Things are heating up in Solomon Islands. The South Pacific island nation of 700,000 people is gearing up to host its greatest event ever: the 2023 Pacific Games. China has built and financed most of the venues for the games, while Australia paid for dormitories for the 5,000 athletes from 24 countries, and Japan is improving the roads. All this, as the U.S.  reopened its embassy after 30 years, to counter growing Chinese influence in the region.In this bonus episode, hear from two Solomon Islanders on what it's like to be wooed by multiple powers. Dorothy Wickham is a veteran journalist from the Solomons. Jay Bartlett is a leading local entrepreneur, who served as chairman of the country's Chamber of Commerce, and sits on the board of the central bank.In February 2023 they spoke with Simona Grano, associate professor at the University of Zurich and frequent contributor to programs at Asia Society Switzerland, as part of our online series A Closer Look. This is an outtake of that conversation.Watch the full conversation on our website.STATE OF ASIA brings you engaging conversations with leading minds on the issues that shape Asia and affect us all.Stay up-to-date on all events and activities at Asia Society Switzerland: subscribe to the newsletter and support our work by becoming a member.-STATE OF ASIA is a podcast from Asia Society Switzerland.  Season 5, bonus episode 1 - Published: October 10, 2023Host and Producer: Remko Tanis, Programs and Editorial Manager, Asia Society Switzerland

Alexander Gabuev is the Director of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, based in Berlin.In this episode, he talks about having to leave Moscow and how he now gauges what's happening in Russia from abroad. He explains how Russia is out of options and increasingly seems to become a vassal state of China, and he talks about how alienation between China and Russia on one side, and the West on the other, is here to stay – and what that means.Alexander  will speak at the STATE OF ASIA conference in Zurich on November 22, 2023. Find information on how to get tickets on our website.STATE OF ASIA brings you engaging conversations with leading minds on the issues that shape Asia and affect us all.Stay up-to-date on all events and activities at Asia Society Switzerland: subscribe to the newsletter and support our work by becoming a member.-STATE OF ASIA is a podcast from Asia Society Switzerland.  Season 5, episode 2 - Published: October 3, 2023Host: Serena Jung,Program and Communications Director, Asia Society SwitzerlandEditor and Producer: Remko Tanis, Programs and Editorial Manager, Asia Society Switzerland

Bilahari Kausikan is an iconic veteran of diplomacy, with a career of 37 years under his belt at Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He served as Ambassador to Russia, to the UN in New York, and as the Ministry's Permanent Secretary.In this episode, he explains why he's not unhopeful about the state of the world, the fundamental dilemma facing China, and how, as a small country, you can still have agency on the global stage.Bilahari will deliver the annual STATE OF ASIA Address in Zurich, Switzerland, on November 21, 2023. He'll also speak at the STATE OF ASIA conference the following day. Find information on how to get tickets on our website.STATE OF ASIA brings you engaging conversations with leading minds on the issues that shape Asia and affect us all.Stay up-to-date on all events and activities at Asia Society Switzerland: subscribe to the newsletter and support our work by becoming a member.-STATE OF ASIA is a podcast from Asia Society Switzerland.  Season 5, episode 1 - Published: September 19, 2023Host and Producer: Remko Tanis, Programs and Editorial Manager, Asia Society Switzerland

State of Asia, the podcast from Asia Society Switzerland, is back with a new season of engaging conversations with leading minds on the issues that shape Asia and affect us all.The season premieres Tuesday, Sep 19, with a conversation with Bilahari Kausikan, former Ambassador and Permanent Secretary at Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. New episodes follow every other Tuesday.Bilahari, as well as other guests featured this season, will be in Zurich, Switzerland, to speak at our flagship STATE OF ASIA conference on November 21 and 22, 2023. More info here.Over the coming months, special episodes of State of Asia will also bring you insights from some of the many events organised by Asia Society Switzerland.Stay up-to-date on all our activities: subscribe to the newsletter and support our work by becoming a member.State of Asia is a podcast series from Asia Society Switzerland.  Season 5 trailer - Published: September 12, 2023Hosts:Nico Luchsinger, Executive Director, Asia Society SwitzerlandSerena Jung, Program and Communications Director, Asia Society SwitzerlandRemko Tanis, Programs and Editorial Manager, Asia Society SwitzerlandEditor/Producer:Remko Tanis, Programs and Editorial Manager, Asia Society Switzerland

US Ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel, discusses Japan's diplomatic initiatives, America's presence in Asia, and the evolving Japanese society. They explore defense and economic policies, the US military presence in Japan, reinforcing alliances in the Indo-Pacific region, America's presence in Southeast Asia, Japan's clean energy transition, and changing attitudes towards trade and investments.

