An arc stretches from Bangladesh through Malaysia and Indonesia to Mindanao in the Philippines. Within that arc, there is now playing out politically the relative strengths of ethnic nationalism, Islamic cultural revival, merchant and industrial interests, and a deepening crust of educated liberals.
In short, that it is being done peacefully and professionally gives reason for cautious optimism in a sustainable result.
IDEAS is holding a discussion that will discuss GE15 and the coalition discussions.
Bangladesh and Indonesia have reason to follow the arguments closely. They may be using them in the upcoming 2023 and 2024 elections.
The creative political foment in the southern ASEAN arc stands juxtaposed to the democratic stasis in the northern arc.
Singapore appears as an outlier due to its prosperity. But is it unaffected?
The Kuala Lumpur talks deserve special attention as potentially significant across all straits.
Listen to the podcast. IDEAS CEO Tricia Yeoh is the discussion leader.