The streets in New York’s Chinatown are narrow. Packed with humanity, loud conversations and small businesses — noodle restaurants, laundries and foot massage bars — they spill out the sounds and smells of East Asia. Some 100,000 people live in this part of Manhattan Island, which lies between fashionable Tribeca and the Lower East Side, […]
Read MoreRecent reports
Recent reports by Humphrey Hawksley for the BBC, YaleGlobal Online, Asian Affairs, and Nikkei Asian Review.
Playing the long game
The re-election success of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi comes at a unique time for his country because Western democracies are continuing their inward naval-gazing and the world stage is crying out for new players with bold ideas. In his first term, Modi blazed an international trail through the sheer force of his personality and […]
Read MoreHow small nations can stand up to China
Beijing and Moscow haven’t always seen eye to eye. But, assisted by U.S. President Donald Trump’s belligerence, they are putting aside old suspicions and finding new opportunities for cooperation. The vast expanse of the Arctic Ocean is a case in point. Among the most significant practical achievements of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Russia […]
Read MoreNationalism endangers global security
Recent elections in India and Europe, societies with a range of cultures and levels of wealth, have provided further proof that the concept of a global society, with shared values, is retreating into one dominated by sovereignty and the nation state. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on his Hindu nationalist ticket, won an even bigger […]
Read MoreEast Asia’s weakest link
The American-led pushback against Chinese expansion has exposed a critical vulnerability in the Asia-Pacific which Washington believes needs urgent resolution. Security analysts argue that the failure of its two staunchest Asian allies, Japan and South Korea, to resolve historical grievances puts at risk long-term US regional power-projection.Until this is settled, there can be no creation […]
Read MoreA window into old Southeast Asia
There is much swirling debate at the moment about the rise of China, the cohesion of Asia and the writing of an alternative world order. Whether the threat comes from North Korea’s nuclear weapons or stealth espionage through the Chinese tech giant Huawei, the global commentariat is having a field day. Their arguments range from […]
Read MoreShould the West trust Chinese technology?
David Foster hosted Humphrey on a TRT Roundtable discussion together with Dr Tim Stevens lecturer in global security at King’s College London, Mary-Ann Russon technology journalist, and joining them from Taiwan, Ross Darrell Feingold, an Asia political risk analyst.
Read MoreIs the West wrong about Russia?
What are we to make of Russia? A major player on the world stage undoubtedly, but what really is Putin power? And is he being unfairly painted as the bogeyman of the east? David Foster hosted Humphrey on a TRT Roundtable discussion together with Ben Nimmo, who investigates Russian disinformation campaigns at the Atlantic Council, Alexander […]
Read MoreBrexit weakens Europe and is against US interests
In 1884 Commodore Stephen Luce founded the United States Naval War College arguing that the one and only way to avert war was to be fully prepared for it. A century later, Ronald Reagan took up a similar argument with his ‘peace through strength’ catchphrase that gave the West victory over Soviet communism in the […]
Read MoreAsia must learn from the Brexit chaos
Once a confident nation that ran an empire on which the sun never set, Great Britain is today a fractious place, split within families, villages, Parliament and from cabinet post to cabinet post. Meanwhile, many in Asia are shaking their heads, wondering what is going on and how much they should care about or plan […]
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