Shifting the US-Myanmar Relations under Trump Administration and its Geopolitical Implication

This paper aims to analyze the shifts in the US-Myanmar relations during Trump administration compared to that of Obama administration, what factors affect such shifts, and how they posit important geopolitical implication. Under Trump administration, the US-Myanmar relations largely revolved around the Rohingya crisis, which shaped the relations between the two nations ‘substantially uncomfortable’. The factors affecting the changing relationship are the temporal dimension of Rohingya crisis, civil-military relations under NLD government, as well as Trump’s ‘American First’ foreign policy, which contributed to the declining of strategic engagement towards Indo-Pacific region where Myanmar is located. This caused an important geopolitical implication: the growing Chinese influence in Myanmar.

Indonesia Parliamentary Diplomacy: The Leadership of House Representatives Republic of Indonesia in ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) 2011-2012

This paper discusses the implementation of Indonesian parliamentary diplomacy when Indonesia became the leader of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) (2011-2012). In the same period, Indonesia also assumed the chairmanship of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). Developed from the concept of multi-track diplomacy and total diplomacy, the authors highlight how the House of Representatives of Republic Indonesia (DPR-RI) plays a role in a track 1½ diplomacy. The authors argue that DPR-RI's active participation is essential to oversee national compliance on international legal norms and rules through the case of AIPA.

Crisis Foreign Policy Making in Venezuela: The Case of Nicolás Maduro’s Left-Wing Militaristic Cabinet in Venezuela’s Blockade Policy towards Brazilian Aids

Venezuela has experienced a turmoil of economic crisis since 2014 under the administration of President Nicolás Maduro. This crisis has been spilling towards social and political issues, with one being the emergence of opposition group led by Juan Guaidó. This crisis, at first, has invited sympathy from various international actors, both states and non-states, one of them being Brazil. However, in February 2019, President Maduro decided to fully-blockade Venezuela-Brazil borders for any human or goods movement. This paper aims to analyze the presence of President Maduro’s cabinet towards Brazil borders blockade in Venezuelan Crisis in 2019. This paper utilizes qualitative social science methodology by analyzing primary and secondary data. By using the groupthink paradigm in foreign policy analysis, this paper argues that there is a position convergence between the members of the cabinet with the background of: (1) the dominance of nationalist military group loyal to President Maduro; (2) the same ideology of left-wing political spectrum. This paper also argues that beside the two internal factors above, the external factors of regional and global tension towards Venezuela also create an isolation as an element of stress towards this government. This paper concludes that the combination of the three factors above become the main factors that formulated the blockade policy.

Japan’s Balancing Act: Assessing Japan’s Foreign Policy towards Myanmar in the Emerging Indo-Pacific Era

Prime Minister Abe officially introduced the FOIP in 2016 at the TICAD VI in Kenya aiming to preserve the RBO against increasing challenges to the vital interests of Japan. Because of Myanmar's geostrategic location, democratization, and rich natural resources, Myanmar became an important country in fostering Japan's FOIP. In this context, this paper aims to examine Japan’s foreign policy towards Myanmar in the emerging Indo-Pacific era. This paper is mainly focused on Japan’s balancing strategy in Indo-Pacific, the significance of Myanmar in Japan’s FOIP, and the foreign policy tools of Japan in Myanmar. The paper finds that Japan rapproach Myanmar by using significant 3Ds (diplomatic engagement, defense cooperation, and development assistance) in the emerging Indo-Pacific era. Japan’s foreign policy readjustment towards Myanmar in the emerging Indo-Pacific era can be interpreted as one of Japan’s limited hard balancing strategies against China.

Prince Boun Oum and the March 24, 1945 Treaty: A Possibility of Independent Champassak Following World War II

This article is part of the author’s ongoing study of Champassak and the formation of the new Lao state, with the aim of understanding Champassak’s dubious standing within Lao state, Siam, French Indochina, and even its self-image. In terms of historical methodology, the author discusses the treaty reached between Prince Boun Oum and Charles de Gaulle’s provisional government on March 24, 1945, which promised independence and membership in the French Union after WWII. Although Prince Boun Oum’s ambitious goal of independence for Champassak failed, this situation could be viewed as another form of the Lao state that was overlooked after Lao independence. Finally, the Champassak case is relevant to the debate about the current existence of a nation-state in this region and ethnic nationalism.

Securitization of Public Policy and Pandemic: Taiwan’s Case Against Covid-19

Taiwan’s relatively better performance in the early stages of the on-going COVID-19 pandemic can largely be accredited to the rapid mobilization of public resources and the fast restructuring of government agencies to meet the pandemic-fighting coordination demand, but these measures are only possible when a community adopts a serious attitude followed by serious actions achieved via securitization of the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper attempts to compare and contrast the securitization of pandemic response and management of Taiwan, the United States, and Japan to highlight the importance of how even developed states with equal or better health infrastructure than Taiwan, by contextualizing the pandemic into different security scenarios has resulted in the performance gap against COVID-19.

Environmental, Social, and Governance Investment in Emerging Markets: A Case Study of Firms in Southeast Asia

This study examines the current situation of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investment in Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries. Based on a purposive sampling, our sample includes 143 leading firms from 10 ASEAN countries. By intensively reviewing firms’ multiyear annual and sustainability reports, we utilize content analysis to identify the characteristics of ESG firms (firms considering ESG factors in their investment decision-making process). Our result shows that ESG firms, on average, have higher profitability. Moreover, ESG investment helps lower costs and boost revenue and profits. However, ESG investment has only been implicitly and unsystematically implemented in ASEAN firms.

Comparative Analysis of the Covid-19 Policy of Indonesia and Vietnam in 2020

A virus started to spread in China by the end of 2019. Soon after, the world faces a global pandemic known as the Covid-19. The deadly and highly contagious virus threatens not only health security but also various social-economic aspects. In the chaotic world, the advancement of transportation technology contributes to the accelerated spread of the Covid-19 virus. The global movement of people becomes the biggest challenge for the national government to tackle during the global pandemic. Countries take different policies and measures to mitigate the spread of the virus. This paper conducts comparative policy analysis on two cases: Vietnam and Indonesia. The paper argues that the Vietnamese government tackles the virus mitigation more efficiently than the Indonesian government despite Vietnam's close geographical location to China. The Indonesian government is also relatively slower than the Vietnamese government concerning the policy responses.