“Connectivity is the pathway to shared prosperity.” These words were stated by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the 13th ASEAN-India Summit held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 2015. As ASEAN strives to achieve its goal of establishing a single market and become a fully integrated ASEAN Community, it is clear that connectivity is a crucial factor as demonstrated by the adoption of the revised ...

The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) has pointed out that gender inequalities constrain the control of women and girls over important decisions that affect their lives and restrain their access to vital resources. Existing cultural beliefs and traditional gender norms limit the capacity and authority of women to decide on their own and contribute to society. Women could ...

ASEAN has come a long way since the five foreign ministers from Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand came together in Bangkok in August 1967 to establish an organization that would promote economic and social cooperation. Since then, ASEAN has evolved from a loose and informal association into a Community of ten states encompassing political-security, economic, and socio-cultural ...

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte surprised some observers when he announced during a state visit to China in October 2016 that he has “separated” from the US to be “dependent” on China “for a long time.” Considering the rather bellicose tone of the previous administration toward China, why is Philippines suddenly making a foreign policy shift or “pivot” to China?

United States President Barack Obama sought to re-invigorate the US’ primacy in the Asia Pacific with a speech to the Australian Parliament in November 17, 2011, announcing a new foreign policy towards the region. Dubbed the “rebalancing strategy,” this plan sought to expand American presence within the Asia-Pacific by forging closer military, trade, and people-to-people ties with various states ...

Philippines-China relations have gone through dramatic changes in recent months. Following the Duterte Administration’s pronouncements signaling a change in the approach towards China, an impact on the bilateral relations was immediately felt –13 bilateral cooperation agreements were signed and USD 24 billion worth of Chinese funding and investment was pledged. Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu ...

So why should Filipinos care about the French Presidential Election? The outcome of this election will not only determine who will be the next president of France, it could also decide the fate of the EU, and by extension, the global economy at large.

The Philippines takes over the chairmanship of ASEAN in 2017 coinciding with the organization’s historic 50th anniversary. The Philippines only had the opportunity to chair ASEAN four times in five decades. This is understandable in an organization which started only to hold annual summits after almost three decades of existence.

Since the change of administration in the United States, there has been declining enthusiasm to move forward the Joint Cooperation Plan of Action (JCPOA) or the Iran nuclear deal. US President Donald Trump’s vocal, antagonistic stance on Iran sparked an exchange of rhetoric and provocative actions and reactions between the US and Iran, with Trump going as far as calling the agreement “the worst deal ...

The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) won the elections in July in convincing fashion, effectively ensuring policies and initiatives es-poused by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will meet little to no resistance in the Diet. LDP managed to capture majority of the seats in both the House of Representatives and House of Councillors, an unprecedented achievement in Japanese electoral politics. With the Diet ...