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Philippines

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Military & Security

Politics

The Philippine government announced that a "foreign actor" created a recently circulated manipulated video, or deepfake, that showed President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. directing military action against China, Bloomberg reported on April 26.

Philippines: Deepfake of President Stirs Tensions With China

India

Economics

India delivered the initial batch of BrahMos cruise missiles to the Philippines under a $375 million agreement signed in 2022, Voice of America reported on April 23. 

India: Philippines Receives Shipment of Indian Supersonic Cruise Missiles

United States

Australia

Japan

Australia, Japan, the Philippines and the United States carried out the first exercise under their multilateral Maritime Cooperative Activity framework within the Philippines's exclusive economic zone in the disputed South China Sea on April 7, BenarNews reported the next day. 

Australia, Japan, Philippines, U.S.: Navies Begin Large-Scale Multilateral Exercises in South China Sea

Israel

Palestinian Territories

Brunei Darussalam

Indonesia

Laos

Malaysia

Vietnam

Slightly over half of respondents in the 2024 State of Southeast Asia Survey published by Singapore's ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute said that out of the world's major powers, they would prefer to partner with China, an increase of 11.6% since 2023 and topping the United States for the first time, Nikkei Asia reported on April 2.

ASEAN: Annual Survey Shows Turn in Favor of China

Environment, Science & Technology

Science & Technology

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo led a business delegation of 22 U.S. companies including Google, Visa and Microsoft to the Philippines, where they agreed to invest $1 billion in the Philippines' solar energy, electric vehicle and digitization sectors, BenarNews reported on March 14.

U.S., Philippines: U.S. Companies To Invest $1B in Emerging Philippine Tech Sector

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. delivered a speech to a joint session of Australia's parliament, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported on Feb. 29. 

Philippines, Australia: Marcos Delivers Speech in Front of Australian Parliament, Signs Deals

Energy

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. aims to forward his ambition to amend the constitution via a plebiscite tacked onto the ballot of the May 2025 midterm elections, Bloomberg reported on Feb. 28. 

Philippines: President Floats 2025 Midterm Election for Plebiscite on Constitutional Change

Sri Lanka

Japan is following up on previous commitments to the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam by drawing up a new 10-year plan to supply these countries with sustained military assistance through its Official Security Assistance program, or OSA, the South China Morning Post reported on Feb. 13.

Japan, ASEAN: Tokyo Drawing Up 10-Year Plan To Help ASEAN Maritime Countries

Assessments

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken (center), flanked by two other U.S. officials, is seen during a meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa and Philippine Foreign Minister Enrique Manalo (not pictured) on the sidelines of the 78th United Nations General Assembly at the Lotte Palace Hotel in New York City on Sept. 22, 2023.

A partnership between the three countries will likely improve freedom of navigation and economic security in the South China Sea, but may also raise the risk of trade disputes and conflict with China.

What To Watch for During the Inaugural U.S.-Japan-Philippines Summit

Iran

South Korea

Poland

People attend an April 5, 2024, funeral procession for seven Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps members killed in an Israeli strike in Syria.

U.S.-China Relations

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

The Weekly Rundown: The Threat of Iranian Retaliation Against Israel, Polish Local Elections

Venezuela

Egypt

New Zealand

Europe

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on March 14, 2024, at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland.

Russia-Ukraine Conflict

The Weekly Rundown: Dueling U.S. and Chinese Diplomacy, a European Council Summit

United Kingdom

Pakistan

Chinese officials at the Fifth Plenary Session of the National People's Congress on March 12, 2023 in Beijing. Beijing will host the annual Two Sessions meetings of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, an industry and societal consultative body, and the rubberstamp National People's Congress from March 4-11.

The Weekly Rundown: Pakistan Selects a New Premier, China's Two Sessions

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. delivers a speech during a political rally in Manila on Jan. 28, 2024. 

Duterte's growing political dispute with his successor could reignite secessionist sentiment on the Mindanao island and derail efforts to attract investment and maintain close U.S. ties.

Tensions Flare Between the Philippines' Current and Former Presidents

Singapore

Thailand

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida delivers a speech at the gala dinner for the ASEAN-Japan commemorative summit in Tokyo on Dec. 17, 2023. 

