Opinion

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol meets with Korean residents in Zurich, Switzerland on Jan. 17, 2023. Credit: KOCIS/ Kang Min Seok President Yoon Suk-yeol, while campaigning for the presidency in 2021, appeared on televised debates with the Chinese character for “king” written on his palm. Yet as his very first …

Credit: Depositphotos The threat and use of tariffs by the United States as a tool to achieve a broad range of goals, both related to trade and not, will garner various responses from targeted countries. Both Trump administrations, as well as the Biden administration, issued tariffs and other trade barriers …

Credit: Depositphotos On March 4, the United Nations General Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution establishing a U.N. Regional Center for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for Central Asia and Afghanistan in Almaty, Kazakhstan. This initiative, first proposed by Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev at the 74th session of the U.N. General Assembly …

Credit: Depositphotos Uyghur separatist groups have consistently supported the Taliban in their two-decade-long fight for control of Afghanistan, but increased Chinese presence in the country is altering the status quo with significant risk for Beijing The Taliban have long provided members of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), also known …

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivers keynote remarks at the 63rd Annual U.S. Senate Youth Program Luncheon at the Department of State in Washington, D.C., March 4, 2025. Credit: Official State Department photo by Freddie Everett On February 27, authorities in Thailand forcibly returned 40 Uyghurs to China. The …

Children play in a pile of scrap plastic in a village in East Java, Indonesia, while their mother nearby spends the day picking through it for tiny pieces of cardboard to sell back to the paper mill. Credit: Michael Neilson Indonesia, a major recipient of the world’s plastic scrap exports, …

https://manage.thediplomat.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/thediplomat_2025-03-03-081341.mp3 Credit: Luke Hunt Paul Greening works as a political analyst and a specialist consultant covering the conflict in Myanmar from his base in Mae Sot on the Thai border and is a regular guest with Beyond the Mekong, sharing his insights into the troubled country. He spoke with The …

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi walks past SAARC member state flags during the last SAARC leaders’ summit, Nov. 27, 2014. Credit: Indian Ministry of External Affairs In the aftermath of Bangladesh’s political upheaval, Nobel laureate economist Dr. Muhammad Yunus, now the chief adviser to the interim government, has publicly expressed …

Credit: Facebook / Narendra Modi There has been a flurry of recent diplomatic activity between India and the West. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in France and the United States earlier this month; this week India and the U.K. resumed free trade negotiations; and Donald Trump is scheduled to …

Credit: Depositphotos In early February, Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade released its new International Gender Equality Strategy. The strategy is designed to target Australia’s development assistance toward improving the conditions for women and girls – with an understanding that societies faring better in the treatment of women tend …