The secret to Asia’s long-term prosperity? Improving roles of women at work           


No one can dispute the strides Asia has made in bringing strong economic growth to the region over the past decades, lifting income levels and reducing poverty in country after country. And yet, Asia continues to stand out for the relative neglect it shows to its greatest under-tapped resource: women. (The Global Asia)

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US Military/Security Paper on China – Messages for India and APR      

The Pentagon annual report to the US Congress Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China, 2011” released to the public in August this year is a lesson how meticulously the Americans study China. Of course, more sensitive issues are not discussed in the open report, but there are pointers that need to be picked up by India and other Asian countries and reflect on them actively on a larger canvas. (The South Asia Analysis Group)

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The South China Sea is the future of conflict         

Europe is a landscape; East Asia a seascape. Therein lies a crucial difference between the 20^th and 21^st centuries. The most contested areas of the globe in the last century lay on dry land in Europe, particularly in the flat expanse that rendered the eastern and western borders of Germany artificial and exposed to the inexorable march of armies. But over the span of the decades, the demographic and economic axis of the Earth has shifted measurably to the opposite end of Eurasia, where the spaces between major population centers are overwhelmingly maritime. (Foreign Policy)

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Rising tensions in Asia Pacific region  

Celebrating the 84t anniversary of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the Liberation Army Daily (LAD, August 01), the military mouthpiece carried a very important editorial that could have far reaching implications for the Asia Pacific Region (APR). After the usual observation on the Party’s absolute leadership over the army, boosting party building within the army, army-people relationship, the editorial made the following observations. It called on the PLA officers and soldiers to enhance risk awareness and to be mindful of their mission, as the international military competition becomes increasingly fierce and modern wars are fast evolving from mechanical wars to information-based ones. (The South Asia Analysis Group)

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European Unrest and Lessons for Asia      

The violence and protests that have wracked Europe this summer – the angry popular demonstrations in Greece, the “indignant” marches in Madrid, the murderous  mayhem in Oslo and the wave of riots across London – are firm reminders that order and stability cannot be guaranteed by advanced political systems. Democracy does not guarantee the safety of citizens. (The Jakarta Globe)

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Asia-Pacific poses multiple challenges  
  

The US returned to the region last year with its new Asia-Pacific strategy to build a “gooselike security pattern” to tackle China’s rise. The US places itself as the leader of Asia Pacific, followed by the US-Japan and US-ROK alliances. The third tier of the US’ security ring is its relationship with allies such as Australia, the Philippines and Thailand, and the fourth is its ties with Vietnam, Indonesia and India. (The China Daily)

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Can Asia Power a “Gold Age” of gas?  
    

Earlier this month, International Energy Agency (IEA) chief economist Fatih Birol told a 350-strong audience here in Singapore that Asia could help drive a new “golden age” of natural gas in the coming years. Feverish demand from China and India, coupled with the emergence of Australia as an emerging liquefied natural gas (LNG) giant, could send gas use skyrocketing by more than 50% to account for a quarter of the world’s energy demand by 2035. (CogitASIA)

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Asia’s middle class on the rise  

The success of Asia’s economic growth has seen three quarters of a billion people emerge from poverty in the space of just a few decades. It has also already witnessed the emergence of a very sizeable middle class. (East Asia Forum)

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Asia’s reticence costs it a shot at IMF power 
  

The world's power brokers lined up candidates to head the IMF while Asia held back, and its silence means it will probably have to wait five more years to break Europe's grip on the top spot. (Reuters)

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Are there real dangers in the Trans Pacific Partnership Idea?   
   

The idea of a Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal, at least among the nine Asia Pacific countries that are currently signed up for the negotiations, has been hyped up over the last year as the Obama administration declared it to be the way forward on a new American engagement with Asia. (East Asia Forum)

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Asia’s fragile oil dependence on the Mideast   

The prospect of continuing Mideast political instability is widely portrayed as a geostrategic problem for the West, particularly the United States. For years, the U.S. has worked with a de facto coalition of authoritarian Arab regimes to contain Iran and protect Israel. The "people power" protests in Tunisia, Egypt and other parts of the region challenge this arrangement. But the rippling unrest and uncertainty in the Middle East also expose the heavy dependence of China, Japan, India, South Korea and other leading Asian economies on the flow of oil from the volatile Persian Gulf.                            (The Japan Times)

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Asia’s New Arms Race   

From the Arabian Sea to the Pacific Ocean, countries fearful of China's growing economic and military might—and worried that the U.S. will be less likely to intervene in the region—are hurtling into a new arms race.      (The Wall Street Journal)

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Climate-related migration ‘a serious threat’   

Climate change-related migration is “a serious threat to the sustainable growth and stability of Asia and the Pacific”, a draft report by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has warned. (Democratic Voice of Burma)

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