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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

United States

Military & Security

Politics

Thailand and Cambodia signed a joint declaration, overseen by U.S. President Donald Trump, broadening their July 28 ceasefire, with each agreeing to pull heavy weapons from their shared border, deploy additional neutral observer teams and release prisoners, Reuters reported on Oct. 26.

U.S., Thailand, Cambodia: Peace Declaration, Trade Agreements at ASEAN Summit

Thailand and Cambodia will sign a joint declaration to de-escalate their border dispute on Oct. 25 at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' leaders' summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in the presence of U.S. President Donald Trump, the Thai Enquirer reported on Oct. 23.

Thailand, Cambodia: Bangkok, Phnom Penh To Sign 'Peace Declaration' at ASEAN Summit

The U.S. Trump administration is conditioning ongoing U.S.-Thailand trade negotiations on Bangkok's ability to reach a lasting ceasefire with Cambodia, effectively linking tariff relief to peace along their contested border, the Bangkok Post reported on Oct. 14.

Thailand, U.S.: Washington Conditions Trade Talks on Lasting Ceasefire With Cambodia

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

Thailand will boycott the Oct. 11 Regional Boundary Committee (RBC) meeting with Cambodia after Phnom Penh did not meet Bangkok's unilaterally imposed Oct. 7 deadline to remove Cambodian residents from three villages in Thailand's Sa Kaeo province, the Bangkok Post reported on Oct. 7.

Thailand, Cambodia: Border Talks Collapse Over Sa Kaeo Evictions

State-owned Khmer Times stated on Oct. 2 that Cambodian officials had invited Thai forces to hold three Regional Border Committee (RBC) meetings between local border defense groups, scheduled for Oct. 4-6, Oct. 7-9, and Oct. 10-12 -- all to be held in Cambodian provinces. The report did not indicate any response from Thai authorities.

Thailand, Cambodia: Border Meetings Proposed Amid Eviction Deadlines

Thai and Cambodian troops exchanged small arms fire and grenades in a roughly 30-minute clash between Thailand's Ubon Ratchathani province and Cambodia's Preah Vihear province, Bloomberg reported on Sept. 27.

Thailand, Cambodia: Border Clash Tests Ceasefire

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

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Nepal

Fire rages through the Singha Durbar, the main administrative building for the Nepal government, in Kathmandu on Sept. 9, 2025, after youth protesters set fire to the building. 

Recent events in Nepal, Madagascar and elsewhere show how digitally coordinated, leaderless protests can succeed, but eventually face even larger challenges in sustaining the momentum for change.

Worldwide Gen Z Protesters May Be Disappointed With Their Success

Iran

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Taiwan

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United Kingdom

The Maanshan nuclear power plant is seen next to a beach in Pingtung, in southern Taiwan, on April 29, 2025.

Energy

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

The Weekly Rundown: Iran Meets With European Powers, Taiwan Holds a Nuclear Referendum

Poland

Ukraine

Russia

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in the Oval Office of the White House on July 22, 2025. 

Russia-Ukraine Conflict

The Weekly Rundown: Last-Minute U.S. Trade Talks, a New Polish President

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim (center) speaks during a press conference next to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet (left) and Thailand's acting prime minister Phumtham Wechayachai (right) in Putrajaya, Malaysia, on July 28, 2025. 

While the truce may hold in the short to medium term, unresolved disputes and political pressures sustain the risk of future clashes, with the next round likely to be even deadlier.

Gauging the Stability of the Thailand-Cambodia Ceasefire

Canada

Mexico

Japan

Europe

A Cambodian soldier stands on a truck with a rocket launcher in Cambodia's Oddar Meanchey province, which borders Thailand, on July 25, 2025. 

The Weekly Rundown: U.S. Tariff Deadline Passes, Thai-Cambodian Border Tensions Persist

A ''Danger'' sign warns visitors about a fragile structure within the grounds of the Preah Vihear temple in Cambodia.

Border clashes will likely persist and could escalate if Cambodia later tries to seize disputed territory, but a full-scale war remains unlikely in the short term.

Deadly Clashes Sharply Escalate Thai-Cambodian Border Dispute

Snapshots

Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra (center) speaks next to Deputy Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai (2nd from left) during a press conference in Bangkok following her suspension by the country's Constitutional Court on July 1, 2025. 

Paetongtarn's suspension from office over a leaked phone call with Cambodia's former leader risks collapsing her fragile government and inviting more economic disruption amid U.S. trade tensions.

A Fresh Political Crisis Erupts in Thailand Following Prime Minister's Suspension

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 Ta Moan Thom temple is seen on the border between Thailand and Cambodia.

While full-scale military conflict is unlikely, the dispute risks spurring localized border clashes, as both Cambodia and Thailand maintain entrenched military positions with no clear legal resolution.

Thai-Cambodian Tensions Flare Over Disputed Temple, Raising Fears of Clashes

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

Environment, Science & Technology

The Geopolitics of Water

Science & Technology

Amid pressing energy and geopolitical needs, the accelerating construction of upstream dams will exacerbate the Mekong River region's water shortages and environmental degradation.

The Geopolitics of Water: National Interests Sideline Environmental Concerns in the Mekong River Region

Located in Southeast Asia, Thailand is bordered by Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Malaysia. The core of modern Thailand lies on the flat, rich lowlands in the central Chao Phraya River basin. This basin is one of the world's most fertile agricultural areas, growing mostly rice and fruits. As a result, it became a political and economic center, where Bangkok, the country's capital, was founded.    Thailand’s strategic location between Indochina and the Andaman and South China seas, along with its agricultural resources, has historically made it a target of foreign invasion. Therefore, Thailand’s main geographic challenge is protecting its core from invaders while consolidating power in its diverse outlying regions.    Protected in the north by mountains and the Khorat Plateau, Thailand’s biggest external threats have come through the Tenasserim mountain range from Myanmar or from Cambodia to the east. But Thailand’s central location also helped prevent its colonization, as the French and British used it as a buffer between each other's empires.    Thailand’s geography has also presented internal challenges. In the northwest, mountainous terrain has prevented the area from being easily controlled, fostering political struggles in modern times between these provinces and Bangkok. Annexed in the early 20th century, southern Thailand has an ethnically Malay, Muslim majority and continues to resist Bangkok through low-level insurgency and violence. Although Thailand's size, location and arable land allow it to exert influence regionally, its unwieldy periphery and occasionally hostile neighbors will continue to present it with challenges.

Supply Chains

Southeast Asia: Burdened by Consensus

SITUATION REPORTS

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

U.S., Thailand, Cambodia: Peace Declaration, Trade Agreements at ASEAN Summit

Thailand, Cambodia: Bangkok, Phnom Penh To Sign 'Peace Declaration' at ASEAN Summit

Thailand, U.S.: Washington Conditions Trade Talks on Lasting Ceasefire With Cambodia

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

Thailand, Cambodia: Border Talks Collapse Over Sa Kaeo Evictions

Thailand, Cambodia: Border Meetings Proposed Amid Eviction Deadlines

Thailand, Cambodia: Border Clash Tests Ceasefire

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