Evan Feigenbaum, Vice President at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, has a career spanning the highest levels of government, academia, think tanks, and the private sector, covering Central, South, and East Asia. It makes him uniquely qualified to discuss the State of Asia writ large on this final episode of the season.He talks about how China and the US act as 'security narcissists', creating a danger for the whole region, and how other Asian countries are nervously trying to navigate this predicament.Plus: hear why Even calls India a 'dissatisfied power' and why it's a problem that Europe is not being serious about Asia beyond China.STATE OF ASIA brings you engaging conversations with leading minds on the issues that shape Asia and affect us all. We'll be back this fall with a new season. Until then, look out for bonus episodes in this feed, featuring content from other Asia Society podcasts and some of the many events we organise at Asia Society Switzerland.Stay up-to-date on all our activities: subscribe to the newsletter and support our work by becoming a member.-STATE OF ASIA is a podcast from Asia Society Switzerland.  Season 4, episode 6 - Published: July 4, 2023Host: Nico Luchsinger, Executive Director, Asia Society SwitzerlandEditor/Producer: Remko Tanis, Programs and Editorial Manager, Asia Society Switzerland

In this bonus episode of STATE OF ASIA, listen to four experts debate whether Europe should side with the U.S. on China, or carve out its own path in the relationship with Beijing.They participated in an Oxford Debate in front of a live audience in Zurich on June 26, 2023, organised by Asia Society Switzerland. Presenting clear-cut, time-constrained, well-thought-out arguments are:Noah Barkin, Senior Advisor in Rhodium Group's China practice, based in Berlin, Germany.Philippe Le Corre, Senior Fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute's Center for China Analysis, based in Paris, France.Simona Grano, Senior Lecturer in Chinese Studies and Director of the Taiwan Studies Project at the University of Zurich, Switzerland.Marina Rudyak, Assistant Professor at the Institute of Chinese Studies at the University of Heidelberg, Germany.Watch the entire debate here, and learn more about the speakers, on our website.Our Oxford Debate series offers insights into complex issues, presented in short and clear arguments. Find all the debates here.Stay up-to-date on all our activities: subscribe to the newsletter and support our work by becoming a member.STATE OF ASIA brings you engaging conversations with leading minds on the issues that shape Asia and affect us all.-STATE OF ASIA is a podcast from Asia Society Switzerland.  Season 4, episode 5.5 (bonus episode) - Published: June 27, 2023Host and Producer: Remko Tanis, Programs and Editorial Manager, Asia Society Switzerland

Amrita Narlikar is President of the German Institute for Global and Area Studies and Professor of International Relations at the University of Hamburg. She is currently also serving as a co-chair of the T20's Task Force 3, which forms a part of the G20 process under India's Presidency.In this episode, she talks about why the West should engage and cooperate with India a lot more than it's doing now, about the new character of globalised trade, and the unique perspective India brings to its current G20 presidency.STATE OF ASIA brings you engaging conversations with leading minds on the issues that shape Asia and affect us all. New episodes are released every other Tuesday.Stay up-to-date on all our activities: subscribe to the newsletter and support our work by becoming a member.-STATE OF ASIA is a podcast from Asia Society Switzerland.  Season 4, episode 5 - Published: June 20, 2023Host: Serena Jung, Program and Communications Director, Asia Society SwitzerlandEditor/Producer: Remko Tanis, Programs and Editorial Manager, Asia Society Switzerland

Brian Hioe 丘琦欣 is a Taipei-based editor and writer. He is one of the founding editors of New Bloom Magazine, an online magazine covering activism and youth politics in Taiwan and Asia Pacific. He is a non-resident fellow at the University of Nottingham’s Taiwan Studies Programme, as well as a freelance journalist and translator. He also writes regularly for The Diplomat on Taiwan.He tweets on all things Taiwan, sometimes by the minute,  @brianhioe.In this episode, Brian talks about how people in Taiwan experience the rise and fall, but mostly rise, in cross Strait tensions – which have been a given on the island for decades now. And he looks ahead at the upcoming presidential election. While the world sees Taiwan mainly as a powder keg in the midst of China / U.S. strife, many voters also look at domestic issues like lackluster economic growth.STATE OF ASIA brings you engaging conversations with leading minds on the issues that shape Asia and affect us all. New episodes are released every other Tuesday.Stay up-to-date on all our activities: subscribe to the newsletter and support our work by becoming a member.-STATE OF ASIA is a podcast from Asia Society Switzerland.  Season 4, episode 4 - Published: June 6, 2023Host and Producer: Remko Tanis, Programs and Editorial Manager, Asia Society Switzerland

Huong Le Thu is a non-resident fellow with the Southeast Asia program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. She's a prolific writer and influential voice on Southeast Asia and its role in the region.In this episode, she talks about Southeast Asia's positioning in the great power competition between China and the U.S., and what opportunities can arise from it for both the region as a whole and for countries like Vietnam individually.The essay  'How to Survive a Great-Power Competition' she wrote for the latest issue of Foreign Affairs, which is referred to in the podcast, can be found here.STATE OF ASIA brings you engaging conversations with leading minds on the issues that shape Asia and affect us all. New episodes are released every other Tuesday.Stay up-to-date on all our activities: subscribe to the newsletter and support our work by becoming a member.-STATE OF ASIA is a podcast from Asia Society Switzerland.  Season 4, episode 3 - Published: May 23, 2023Host: Serena Jung, Program and Communications Director, Asia Society SwitzerlandProducer: Remko Tanis, Programs and Editorial Manager, Asia Society Switzerland