Global Asia - Mar 2025

En este asunto

In the cover package of this issue, we dissect what actually happened; the personal and political tribulations that might have fueled Yoon’s desperate move; how the courage and determination of South Korean citizens, especially young women, to defend their democracy won the day; the economic and security risks the country still faces as a result of the political crisis; and what the martial law spectacle says about the dangers of democratic backsliding in South Korea and other troubled democracies.
Elsewhere, our In Focus section examines the implications for Asia of US President Donald Trump’s apparent effort to rewrite the liberal international order that has prevailed since the end of the Second World War. While Trump’s focus so far has largely been on Europe and the Middle East, Asian leaders know that it won’t be long before the whirlwind reaches this part of the world.
In our Features section, we examine how the war in Ukraine has weakened Russia’s traditional influence over Central Asia, leaving China and even the US an opportunity to step up; we also look at the ongoing big-power struggles for dominance in the Indian Ocean region; how former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s return to Thailand after 15 years in exile is roiling the country’s politics; how a major infrastructure project in the Mekong Delta could boost Vietnam’s economy; the nature of the diplomatic maneuvering that helped create a thaw in frigid relations between New Delhi and Beijing; why a mega dam project recently announced by China could threaten relations with India; and finally, Global Asia board member Nayan Chanda provides a personal reflection on the 50th anniversary of the fall of Saigon.

Global Asia Magazine Description:

Global Asia is a quarterly publication of the East Asia Foundation. The foundation, established in Seoul in January 2005, strives to promote peace, prosperity, security and sustainability in East Asia by creating an open and creative forum for the exchange of ideas on regional co-operation and integration, among other goals.
The mission we have set for ourselves with Global Asia is both bold and urgent: It is to provide a compelling, serious, and responsible forum for distinguished thinkers, policymakers, political leaders and business people to debate the most important issues in Asia today.
Global Asia is not a journal with a fixed point of view, or a particular agenda. Our aim is to give voice to the global dimension of what is happening in Asia. In our pages and on our web site, we aim for Asia to speak to the world, and the world to Asia. That is important at a time when this region is playing an ever greater role in world affairs.
There are other fine publications on international affairs. What sets us apart is our focus: Asia. We believe that the world is moving into “the Age of Asia,” to borrow a phrase from one of the articles in the inaugural issue of Global Asia in September 2006. This transformation is not going to occur overnight, but it has already begun.
The region’s dynamic economic growth, stable and accountable political systems, maturing democracies, and evolving sense of community are giving Asia greater weight in the world. These developments will have enormous implications for governments, businesses, societies and individuals across the globe. How that transformation is viewed, and shaped, from within Asia and how it is perceived outside Asia is an essential part of the story we have to tell.
The forces of globalization are having a profound impact throughout the world. And they are being influenced and channeled in different ways in different parts of the world. Ours is the story of Asia’s experience with globalization, and the ideas and debates influencing it. In pursuing our mission, we aim to play a part, however modest, in helping to shape the future of Asia.