Asia | IPS Journal

Header

picture alliance / REUTERS | Maxim Shemetov

Future of social democracy

Nothing lasts forever

And though we keep hearing that its race is run, social democracy can still stage a comeback. Its chance may lie in Asia

By Mirco Günther

picture alliance / Reuters | Stringer

Foreign and security policy

The forgotten frontline

While the world focuses on Iran, the volatile conflict between Afghanistan and Pakistan is intensifying — with repercussions far beyond the border

By Mirco Günther, Benedikt Ivanovs

picture alliance / Reuters | Navesh Chitrakar

Democracy and society

Nepal’s vote of reckoning

The upcoming elections could decide if reform finally outpaces entrenched corruption and instability

By Kamal Dev Bhattarai

picture alliance/dpa | Michael Kappeler

Foreign and security policy

Why Germany must engage with China

With empires jostling for power, Germany’s China strategy could determine Europe’s future — if it can play the great powers against each other

By Steven Langendonk, Matthew D. Stephen

picture alliance / Sipa USA | SOPA Images

Democracy and society

The limits of a fresh start

Bangladesh’s upcoming election tests whether the post-Hasina moment can deliver real political change — or just new versions of the old

By David Bergman

picture alliance / Design Pics | Dave Fleetham

Foreign and security policy

Sunsets and strategy

In a region of rising rivalries, ASEAN’s global soft power strategy rides on passports, planes and palm-fringed resorts

By Nikola Mikovic

picture alliance/Zumapress/Andrei Bok

Democracy and society

Who’s afraid of guitars?

Russia’s fear of music reveals a deeper panic — the loss of control over its youth

By Daria Boll-Palievskaya

picture alliance/MAXPPP/Deng Heping/VCG

Economy and ecology

Asia shows Europe the long game

The continent’s path proves that protecting the climate and securing prosperity are two sides of the same coin. Europe would do well to take note

By Franziska Schmidtke

picture alliance / ASSOCIATED PRESS | Ebrahim Noroozi

Democracy and society

Who’s afraid of educated girls?

The recent internet blackout is only the latest example of the Taliban’s increasingly brutal assault on the rights of girls and women

By Gordon Brown

picture alliance / AP | Achmad Ibrahim

Democracy and society

Polite democracy, brutal reality

Indonesia’s mass protests signal not just public anger at inequality, but the quiet dismantling of democratic space

By Andreas Ufen