RealClearWorld - Philippines

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Should We Still Fear al-Qaeda? - Peter Bergen, CNN

If history is a guide, the jihadist militants, whether in Syria or elsewhere, are likely to repeat the mistakes and failures that their fellow militants have experienced during the...

Like the Balkans, Asia Primed for War - Kevin Rudd, Foreign Policy

These are no ordinary times in East Asia. With tensions rising from conflicting territorial claims in the East China and South China seas, the region increasingly resembles a 21st-...

Philippines' Aquino Bravely Takes On China - William Pesek, Bloomberg

Say what you want about Benigno Aquino, but the Philippine president has some brass. First he arrested predecessor Gloria Arroyo on corruption charges and ousted her Supreme Court...

Japan Turns to Southeast Asia - Jonathan Manthorpe, Vancouver Sun

The Japanese are increasingly viewing Southeast Asia as an attractive site for major manufacturing facilities. Production costs are increasingly competitive with China's, where Jap...

Ten Conflicts to Watch in 2013 - Louise Arbour, Foreign Policy

Every year, around the world, old conflicts worsen, new ones emerge and, occasionally, some situations improve. There is no shortage of storm clouds looming over 2013: Once ...

Understanding the South China Sea Disputes - Indian Defence Review

The South China Sea is bounded by China in the North, the Philippines in the East, Vietnam in the West, Malaysia as also Brunei in the South East and Indonesia in the South West. T...

Philippines Running Out of Options with China - Richard Heydarian, WPR

Earlier this year, the Philippines and China teetered on the brink of direct military confrontation over the Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, precipitating a series of hig...

Why Asia's Insurgencies Are Europe's Shame - Pankaj Mishra, Bloomberg

Divide-and-rule European imperialists, favoring one ethnic group and persecuting or neglecting another, or drawing arbitrary lines in the sand or the grass, originally transformed ...

Hurricane Sandy's Lesson for Asia - Michael Richardson, Japan Times

As Hurricane Sandy, with its devastating winds, rain and ocean surges battered New York and other areas along the U.S. Atlantic recently, another fierce tropical storm was sweeping...

Two More Wars Shut Down (Probably) - Gwynne Dyer, Winnipeg Free Press

More or less at opposite ends of the world, two very long wars are coming to a negotiated end, with no victors and no vanquished. In the Philippines, President Benigno Aquino signe...

Beijing Worrying Many Neighbors - Greg Sheridan, The Australian

Something very strange is happening at the moment in the East China Sea and in the South China Sea, and Australia should be taking serious notice of these developments. In both are...

Could Asia Really Go to War Over Tiny Islands? - The Economist

THE countries of Asia do not exactly see the world in a grain of sand, but they have identified grave threats to the national interest in the tiny outcrops and shoals scattered o...

Philippines on Asia's New Frontline - Richard Heydarian, ATimes

The Philippines has emerged as a frontline state in the rivalry between the United States and China for Southeast Asian power and influence. Locked in a bitter territorial dispute ...

Island Grabbing in Asia - Michael Klare, Foreign Affairs

Last month, Japanese activists planted their country's flag on one of the Senkaku Islands (which the Chinese call the Diaoyu Islands), a chain claimed by China, Japan, and Taiwan. ...

South China Sea Needs a Mellower Soundtrack - William Pesek, Bloomberg

China may not know, or even care, that it is squandering a decade of public-relations success in Asia. The country skillfully exploited the U.S.’s distractions after the Sept. 11...

In Asia, a Wave of Escalating Territorial Disputes - Chico Harlan, WaPo

China, with its increased military spending and naval might, is often pinpointed by foreign leaders as the regional bully, pushing its boundaries and intimidating smaller neighbors...

Will U.S. Surrender the South China Sea? - Peter Brookes, Boston Herald

While Chinese athletes try to gobble up Olympic gold in London, half a world away Chinese strategists are trying to gobble up vast tracts of contested territory in the South China ...

Calming the Waters in South China Sea - Gareth Evans, Project Syndicate

The South China Sea – long regarded, together with the Taiwan Strait and the Korean Peninsula, as one of East Asia’s three major flashpoints – is making waves aga...

ASEAN Must Stand Up to China - Randy David, Philippine Daily Inquirer

We can only wish China well. An internally troubled China is as much a threat to the stability of the region as a prosperous and triumphalist China. Be that as it may, it is of t...

U.S. Must Avoid South China Sea Trap - Ted Galen Carpenter, The Skeptics

As the world’s leading maritime power, the United States is understandably concerned about the South China Sea territorial dispute—especially China’s breathtaking...

Mixing Oil & Water in South China Sea - Dan McGroarty, RealClearWorld

The South China Sea, through which one-third of all ocean-going trade vessels pass, fuses traditional concerns about "control of the sea lanes" with the quest to control the seab...

Fishing War Looms in South China Sea - Stephanie Kleine-Ahlbrandt, FP

Bad weather was good news in Scarborough Shoal, a contested chain of rocks and reefs in the South China Sea. Earlier this month, Typhoon Butchoy forced a break in the two-month sta...

