In a multipolar world, "the support of the global majority will be necessary for the success of most rules and institutions," write @gregpoling.bsky.social and Andreyka Natalegawa. Their new analysis uses data to unpack alignment with U.S. and Chinese leadership. www.csis.org/analysis/glo... 

RM @meeks.house.gov: Ending TPS for Burma, in the middle of the conflict there, endangers the lives of many Burmese, including human rights and democracy activists. It's cruel and will undermine the fight for democracy in Burma. The admin must reconsider this terrible decision.

I'm confident not a single Burma watcher in the US govt would assess that Myanmar "has made notable progress in governance and stability." Yet DHS is claiming as much in order to deport thousands to an active war zone.

After 14 years, I think the time has come to acknowledge that the "Rebalance to Asia" has failed. I've spent the last decade writing and thinking about how to make the rebalance successful, so this is a painful realization. A thread on my new piece for RSIS...

In case you missed it last week: We gathered a few friends and colleagues to write about the extraordinary life of Jerome A. Cohen (1930-2025), renowned lawyer and scholar of Chinese law.

"If there is any hope that the current civil war will lead to the reestablishment of a unified Myanmar, creative solutions will have to be found to resolve the conflicting claims in Shan State," writes CSIS's Michael Martin. Read the full commentary: www.csis.org/analysis/dil...

Horrific reporting from the AP on the Myanmar families watching their kids starve to death from Trump and Musk’s aid cuts apnews.com/article/myan...

"A clear pattern is emerging in Southeast Asian responses to U.S. economic pressure, with most states seeking to mitigate both the short- and long-term risks of partnering with the United States," notes @gregpoling.bsky.social. Read more from @seasia.csis.org: www.csis.org/analysis/sou...

What a graph

Remember, social media posts aren’t trade agreements. Thank you for your attention to this matter!

worth pointing out, again, that a 20% tariff on Vietnamese imports alone (our sixth-largest trading partner!) would have been considered the worst trade war in modern American history pre-Trump. Instead it is now treated as a "deal". How far we've fallen.

"Increased patrolling east of the shoal (..) suggests that China is using the nine-dash line rather than the territorial sea or another maritime zone from Scarborough as its imagined jurisdictional boundary” www.stripes.com/theaters/asi...

Tune in at 10am ET for the 15th(!!) @csis.org South China Sea Conference www.csis.org/events/fifte...

Logo is back up at the US Institute of Peace where it belongs — small but important court victory against DOGE’s illegal actions.

Closer examination of those visits suggests that China maintains exclusive access to some facilities, including the base’s largest pier. And recent photos of progress at a nearby air defense site only raise more questions about the true extent of Beijing’s military presence in the area.

RFA services going dark as USAGM ignores a court order to disburse its Congressionally appropriated funding. www.rfa.org/english/abou...

The Archive is troubled to learn that President Trump yesterday fired all nine members of the State Department's Advisory Committee on Historical Diplomatic Documentation, a statutory body that has operated without presidential interference for over 20 years. history.state.gov/about/hac/in...

1. We contacted the 100 largest American companies and asked a simple question: Do you support the tariffs announced by President Trump on April 2? These are tariffs that have already destroyed trillions of shareholder value NOT ONE COMPANY WOULD ANSWER THE QUESTION

Thailand, India legitimize Min Aung Hlaing with these engagements at BIMSTEC. His junta controls a third of Myanmar; this isn't pragmatic engagement, it's picking the losing side in a civil war.

Decades of national security expertise wiped away in Washington yesterday at the urging of a far-right conspiracist who was once banned from Uber for anti-Muslim rants and claimed 9/11 was an 'inside job.' wapo.st/3R3zRAu

Pretty sure @wilsoncenter.org is mostly privately funded. This is absurd.

Welcome to CSIS, @kristigovella.bsky.social! Read our full announcement about Dr. Govella’s appointment as CSIS Senior Adviser and Japan Chair below👇

We're seeing in real time the terrible consequences of Musk & Trump's dismantling of USAID. A devastating earthquake has killed thousands — and many more will die without vital U.S. aid. The AID officials in charge had just gotten their termination letters. America in retreat.

Here's how it works: 1. DOGE fires everybody at USIP. 2. A DOGE guy from GSA gets installed USIP's acting president. 3. That guy agrees to transfer USIP's $500 million headquarters back to GSA—for free. www.wired.com/story/doge-t...

