Joshua Kurlantzick states, “China, other Asian nations, and the United States remain unprepared for Myanmar to spark a refugee crisis, a large-scale conflict along its borders — or even a nuclear breakout.”

Michael W. Hodin says Australia's recognition that its economic success in the coming decades hinges on dealing with aging populations is a step in the right direction, but a paradigm shift that enables a reasonable percentage of individuals over age sixty-five to remain economically active still needs to occur.

ASEAN Foreign Ministers  gave this joint communiqué at the 44th ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting in
Bali, Indonesia, on July 19, 2011.

Joshua Kurlantzick says Thailand's post-election democracy may need U.S. support.

Joshua Kurlantzick says the election victory by the party of Yingluck Shinawatra, sister of exiled former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, puts Thailand's already wobbly democracy at greater risk.

Gideon Rose discusses President Nixon and Henry Kissinger's attempt to extricate the United States from the Vietnam War even as the local combatants continued to struggle -- and says President Obama should try to do the same in Afghanistan.

Emma L. Belcher says the recent detterence of a North Korean ship carrying nuclear material highlights the need for criminal codes that take nuclear crimes seriously.

Thailand's general elections in July could mark a crucial step toward reconciliation but are likely to fuel further resentments that have roiled the country and eroded regional stability, says CFR's Joshua Kurlantzick.

Indonesia's President Yudhoyono discusses the stresses and challenges of pursuing a path of democratization and reform, and Indonesia's desire to play a larger role in the region and the world.

Joshua Kurlantzick says that as counterterrorism officials plot life for al-Qaeda after Osama bin Laden, they would do well to look toward the Indonesian experience.

Joshua Kurlantzick argues, "Around the globe, it is democratic meltdowns, not democratic revolutions, that are now the norm."

Joshua Kurlantzick reviews Mark Askew's Legitimacy Crisis in Thailand.

In this Markets and Democracy Brief, CFR's Joshua Kurlantzick analyzes Thailand's democratic failure and offers lessons from the Thai experience for new governments and reformers in the Middle East.

Joshua Kurlantzick says that while many look to Indonesia as a model for the Middle East's current transition to democracy, the outcome in the Middle East may be quite different.

Egypt's post-Mubarak transition parallels Indonesia's post-Suharto, argues CFR's Karen Brooks. Indonesia's example indicates the Muslim Brotherhood should be incorporated into Egyptian politics rather than marginalized, she says.

This Security Council Report update details the continuing clash between the Thai and Cambodian militaries.

Australia's continued flooding is expected to cost billions in losses and clean-up, and some scientists believe the devastating floods are a harbinger of increasing extreme weather events to come.

Joshua Kurlantzick says, "The junta might be building nukes--but is the United States doing anything about it?"