APEC’s Gyeongju Moment: Turning Promises into Progress

[Bahauddin Foizee] 2025 APEC Summit framed its agenda around three priorities—namely, Connect, Innovate, Prosper—a structure that mirrors the region’s core dilemmas.

What APEC 2025 Reveals About Global Trade

[Zephyr Quinn] As global institutions falter and domestic populism surges, even the act of agreeing on principles—no matter how bland—becomes an act of defiance against fragmentation.

U.S.-Vietnam Recent Deal Built on Compulsion

[Zephyr Quinn] Vietnam has asked the U.S. to recognize it as a market economy and to lift restrictions on high-tech exports, longstanding requests Washington continues to ignore.

Trump’s Tariff Gamble is Backfiring

[Zephyr Quinn] Trump’s trade war is not making America great again. It’s making the U.S. more isolated, more expensive and more vulnerable.

As Russia Escalates Strikes on Ukraine, U.S. Silence Undermines Ceasefire Hopes

[Nicholas Lovric] When Trump refuses to name the aggressor, delays sanctions or downplays the stakes, he does more than fail diplomatically; he feeds the very aggression he claims he wants to end.

Rethinking Responsibility in Russia-Ukraine War

[David Jonathan Miller] In pointing fingers at not just Russia but also Ukraine and the U.S., Trump is not absolving anyone but he is challenging a narrative that often oversimplifies the complexities of modern warfare.

Tariffs, Turmoil and a Brewing Economic Crisis

[Zephyr Quinn] This is no repeat of 2008 or 2020. In those moments, the world acted as one. Today, it fragments. In those crises, the U.S. extended its hand. Now, it points fingers.

Trump’s Bold Move to Secure U.S. Leadership in Artificial Intelligence

[David Jonathan Miller] By ensuring Artificial Intelligence systems align with national interests, the administration is not only protecting American businesses and industries but also reinforcing the country’s capacity to lead in defense and cybersecurity.

Is Trump’s Executive Order on Artificial Intelligence an Unchecked Ambition?

[Zephyr Quinn] If the U.S. is to maintain its leadership in Artificial Intelligence, it must find a way to balance its competitive ambitions with the ethical, legal and social challenges that come with these technologies.

U.S. Presidential Election: Biden Ahead

[John Bruton] Joe Biden is doing better among women and the young than Hillary Clinton did, but losing ground among Catholic voters. It appears that policies matter more than the candidates' own identity.

The Coming Peace in Afghanistan

[Yead Mirza]
USA's growing desperation to end the Afghan war – driven by the understanding of 'costs versus benefits' of the longdrawn conflict – would bring about a positive result for achieving peace in not-so-distant future.

Trump Administration’s Mideast Policy

[John Bruton]
Trump Administration's Middle East policy is increasing the risk of unintended conflict between the US forces and Iranian forces & loyal militias. The policy is also making a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict impossible and a one-state solution more inevitable.