The Blunt Edge of China's Peaceful Rise - Carlyle Thayer, Yale Global

China resorts to a variety of measures to pressure the Philippines: Responding to minor anti-China protests in Manila and elsewhere around the world, China issued a travel adviso...

South China Sea Is No Powder Keg - Allen Carlson & Xu Xin, The Diplomat

China isn't looking for conflict in the South China Sea. Indeed, it already seems to be moderating its language over it its spat with the Philippines....

China's Expanding 'Core' - Yuriko Koike, Project Syndicate

China is now engaged in bitter disputes with the Philippines over Scarborough Shoal and Japan over the Senkaku Islands, both located far beyond China's 200-mile-wide territorial ...

Beijing's Nine-Dashed Line in South China Sea - David Lague, Reuters

Alongside an armada of paramilitary patrol vessels and fishing boats, China has fired off a barrage of historical records to reinforce its claim over a disputed shoal near the Ph...

Nationalism Fuels Sea Crisis - Mahtani & Cuneta, Southeast Asia Real Time

Beware the fury of nationalism....

Why Asia Wants America - Sen. John McCain, The Diplomat

The United States is still the partner of choice for many Asian nations, but Washington needs to put aside its political bickering....

Is the Philippines Finally Rebounding? - Philip Bowring, Asia Sentinel

Is the Philippines destined to become an Asian economic growth leader, matching China, India and Vietnam? Is it really possible that a nation which has been a laggard for so long c...

Scarborough Just a Warm-Up for Spratlys - Mong Palatino, ASEAN Beat

French philosopher Voltaire once wrote a story about the mad behavior of men going to war over a “few lumps of earth.” In Southeast Asia, there are numerous small and...

Why Philippines Stands Up to China - James Holmes, The Diplomat

The Philippines is hopelessly mismatched against China in pure military terms. But there are historical reasons why it won't back down in the South China Sea....

Beware of Chinese Jingoism - Harry Kazianis, The Diplomat

Over the last several weeks, as Western media has followed the unfolding of events of Chen Guangcheng’s dash to the U.S. embassy in Beijing, which came on the heels of ...

Why the Fuss over the South China Sea Spat? - The Comparativist

The Chinese government can beat the war drums all they want, and as loud as they want, and no war is going to happen. It's akin to bullying someone in a wheelchair that you know ...

Defending the Philippines - Center for a New American Security

China’s increasing belligerence in the South China Sea has led the new president of the Philippines, Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, to make the most credible policy...

Is the Philippines an Orphan? - Carlyle Thayer, The Diplomat

The ongoing standoff between the Philippines and China raises troubling questions about the response to Chinese territorial assertiveness in the South China Sea....

Nine Dragons Stirring Up the Sea - Walter Russell Mead, American Interest

Much attention has been focused on China’s confrontational actions and attitudes in the South China Sea. Less attention is given to the internal political dynamics that sha...

China, Philippines Both Stumble - Wang Xiaoxia, Economic Observer

After a dozen days of standoff between Chinese and Philippine forces at Huangyan Island, the commanding general of the US Fleet Pacific Marine Force finally spoke up. “The Un...

Trouble Looms on South China Sea - Trefor Moss, The Diplomat

Many citizens of China, the Philippines and Vietnam won’t have heard of the tiny scraps of land in the South China Sea that their governments compete with one another to claim. ...

Oil, Fish Just a Pretext in South China Sea - Steve LeVine, Oil & Glory

When one hears of trouble in the South China Sea, it is almost always to do with resources -- oil, gas, rare earth elements. That and fish. Which means that harmony would break out...

Beijing's Latest South China Sea Salvo - Patrick Cronin, New York Times

The maritime drama near Scarborough Shoal is just another salvo in a growing strategic rivalry that can be managed but not resolved....

'Thick' or 'Thin' Solution to China-Philippines Row? - R.R. Bagares, GMA

The resulting standoff - and our seeming inability to act decisively on a critical national security concern - further showed the vulnerabilities of the Philippines in a dispute ...

U.S., Philippines Start Drills Amid China Spat - Manuel Mogato, Reuters

American and Filipino troops launched two weeks of annual naval drills on Monday amid a territorial stand-off between China and the Philippines as the United States seeks to reinfo...

Philippine Navy Can't Stand Up to China - David Axe, Flashpoints

The just ended standoff between China and the Philippines over a disputed shoal in the South China Sea is a painful reminder of Manila’s maritime weakness....

Will the South China Sea Lead to War? - Khanh Vu Duc, Asia Sentinel

Speculation that the South China Sea disputes will lead to conflict are not beyond the realm of possibility, given the numerous military clashes between several countries in the re...

Is China Preparing for Small Wars? - Jens Kastner, Asia Times

Broad hints have been coming out of China that the country might start small-scale military strikes over disputed wate...

Philippines

Asia's Next High Seas Drama

Burma, Philippines & Sri Lanka: Asia's Next Tigers?

Battle over Birth Control in the Philippines

Could the Next Pope Be Asian?

Filipino Super-Typhoon an Ominous Warning

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