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Regional leaders pose for a group photo before the ASEAN-Australia summit, held as part of the 43rd ASEAN summit in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Sept. 7, 2023. From left to right stand the Philippines' President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Thailand's Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Sarun Charoensuwan, Vietnam's Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Indonesia's President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, Laos' Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone, Brunei's Prime Minister Hassanal Bolkiah, Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Manet, Malaysia's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and East Timor's Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao.

Military & Security

Politics

ASEAN's most recent summit underscored chronic passivity within the bloc that will only worsen in 2024. 

Amid ASEAN's Inaction, the Block's Members Look to External Partners for Security

U.S.-China Relations

Assessments

Hun Manet, the eldest son of Cambodia's long-ruling prime minister Hun Sen, shows his finger after voting in the country's general election in Phnom Penh on July 23, 2023. 

Economics

The victory secures Cambodia's undemocratic slide by paving the way for dynastic rule, which will likely push the country deeper into China's orbit by further isolating it from the West.

Cambodia's Ruling Party 'Wins' Another One-Sided Election

Sub-Saharan Africa

Israel

Spain

Russia

A vandalized billboard promoting Spain's far-right Vox party with an image of its leader is seen near Madrid on July 19, 2023. 

A look at what the coming week will bring -- and a list of recommended RANE articles from the week that was.

The Weekly Rundown: Spain Holds a High-Stakes Election, African Leaders Visit Russia

A Chinese coast guard ship sails past anchored Philippine fishing boats in the Scarborough Shoal, in the disputed South China Sea, on Feb. 3, 2023.

A binding code of conduct in the South China Sea remains unlikely, despite the resumption of negotiations between claimant states.

With No Deal in Sight, South China Sea Claimants Continue to Militarize

Media

Turkey

Uzbekistan

Tajikistan

Turkmenistan

Kazakhstan

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Afghanistan

Podcasts

Central Asia is reemerging as a key region for trans-Eurasian trade, but not without complications.

Applied Geopolitics: Central Asia's Geopolitical Challenges

Egypt

Energy

Environment, Science & Technology

Social Issues

The Weekly Rundown: U.S. Midterm Elections, ASEAN Meets

A man sits inside a casino in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, on Feb. 18, 2020.

The intense raid campaign could boost the country's ailing tourism sector and encourage future ASEAN cooperation on issues of shared interest.

The Significance of Cambodia's Crackdown on Human Trafficking

Guidance

Senegal

Brazil

France

Germany

Poland

Hungary

Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) greets Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Nov. 14, 2019, in Brasilia, Brazil, on the sidelines of a BRICS summit. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro will visit Russia on Feb. 14-17 in an effort to boost relations between the two countries.

Russia-Ukraine Conflict

The Fight for Russia’s Borderlands

A look at what the coming week will bring -- and a list of recommended Stratfor articles from the week that was.

The Weekly Rundown: An EU-AU Summit, the German Chancellor in Ukraine and Russia

The Ukraine Conflict

Columns

On Security

Australia

United Kingdom

Asia-Pacific: Among Great Powers

Rising competition with the West and more programs designed to counter China's BRI will prompt Beijing to expand its intelligence-collection efforts.

China's Cyberespionage Will Remain Robust and Expansive in Southeast Asia

2020 Second-Quarter Forecast

Centered on the western rim of the Pacific Ocean, the Asia-Pacific region includes the easternmost countries of continental Asia as well as the archipelagos that punctuate the coast. 

Asia-Pacific

<p>The Asia-Pacific is home to more people than any other region. Centered on the western rim of the Pacific Ocean, this region includes the easternmost countries of continental Asia as well as the archipelagos that punctuate the coast. Several of these countries, most notably China, experienced rapid economic growth in the second half of the 20th century, giving the region a new sense of global economic relevance that continues today. That relevance, however, depends largely on China, a power in transition whose rise is testing the network of U.S. alliances that have long dominated the region. How effectively Beijing manages its transition will shape the regional balance of power in the decades to come.</p>

Japan

South Korea

Graphics

The response to the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus to Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries surrounding China could vary widely depending on the level of health infrastructure in those nations.

Countries with underdeveloped resources will be more at risk for an undetected outbreak.

Where Limited Health Infrastructure Leaves Coronavirus Vulnerabilities

COVID-19

Americas

Hong Kong SAR, China

Europe

Eurasia

Middle East and North Africa

South Asia

People wear masks against a new coronavirus while walking in Macau on Jan. 28, 2020. The quick and aggressive response to the virus should curb its impact on global public health, but the economic losses will be substantial.

Stratfor Threat Lens

The quick and aggressive response to the virus should curb its impact on global public health, but the economic losses will be substantial.

The Global Impact of the Wuhan Coronavirus: 3 Scenarios

Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni swore in Hun Manet as the country's new prime minister, along with the rest of Cambodia's 125-seat National Assembly, The Phnom Penh Post reported on Aug. 22.

