United States

Malaysia

Philippines

Military & Security

Politics

The United States and the Philippines launched a new South China Sea-focused defense task force to coordinate planning, interoperability and joint operations under a broader two-year modernization plan covering advanced training, logistics and unmanned systems, Reuters reported Oct. 31.

U.S., Philippines, Malaysia: Washington Deepens Southeast Asia Defense Network

Brunei Darussalam

Cambodia

China

Timor-Leste

Indonesia

Laos

Myanmar

Singapore

Thailand

Vietnam

Economics

China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations signed the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area (CAFTA) 3.0 upgrade at the ASEAN leaders' summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Channel News Asia reported on Oct. 28. 

China, ASEAN: Trade Pact Upgrade To Expand Bloc's Market Access

The United States and Malaysia signed a reciprocal trade pact that leaves in place Washington's 19% tariff rate on Malaysian goods but grants zero-tariff carveouts for more than 1,700 Malaysian export categories and "favorable consideration on semiconductors," while securing Malaysian commitments not to restrict exports of critical minerals (including rare earths) and magnets, The Straits Times reported on Oct. 26. 

U.S., Malaysia, Vietnam: Washington Secures Critical Minerals, Market Access

Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan visited Myanmar's capital, Naypyidaw, to meet junta chief Min Aung Hlaing and discuss Myanmar's preparations for its upcoming Dec. 28 election, Reuters reported on Oct. 9.

Malaysia, Myanmar: ASEAN Reengages as Junta Preps for December Election

U.S. President Donald Trump is pressing Malaysia, chair and host of the upcoming Association of Southeast Asian Nations' leaders summit on Oct. 26, to grant him a ceremonial Thailand-Cambodia peace signing, Politico reported on Oct. 7.

U.S., Malaysia: Trump Conditions ASEAN Summit Participation on Peace Ceremony

Malaysia's sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional and Chinese entities are in early talks for a potential rare earth project that would see China build a rare earth refinery in the Southeast Asian country and would include developing some of Malaysia's rare earth reserves, Reuters reported on Oct. 2.

Malaysia, China: Governments Discuss Potential Rare Earth Refinery Project 

Japan

Japan agreed to provide Malaysia with security equipment worth $2.7 million, including drones and rescue boats, as part of its Official Security Assistance program, Nikkei Asia reported on Sept. 15. 

Malaysia, Japan: Tokyo Donates Drones, Rescue Boats to Kuala Lumpur

The United States will impose a 19% tariff rate on Malaysia (down from the threatened 25%), Thailand and Cambodia (both down from 36%) on Aug. 7, Channel News Asia reported on Aug. 1.

Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia: Countries All Receive 19% U.S. Tariff Rate

Assessments

U.S. President Donald Trump (center) poses for a group photo with the leaders of (L-R) Singapore, East Timor, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei, Indonesia and Laos during the ASEAN leaders summit on Oct. 26, 2025. 

Global Trade

U.S.-China Relations

The summit highlighted the Southeast Asian bloc's attempts to boost internal unity and economic integration amid the U.S.-China rivalry, but it also exposed structural divides and external pressures that hinder unified action and leave ASEAN states vulnerable to coercion.

The Takeaways From the 2025 ASEAN Summit

The Geopolitics of Trade

The impending full implementation of sweeping U.S. tariffs threatens to significantly disrupt export-driven ASEAN economies, which is driving countries to seek alternative trade partners.

The Geopolitics of Trade: U.S. Tariffs Give Impetus to ASEAN Trade Diversification

The ASEAN logo May 15 in front of the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Malaysia will host the first of the two annual summits of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on May 26.

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

The Weekly Rundown: Trans-Atlantic Trade Talks Intensify, Malaysia Hosts Two Summits

Ecuador

Iran

Europe

Italy

Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the closing session of the National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, China, on March 11, 2025. 

U.S.-Iran Relations

The Weekly Rundown: Xi Tours Southeast Asia, Iran-U.S. Nuclear Talks Begin

The flags of the countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, are seen on display.

Malaysia's chairmanship will be pivotal in navigating security risks as well as those from U.S. trade restrictions, potential Chinese economic coercion, and supply chain realignments that threaten ASEAN's cohesion and strategic autonomy.

Previewing Malaysia's 2025 ASEAN Chairmanship

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba hold a joint press conference on Jan. 10, 2025.

Japan is intensifying its diplomatic and security engagement in Southeast Asia through defense, trade and infrastructure agreements to counterbalance China and enhance regional stability.

