One afternoon in May, an oil tanker called the Pablo made its way through the South China Sea. Owned by an obscure company in the Marshall Islands, it was 26 years old, ancient by industry standards, and according to global databases, it carried no insurance telltale signs that it was part of what’s become known as
The Biden administration has decided to remain publicly quiet on India’s democratic backsliding, according to senior US officials, as the US intensifies efforts to keep New Delhi on its side in the rivalry with China. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pressure on religious minorities and the media is troubling, as…
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Indonesian President Joko Widodo visited Kyiv and Moscow last week, offering to be a diplomatic bridge between the two. As the first Asian leader to make the trip to both capitals since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, he made a few headlines, but no real progress.
Critics saw the journey as image politics and yet, Widodo is not wrong to see a role for states outside the wealthy world in helping to resolve a crisis that has punished emerging markets, particularly those that are importers of food, fertilizer and fuel, like Indonesia. Southeast Asia’s most populous country is well placed