Cambodia: New Prime Minister Will Govern Under His Father's Shadow

Kao Kim Hourn, the secretary general of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), said the bloc and Japan will elevate ties to a "comprehensive strategic partnership" before or during a special summit celebrating 50 years of relations in December, Kyodo News reported March 8.

Japan, ASEAN: 'Comprehensive Strategic Partnership' Is Forthcoming

Cyber

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) circulated an alert revealing that Chinese-linked hackers stole 30 GB of data and over 10,000 emails from ASEAN countries and the ASEAN secretariat in February 2022, BenarNews reported March 3.

China, ASEAN: Trove of Stolen Data Revealed Ahead of South China Sea Negotiations

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen signed 12 agreements with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Feb. 11, The Khmer Times reported Feb. 13.

China, Cambodia: Countries Sign 12 Agreements as Phnom Penh Shutters Independent Newspaper

During a phone call, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen accepted an invitation from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to visit Ukraine, and the two leaders agreed to exchange ambassadors, the Khmer Times reported Nov. 2.

Cambodia, Ukraine: Countries Strengthen Diplomatic Ties as Phnom Penh Assists Kyiv's War Effort

New satellite images show a major expansion of the Chinese-built Ream Naval Base in Cambodia over the past three months, an Oct. 18 Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative report revealed.

China, Cambodia: New Satellite Imagery Shows Rapid Expansion of Chinese-Built Ream Naval Base

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen warned that any party that attaches itself to exiled former opposition leader Sam Rainsy will be dissolved following Rainsy's calls for the country's armed forces and the general public to push for a political change in the country in 2023, The Phnom Penh Post reported Oct. 17.

Cambodia: Prime Minister Threatens to Ban Any Party Associated With Exiled Former Opposition Leader

Cambodia's Candlelight Party (CLP), the country's most popular opposition party, emerged from a three-day meeting in Siem Reap province with a new party platform ahead of the July 2023 general elections and subsequently rejected a call from other opposition parties to form a political alliance, The Phnom Penh Post reported Sept. 12.

Cambodia: Top Opposition Party Releases New Platform, Rejects Alliance With Other Opposition Parties

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A view of the Register in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

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Covering an area that spans the entire width of the continent beginning at the Sahara Desert and ending at the southernmost tip of South Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa is home to countless cultures, languages, religions, plants, animals and natural resources.

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The President palace in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan

The administrative center of the Gakh region of Azerbaijan, located at the foot of the southern slope of the Greater Caucasus, on the river Kurhumchai.

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Mir Castle in the Minsk region of Belarus.

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A horse grazes in front of Kara-Kul lake in the Chon-Ak-Suu valley, 300 kilometers southeast of Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan.

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Cambodia occupies a transition zone between the western and eastern portions of mainland Southeast Asia and is defined by its weak geopolitical position between Thailand and Vietnam. This vulnerability led to massive instability throughout the 1946 to 1989 Indochina Wars and into the 1990s. In ancient times, the Cambodian Angkor empire controlled much of the Mekong Basin to the north, parts of Thailand, and extend east to the South China Sea. Since the fall of Angkor in the 15th century, however, Cambodia has been gradually eaten away by the expansion of powers to its east and west.     Cambodia's core is the basin of the seasonal Tonle Sap lake and the lowlands where the Mekong River flows toward Vietnam. This region is home to much of Cambodia's population and produces its vital agricultural surplus. It also contains the capital city of Phnom Penh, which is a center for Cambodia's low-end manufacturing sector that accounts for nearly 80 percent of the country's exports.     Having lost the Mekong Delta, modern Cambodia's only coastline is a 440-kilometer (273-mile) strip on the Gulf of Thailand that is largely screened off from the country's interior by the Elephant and Cardamom mountains. Furthermore, Cambodia lacks control of its main river system, the Mekong, which enters the South China Sea through southern Vietnam.     Cambodia's unachievable imperative is to reclaim its lost buffer space and its eastern access to the sea via the Mekong. But its weak geopolitical hand makes modern Cambodia's achievable imperative to protect its lowland core and enlist the help of a foreign patron to guard against its powerful neighbors. However, doing so risks making the country into a client state or causing it to fall prey to a great power's games.

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SITUATION REPORTS

Cambodia: New Prime Minister Will Govern Under His Father's Shadow

Japan, ASEAN: 'Comprehensive Strategic Partnership' Is Forthcoming

China, ASEAN: Trove of Stolen Data Revealed Ahead of South China Sea Negotiations

China, Cambodia: Countries Sign 12 Agreements as Phnom Penh Shutters Independent Newspaper

Cambodia, Ukraine: Countries Strengthen Diplomatic Ties as Phnom Penh Assists Kyiv's War Effort

China, Cambodia: New Satellite Imagery Shows Rapid Expansion of Chinese-Built Ream Naval Base

Cambodia: Prime Minister Threatens to Ban Any Party Associated With Exiled Former Opposition Leader

Cambodia: Top Opposition Party Releases New Platform, Rejects Alliance With Other Opposition Parties

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