The opening session of the Shangri-La Dialogue on May 29, 2026, captured the central tension in Vietnam’s diplomacy. Tô Lâm, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam and State President, spoke of a rules-based order, strategic trust, preventive diplomacy,
India’s growing engagement with the Mediterranean reflects a broader adjustment in New Delhi’s external strategy. As India seeks more resilient trade routes, a stronger role in Eurasian connectivity and wider markets for its defence industry, the Eastern Mediterranean has become
The Myth of the Multipolar Buffer in a Bipolar RealityFor a diverse, geographically dispersed array of middle powers spanning from the institutional, regulatory corridors of Brussels to the dynamic, diplomatic hubs of Jakarta and Singapore, the absolute defining strategic puzzle
President Lee Jae-myung’s April 2026 state visit to Vietnam was framed by a rare symmetry of diplomatic timing. General Secretary To Lam had been the first state guest received by the Lee administration in Seoul; Lee, in turn, became the
From the fifteenth century onward, European maritime expansion fundamentally transformed Southeast Asia into a crucial node of global trade linking the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea. This transformation was not merely geographical but also structural, as regional economies
Expanding Legal Relations in a Changing International Order Over the past several decades, the relationship between the Republic of Korea and the Kingdom of Thailand has undergone a profound transformation. What began as a relatively limited bilateral interaction rooted in
The future of South Korea–India relations will depend less on diplomatic rhetoric than on the political economy of investment. For more than a decade, Seoul has regarded the revision of the Korea–India Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) as the principal
The Rise of Cultural Content as StrategyThe global cultural content industry has undergone a profound transformation over the past few decades, evolving into one of the most dynamic and strategically significant sectors of the modern economy. No longer confined to
At the heart of Nepal’s transformation from a monarchy to a federal republic lies the Nepalese Civil War. The underlying causes of this conflict were a divide between the political elites and the general population, who felt increasingly excluded from
Few would have imagined a decade ago that India and Armenia would one day stand as visible strategic partners. For years, their ties were cordial but peripheral, overshadowed by larger powers and deeper alliances. Armenia, scarred by its vulnerability in