Category: Opinion
The latest opinion from those committed to making our region fair, just and democratic.
The plight of refugees and asylum seekers in Australia
"It's from the frying pan of wars and genocide at home, into the flaming fire of an off-shore refugee-prison complex in Australia". FORSEA hosted a virtual in-depth discussion on how a democratic state such as Australia has adopted and institutionalized an anti-refugee policy since around 2001.
India and the Myanmar crisis: Death of Justice, Death of Morality
What the BJP regime needs to understand is that deporting asylum seekers to Myanmar will undoubtedly be appreciated by the Tatmadaw. But it will come at a huge cost, not least to India’s battered image of being a democracy. Its more lasting consequence would be to damage relations with the protesting multitude of people in Myanmar.
A Consensus on the Efficacy and Value of ASEAN Summit on Myanmar: Understand & Appreciate Myanmar People’s Analyses of Their Oppression
"ASEAN is not capable of dealing with Myanmar’s Civil War/Revolution while the UN is abdicating its responsibility". An in-depth Facebook LIVE discussion – a post mortem discussion – on the Five Point Consensus from the recent ASEAN Summit on Myanmar with views from three top discussants: Tan Sri Dr Sayed Hamid Albar, Professor Michael W. Charney, and Dr Khin Zaw Win.
Interview with Maung Zarni on Violence in Myanmar and Being a Scholar-Activist
Burmese scholar-activist Maung Zarni discusses the relationship between scholarship, activism, and truth-telling; his childhood in Burma and his formative influences among other topics.
FORSEA Statement on ASEAN Summit on Myanmar: Time to Engage All Parties in the Worsening Conflicts
Amidst vociferous criticism and protestations against the invitation of Min Aung Hlaing, the leader of the coup regime to the special Summit on Myanmar, the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) is going ahead with its Summit on Myanmar in Jakarta. It is NOW time for ASEAN to engage all parties in Myanmar’s worsening conflict.
China’s Re-establishment of the Maritime Silk Route (MSR): Its effect in the Philippines & Asian Geopolitics
The South China Sea is the perfect spot for the attainment of China's long-term goal in military affairs, in political development, in economic growth and cultural change. Meanwhile, 61% of the public in the Philippines and 51% in Vietnam say they are very concerned about a possible military confrontation with Beijing.
“Federal Army for Federal Democracy”: The Dawn of Myanmar’s New Politics
Myanmar's peoples of all ethnic backgrounds are undergoing a revolutionary process. Ms Suu Kyi may have to be asked to make the ultimate sacrifice: give up her centre stage in order that a revolution can grow and succeed in its revolutionary mission: a federal army and federal democracy. Otherwise, the pursuit of federalism in Myanmar will continue to be the Achilles’ heel for all democrats and federalists, the majority and...
Informational Autocrats are on the rise in Southeast Asia: Opinion by a Co-Founder of FORSEA
Thai authorities want to arrest Pavin Chachavalpongpun, a co-founder of FORSEA and associate professor at Kyoto University. In an interview with DW, Pavin slams the new generation of autocrats who are engaged in information manipulation.
The Geopolitics of the Global War on Terror Third International Conference on Islamophobia, Istanbul, Turkey, 28 March 2021
The whistleblower on Myanmar's genocide of Rohingyas, Maung Zarni, dissected the 4-decades of policies and practices of genocidal persecution of the national minority who live in their ancestral home region of Western Myanmar.
Like China, Russia and Saudi Arabia, Thailand’s regime hunts down its opponents around the world
What is happening to dissidents in Thailand must be exposed and discussed within the context of the ruthless tactics adopted by the despotic regimes of China, Russia and Saudi Arabia. It is time that the West sees the true nature of the Thai monarchy: a despotic regime that harasses, threatens, and kills its critics.