Asia Matters Podcast

The US and India are the world's two biggest democracies - and the relationship between them is one  of the world's most important bilateral partnerships. In political, economic and security terms, the two countries have grown closer and closer over the past two decades, with the Trump administration hailing a period of "remarkable growth" in 2020. Of course, it's no coincidence that this convergence has happened as a third power - China - continues to increase its reach and influence in the wider region - a rise both the US and India would prefer to see contained. So with President-elect Biden set to take charge imminently, what does the future hold for the US-India alliance? How will his relationship with Narendra Modi shape the wider Asian region in the decades to come? To discuss all this, our inaugural episode of 2021 draws on the insights of two remarkable guests. Nirupama Rao, a former Indian foreign secretary who has also served as Indian ambassador to both the US and China, has had a ringside seat to all these developments.  She joins Raja Mohan, widely acknowledged as one of the most perceptive commentators around on Indian strategic affairs; he is a contributing editor for The Indian Express, and Director of the Institute of South Asian Studies in Singapore. Also joining us from Singapore is our guest host, journalist and writer James Crabtree, himself an India specialist, and an associate professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.  For more on this episode, including a reading list, check out our website asiamatterspod.com, where you can also give us feedback and subscribe to our mailing list.

Southeast Asia is becoming an increasingly important geopolitical battleground - and so this week, we put the region's complex relations with China in the spotlight. Although many ASEAN nations have deepened their economic ties with Beijing in recent years, there remains a fair bit of wariness towards China's expansion of interests in the region. And of course, responses vary dramatically among individual countries - with factors like historical experience, trade relations, and security dynamics all coming into play. From China's perspective, as it seeks to cement its status as a regional - and even global - superpower, its strategy in Southeast Asia is increasingly important. It recently pledged to 'deepen cooperation with ASEAN' and 'maintain peace and stability' - but can this be taken at face value? How will China's economic interests in the region interact with some of its security disputes there? And what does China's growing influence mean for the US in the Indo-Pacific? This episode is a collaboration with Chatham House’s Asia-Pacific programme. Our guest-host Bill Hayton is joined by Pon Souvannaseng from Bentley University, and The Diplomat website's Sebastian Strangio, to talk about how closer ties with China are being seen from within the ASEAN nations themselves. Then, to get a sense of what China's strategy in the region might be, we speak to Enze Han from the University of Hong Kong.  For more on this episode, including a reading list, please go to our website www.asiamatterspod.com, where you can also give us feedback and subscribe to our mailing list.

It took a little longer than expected but we finally know who the next American president will be: Democratic candidate Joe Biden.  The Trump era is drawing to a close then, though some of his policies' repercussions in Asia may well last longer than their instigator. The heightened tensions with China, and his unprecedented one-on-one meetings with North Korea's Kim Jong-un, are perhaps the most memorable. His presidency was also characterised by a lack of engagement with regional multilateral forums like ASEAN. So what sort of situation will the future President Biden inherit in the region - what will he choose to change - or indeed what might he decide to keep? In this episode, we've partnered with the IAFOR research centre at Osaka University in Japan to investigate what the US election outcome means for East and South East Asia. We're joined by a stellar group of guests - from Seoul, Jaewoo Choo, professor of Chinese foreign policy at Kyung Hee University; from Jakarta, Dewi Fortuna Anwar, research professor at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences; and from London Yuka Kobayashi, who’s an assistant professor in China and International Politics at SOAS. For more on this episode, including a reading list, please go to our website asiamatterspod.com, where you can also give us feedback and subscribe to our mailing list.

When Joko Widodo, widely known as Jokowi, became president of Indonesia in 2014, it completed a stunning rise for a political outsider who had spent much of his previous life running a furniture making company.With his mastery of retail politics and business know-how, Jokowi seemed set to cut through the bureaucracy and corruption that have bedevilled the development of Indonesia, one of the world’s most populous nations with around a quarter of a billion people.Six years on, and now into his second term as president, it’s time for a report card on Jokowi’s presidency. In this episode, we are joined by Ben Bland (@benjaminbland), a long time journalist and now director of the South East Asia programme at the Lowy Institute. Ben’s recently published book ‘Man of Contradictions’ charts Jokowi’s rise and assesses his presidency to date, explaining why he has disappointed so many expectations both at home and abroad. Later in the programme Dewi Fortuna Anwar, a former senior official and research professor at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, gives us the view from inside the country of why it has been so hard for Jokowi to achieve his goals. For more on this episode, including a reading list, please go to our website asiamatterspod.com, where you can also give us feedback and subscribe to our mailing list.