Ishiba Strengthens Japan's Role in Southeast Asia With Defense and Trade Deals

Columns

On Geopolitics

Asia-Pacific

Australia

South Korea

Taiwan

India

U.S. President Joe Biden gestures to reporters after landing on the South Lawn of the White House on Sept. 22, 2024, in Washington, D.C. 

Trump's more aggressive and transactional approach could deliver quick wins for the U.S.'s position in the region, though it could also strain ties with key partners. 

Trump's Asia-Pacific Approach Will Test Biden's Gains

Laos' Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone (center) and other ASEAN leaders take part in the 2024 ASEAN summit in Vientiane on Oct. 9, 2024. 

The deals signed at the summit reflect an increasing focus on economic integration amid the Southeast Asian bloc's continued failure to find consensus on security issues.

Reviewing the 2024 ASEAN Summit

The flags of ASEAN members are displayed at a naval base during the ASEAN Solidarity Exercise in Batam, Natuna regency, Riau Islands province, Indonesia, on Sept. 20, 2023. 

ASEAN's economic and geopolitical diversity will impede significant progress toward deeper integration, despite members' intention to collaborate more closely.

Economic and Geopolitical Diversity Hinders ASEAN's Path to Deeper Integration

The main dome of the Malaysian prime minister's office in Putrajaya is seen on June 4, 2024. 

A bigger parliamentary majority will enhance the government's staying power, freeing it to more avidly pursue its plans to attract foreign investment, among other policy initiatives.

Political Stability Will Help Malaysia Hit Its Economic and Foreign Policy Goals

South Africa

New Zealand

Germany

Switzerland

Ukraine

President Cyril Ramaphosa is sworn in as member of parliament during the first sitting of the new South African parliament on June 14 in Cape Town, South Africa. Ramaphosa will be inaugurated to a second term in a ceremony scheduled to take place June 19 in Pretoria.

Russia-Ukraine Conflict

The Weekly Rundown: Ukraine's Peace Summit, South Africa's Inauguration

An aerial photo taken on Sept. 25, 2022, shows solar panels at the Sao Mai solar energy plant in Vietnam’s An Giang province. 

Energy

Environment, Science & Technology

Science & Technology

Several ASEAN countries are on track to develop substantial renewable power capacities in the short term, but technical, political and financial constraints, coupled with incentives to keep burning fossil fuels, will impede long-term decarbonization goals.

The Challenges Facing Southeast Asia's Decarbonization

Malaysia straddles Southeast Asia's key geopolitical divide, between the mainland and the archipelago. Peninsular Malaysia occupies the southernmost tip of Southeast Asia's Malay Peninsula. East Malaysia, however, is on the island of Borneo, over 600 kilometers away across the South China Sea.       Peninsular Malaysia is defined by north-south mountain ranges flanked by coastal lowlands. The nation's core is its west coast from Penang to Johor Bahru, including the capital, Kuala Lumpur. This coastline fronts major east-west trade routes through the Malacca Strait, whose shores are divided between Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. Malaysia's primary geographic challenge is to secure this coastline in order to extract revenue from east-west trade. Today, Malaysia's substantial manufacturing center is concentrated in this core region. Johor Bahru also benefits from proximity to Singapore, which left Malaysia in 1965.        Malaysia's ethnic minority Indian and Chinese communities are also concentrated in the core, comprising 30 percent of the population. These groups wield outsized economic power and form the basis of the political opposition. Their population growth is slower than the ethnic Malay majority, creating an increasingly volatile political environment.      East Malaysia makes up 60 percent of the country’s landmass but has only 20 percent of the population. This sparse population is tipped toward the ethnic Malays and is growing in electoral significance. East Malaysia is playing a growing role in energy production — key to sustaining the country’s decades of steady economic growth.     Borneo also fronts the South China Sea, where Malaysia's maritime claims overlap with the claims of the Philippines, Brunei, Vietnam and China. As Borneo's offshore fields become more important to Malaysia, the nation's South China Sea claims could bring it into conflict.  

Modernizing China’s Military

Asia-Pacific: Among Great Powers

Southeast Asia: Burdened by Consensus

SITUATION REPORTS

U.S., Philippines, Malaysia: Washington Deepens Southeast Asia Defense Network

China, ASEAN: Trade Pact Upgrade To Expand Bloc's Market Access

U.S., Malaysia, Vietnam: Washington Secures Critical Minerals, Market Access

Malaysia, Myanmar: ASEAN Reengages as Junta Preps for December Election

U.S., Malaysia: Trump Conditions ASEAN Summit Participation on Peace Ceremony

Malaysia, China: Governments Discuss Potential Rare Earth Refinery Project

Malaysia, Japan: Tokyo Donates Drones, Rescue Boats to Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia: Countries All Receive 19% U.S. Tariff Rate

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