Over the next year, Tokyo will provide ASEAN countries with military equipment and more infrastructure investment, which will raise threat perceptions and further deteriorate Japan's ties with China.

The Implications of Japan's Growing Interest in Southeast Asia

Cambodia

Myanmar

Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (R) delivers an opening address at the start of a bilateral meeting with Laos' Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone (L) at the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo, Japan, on Dec. 16, 2023.

Laos' vulnerabilities will weaken its ASEAN chairmanship, although the bloc's economic interconnectivity will likely continue to grow.

Laos' Limitations Portend a Lukewarm Year for ASEAN

Snapshots

A photo taken during a Philippine surveillance flight on Sept. 28, 2023, shows a Chinese coast guard ship on patrol near the Scarborough Shoal (seen in the background) in the South China Sea.

The vessel crashes highlight the risk of future crises in the disputed maritime region as China tries to test the U.S.'s commitment to defending the Philippines and the wider Indo-Pacific.

Chinese-Philippine Collisions Bring Attention Back to the South China Sea

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.

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

Media

Podcasts

What's driving the reinvigorated U.S.-Philippines alliance?

Essential Geopolitics: The Impact of Deepened U.S.-Philippines Relations on U.S.-China Tensions

A Chinese coast guard ship (R) shadows the Philippine coast guard vessel BRP Malapascua (L) while on patrol at the Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands in the disputed South China Sea on April 23, 2023.

Washington woos the Philippines with strategic clarity, despite the dangers of a military conflict with China.

Clarified U.S. Defense Commitments Rock the Boat in the South China Sea

Taiwan

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin (right) meets with his Philippine counterpart, Carlito Galvez (left), at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., on April 12, 2023. 

The reinvigorated defense alliance will improve the U.S.'s ability to counter Chinese military moves in nearby waters. But it will also place Manila directly in Beijing's crosshairs.

The Revamped U.S.-Philippine Alliance Starts to Come to Fruition

The Philippines is a collection of over 7,000 islands situated at the confluence of the South China Sea, the Indonesian archipelago, the Philippine Sea and Pacific Ocean. It forms the outer edge of maritime Southeast Asia, and for much of its modern history has served as a gateway between western powers and continental Asia.     A former colony of both Spain and the United States, the Philippines today consists of three island clusters: Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. Luzon, with the country’s capital in Manila, is the political, cultural and economic core of modern Philippines. It is highly urbanized relative to the rest of the country, boasts a large port and deep harbor, and accounts for roughly one-third of the Philippines GDP. Mindanao has long been a hotbed for political unrest and insurgent movements and is populated by the predominantly Muslim Moro tribes. It is also an important fruit and produce exporter.    The Philippines is shaped by sharp geographic, economic and social divisions between a primarily urban north — in Luzon — and a heavily agricultural, poorer south. This, along with the fractured island geography, makes effective national integration difficult. It also undermines Manila's efforts to play a stronger role throughout the South China Sea region or guard against external infringement on its territorial waters, especially from China. That weakness is apparent today, as China's increasingly aggressive moves to assert its own maritime claims test Manila's voice in groups like ASEAN as well as its alliance with the U.S.    While the Philippines’ location at the entrance to maritime Southeast Asia makes it geopolitically significant, internal imbalances continue to hamper its ability to actively defend its own claims, let alone project power.

SITUATION REPORTS

Philippines: Deepfake of President Stirs Tensions With China

India: Philippines Receives Shipment of Indian Supersonic Cruise Missiles

Australia, Japan, Philippines, U.S.: Navies Begin Large-Scale Multilateral Exercises in South China Sea

ASEAN: Annual Survey Shows Turn in Favor of China

U.S., Philippines: U.S. Companies To Invest $1B in Emerging Philippine Tech Sector

Philippines, Australia: Marcos Delivers Speech in Front of Australian Parliament, Signs Deals

Philippines: President Floats 2025 Midterm Election for Plebiscite on Constitutional Change

Japan, ASEAN: Tokyo Drawing Up 10-Year Plan To Help ASEAN Maritime Countries

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