"Vietnam has considerably expanded its Spratly Island outposts over the last ten months, completing a record year of island building in 2024 and moving on to dredge in new areas." Read more from the CSIS Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative:

Vietnam has now dredged 3,319 acres of coral reef and created 2,236 acres of new land in the Spratlys. Since 2021 it has built 8 new harbors and an 8,000-ft airstrip. Latest from AMTI: amti.csis.org/scaling-up-v...

What a tragedy. If this and the dismantling of other elements of US soft power like VOA, USIP, and USAID stand, the US will have done more damage to its influence in SEA in the last 6 months than China has in 6 years.

Consensus from the first panel of the day on the self-harm US is committing by dismantling USAID, VOA and RFA. Kudos Prashanth Parameswaran, Lynn Kuok, and Graeme Smith

I'll be testifying before the US-China Commission in 10 minutes on China's influence in SEA and the Pacific alongside Cleo Paskal and Jason Tower. Watch live or check it out later at www.uscc.gov/hearings/cro...

After breaking into the US Institute of Peace (USIP) Monday, DOGE members immediately got to work taking down signs to erase the independent agency. Photos taken yesterday shared directly with me:

"The Trump administration’s recent attack on Columbia University...[presents] the greatest threat to American universities since the Red Scare of the 1950s. Every American should be concerned." Bravo Princeton.

USIP has officially sued DOGE and other US government officials. They accuse DOGE folks of "plundering" the privately-owned office so officials could try to get access to USIP digital systems. A reminder that USIP is NOT a federal agency. www.npr.org/2025/03/18/g...

Judge finds Musk-led dismantling of USAID was likely unconstitutional www.nbcnews.com/politics/dog...

A "hostile takeover" at the U.S. Institute of Peace, founded by Congress, by DOGE folks. The think tank's president tells @npr.org www.npr.org/2025/03/18/n...

The Act of Congress establishing the Wilson Center doesn’t have a provision saying the president can abolish it by EO: www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/...

The admin is killing RFA. This will certainly make the regimes in China and Cambodia happy. www.rfa.org/english/abou...

I just told a colleague that I thought Bangkok had underestimated how much damage the forced return of Uyghurs to China last month would do to its relationship with the Trump admin. But I didn't expect this. www.state.gov/announcement...

Forget about Greenland, Canada, and the Panama Canal Zone. How about we correct the mistakes of the Insular Cases by addressing the unconstitutional status of the five inhabited territories the United States already has? www.benarnews.org/english/news...

In 2024, (..) China's attempts to control the area have not deterred .. the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia from developing oil and gas projects, fortifying defences and consolidating international support, representing a strategic setback for Beijing. eastasiaforum.org/2025/03/12/b...

It’s not just the District that Congress will be hurting if they pass this CR & DC budget cut. It’s the entire DMV region, it’s every worker who make transit run, it’s every visitor from around America coming to visit DC and can’t get around. $200M cut to Metro: www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/t...

The US government has stranded thousands of Americans in foreign counties. These people were doing their jobs. They are now in financial crisis. The Fulbright program is congressionally mandated. This is not America. apnews.com/article/fulb...

Some quick thoughts on how geopolitics can impede (or aid!) efforts at international justice, and what we can learn from the #Duterte case. www.csis.org/analysis/wha...

A plea from me, a long time DC resident - If you live outside of DC, please call your Senators and ask them to vote NO on the pending CR which would force DC to cut up to $1B from its existing budget. Not a future budget, the budget we are already half way through.

Monica Sato and I summarize the SCS in 2024: "Southeast Asian claimants made modest gains while Beijing failed in both its tactical and strategic aims." Story has been much the same for 3 years. eastasiaforum.org/2025/03/12/b...

Very important -- and chilling -- White House statement

Former Philippine President Duterte's delivery to The Hague today is historic. But as my colleague @jquitzon.bsky.social writes, "it is unclear whether [it] marks the end of his family’s time at the top of Philippine politics or the start of their resurgence." www.csis.org/analysis/rod...

Slovenia becomes the 28th country to explicitly call on China to comply with the South China Sea arbitral award: www.inquirer.net/431925/slove...

"Mr. Putin is an evil dictator. Any discussions with Russia should begin from that premise," writes CSIS Defense and Security Department expert Seth Jones. Read more on Russia's malicious activities in @wsj.com ⤵️

On today's SEA Radio podcast, Elina Noor and I chat with @khangxvu.bsky.social about Vietnam's massive govt restructuring plans and "Era of National Rise" www.csis.org/podcasts/sou...