This week's episode is a deep dive on a company that's transforming not just Asia, but arguably the entire global tech sector - Japan's Softbank. Even if you've never heard of Softbank, you'll have heard of the companies it's invested in - from Alibaba to Uber to Tiktok owner Bytedance - and more recently, and disastrously, US property firm WeWork. Phred Dvorak, a special correspondent with the Wall Street Journal in Tokyo, joins us to discuss the rise of the company and its charismatic founder, Masayoshi Son. Then we step back and look at Softbank's impact on the world with Steve Kaplan, professor of entrepreneurship and finance at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Like so many other companies Softbank has suffered big losses as the global economy reels from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. But with its $100 billion Vision Fund, set up three years ago with the backing of the Saudi Arabian government, Softbank looks set to remain a major force for years to come. As ever, let us know what you think - leave a review, or get in touch with us directly at feedback@asiamatterspod.com. And there's plenty more details and content on our website at asiamatterspod.com.Support the show (https://paypal.me/asiamatterspod?locale.x=en_US)

In the second of our special editions recorded at the Association for Asian Studies' annual conference, we turn our focus to India. Our guest is Pratap Mehta (@pbmehta), one of the country's best-known public intellectuals, who's also the former president of the Centre for Policy Research. India has the world's second-highest coronavirus caseload and has been averaging 90,000 cases daily in recent weeks. So how has the pandemic changed Indian politics, both at the domestic and international level? What are the main challenges confronting Narendra Modi's government - or could these strange times even present it with new opportunities? As in other countries, in some areas the pandemic has not so much altered as revealed the way things really operate. India, long seen as a key democratic ally to the West, is grappling with internal issues of identity, belonging and justice; and externally, trying to carve out a place for itself in the post-pandemic global world order. Our guest presenter this week is Yuka Kobayashi, political scientist at SOAS in London.As ever, do let us know what you think of this episode - you can leave a review on your favourite podcast platform, and get in touch with us at feedback@asiamatterspod.com. And there's plenty more details and content on our website at asiamatterspod.com.Support the show (https://paypal.me/asiamatterspod?locale.x=en_US)

South Asian countries are facing a double whammy -- the effects of the global pandemic and an increasingly urgent battle against pollution and the effects of climate change. The World Bank predicted in the spring that the region would suffer its worst economic performance in four decades this year. Severe flooding in recent weeks has further damaged prospects.In this episode, recorded as part of the annual conference of the Association for Asian Studies, we discussed these issues with two experts. Mushfiq Mobarak, a professor of economics at Yale University, has been advising the Bangladeshi and Nepalese governments on their response to the pandemic. And Yamini Aiyar, president and chief executive of the Centre for Policy Research in New Delhi, whose work has long focused on social policy and development.We talk about the policy dilemmas facing governments of countries for which lockdowns can have disastrous side effects, such as a breakdown of food supply chains and the wipe out of household incomes. And we discuss the longer-term impact the pandemic could have as governments divert resources from areas such as environmental protection to deal with rebuilding their economies.Let us know what you think of this episode! Leave a review on your favourite podcast platform and get in touch with us at feedback@asiamatterspod.com. Visit our website at asiamatterspod.com for more details and content!

This week, we present - the inaugural Asia Matters Book Club episode. China has dominated the headlines this summer - and if you're looking for a good book to help you understand the country better, we have three excellent suggestions. The Wall Street Journal's Lingling Wei is back to talk through her new book, Superpower Showdown. Co-authored with her colleague Bob Davis, it's a detailed look at the US-China trade war and what its lasting effects on both countries might be. If you're not in the mood for current affairs, veteran journalist Michael Schuman's Superpower Interrupted: The Chinese History of the World, takes readers back thousands of years. As the name suggests, it's a rundown of the country's history as it's perceived in China itself, rather than by external observers. And finally Bloomberg Economic's chief economist Tom Orlik has written China: The Bubble That Never Pops, to explore the resilience of the modern Chinese economy. Despite years of dire warnings it's on the brink of collapse, it hasn't yet - but why?

This week, in a collaboration with the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation, we turn our attention to Japan - specifically, its foreign policy. Against a backdrop of rising tensions between the US and China, what are Japan's priorities when it comes to managing its relations with the two countries? As the world's third largest economy, it holds considerable clout both within the Asia region and globally. But how can it best utilise this influence, and what does it perceive its role to be within a shifting world order?Andrew is joined by Akio Takahara, a law professor at Tokyo University and an adjunct fellow at the Japan Institute of International Affairs; and Yuka Kobayashi, a China and International Politics scholar at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). 

The world is still very much in the grip of the coronavirus pandemic - but the blame game has already begun. China, where the virus was first reported last December, has been singled out by many countries as the culprit - or scapegoat, depending on your viewpoint. One major consequence of the scramble to apportion guilt has been a surge in anti-Asian sentiment, especially in the US. But how new is this phenomenon there? What are its roots, and how has it changed into what we see today? To discuss this, we're joined by Christine Yano, professor of anthropology at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and President of the Association for Asian Studies (AAS). And we also speak to Jennifer Pan (@jenjpan), a political scientist at Stanford University, about her study on how anti-Chinese discrimination seems to boost support for the Chinese political system among Chinese students in the US.