BERNAMAPIC

Amplifying China’s ‘soft’ power

AS Pop Mart’s Labubu makes its remarkable journey into toy shops and collectible showcases around the world, we are seeing further evidence of the rise of China’s soft power.

The Labubu story first appeared ...

Elon Musk (left) and U.S. President Donald Trump (right).

Trump vs Musk: Domestic and geopolitical repercussions

HOLLYWOOD could not have produced a more riveting movie, playing out to audiences in the United States and around the world – accessible to anyone with a smartphone.

Just days after praising Elon Musk as ...

Conservative columnists have described the action to block Harvard University from enrolling international students as a disastrous and unnecessary politically motivated attack on higher education and a damaging blow to America’s soft power standing. – AFPpix

Trump effect on global power

TWO developments – one unfolding and the other about to take place – are emblematic of President Donald Trump’s effect on US politics and policy-making.

They also have ramifications for America’s soft ...

Asean countries are the hardest hit by Trump’s tariff war.

How will Asean respond to tariffs?

TRUE to his election promises, President Donald Trump has unleashed his tariff bazooka on the world to make America great again.

Using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a rarely used presidential ...