Asia Insight

From July 16–29, 2026, China will host the APEC Digital Weeks in Chengdu, bringing together policymakers and technology leaders to discuss the future of the digital economy and artificial intelligence across the Asia-Pacific. With that as the backdrop, today’s Asia Insight features NBR Senior Director of Research and Programs Doug Strub sitting down with NBR Nonresident Fellows Nigel Cory and Emil...

From the National Bureau of Asian Research, an Asia Insight miniseries examining the future of foreign policy through the lens of emerging leadership in South and Southeast Asia. This fourth episode features Dr. Ann Marie Murphy of Seton Hall University sitting down with Dr. Nur Shahadah Jamil and Ms. Ariel Tan to discuss Malaysia’s emerging generation of political leaders and the factors influenc...

From the National Bureau of Asian Research, an Asia Insight miniseries exploring the geostrategic significance of China’s borderlands, led by Nadège Rolland, Distinguished Fellow for China Studies at NBR. Episode Nine: On Edge: Security at China’s Borderlands This ninth episode unpacks how the concept of “comprehensive national security” has been shaping China’s new security posture in its borderl...

2026 marks 20 years of  Asia Policy , NBR’s peer-reviewed scholarly journal presenting policy-relevant academic research on the Asia-Pacific that draws clear and concise conclusions useful to today’s policymakers. This Asia Insight episode features NBR President Michael Wills in conversation with two members of the Asia Policy Editorial Board, Dr. Mike Green and Dr. Jessica Chen Weiss, on what bri...

From the National Bureau of Asian Research, an Asia Insight miniseries examining the future of foreign policy through the lens of emerging leadership in South and Southeast Asia. This third episode features Dr. Christopher Clary of the University at Albany sitting down with Dr. Rajni Gamage and Dr. Bhagya Senaratne to discuss Sri Lanka’s emerging generation of political leaders and the factors inf...

From the National Bureau of Asian Research, an Asia Insight miniseries exploring the geostrategic significance of China’s borderlands, led by Nadège Rolland, Distinguished Fellow for China Studies at NBR. Episode Eight: Arteries of Power This eighth episode of the Borderlands podcast miniseries explores one of the most visible manifestations of China’s growing engagement with its neighbors—infrast...

From the National Bureau of Asian Research, an Asia Insight miniseries examining the future of foreign policy through the lens of emerging leadership in South and Southeast Asia. This second episode features Dr. Ann Marie Murphy of Seton Hall University sitting down with Dr. Leonard Sebastian and Mr. Muhammad Waffaa Kharisma to discuss Indonesia's emerging generation of political leaders and the f...

2026 marks 20 years of Asia Policy , NBR’s peer-reviewed scholarly journal presenting policy-relevant academic research on the Asia-Pacific that draws clear and concise conclusions useful to today’s policymakers. This Asia Insight episode features NBR Senior Director of Research and Programs Doug Strub in conversation with Dr. Evan Medeiros and Mr. Gerard DiPippo as they discuss Dr. Mederios’ late...

From the National Bureau of Asian Research, an Asia Insight miniseries examining the future of foreign policy through the lens of emerging leadership in South and Southeast Asia. This first episode features Dr. Christopher Clary of the University at Albany sitting down with Dr. Rohan Mukherjee and Mr. Bashir Ali Abbas to discuss India’s emerging generation of political leaders and the factors infl...

In this new Asia Insight miniseries, Next in Line: Rising Leaders and Foreign Policy in South and Southeast Asia examines how a new generation of political leaders is shaping foreign policy across a strategically vital region amid intensifying U.S.-China competition. Across six episodes, leading experts analyze how domestic pressures and international dynamics are converging to influence the forei...

From the National Bureau of Asian Research, an Asia Insight miniseries exploring the geostrategic significance of China’s borderlands, led by Nadège Rolland, Distinguished Fellow for China Studies at NBR. Episode Seven: Liquid Borders This seventh episode describes China’s position as a “hydro-hegemon,” considers how transboundary rivers can be used either as sources of transborder cooperation or...

As part of The Evolution of AI Governance and Regulation in the Indo-Pacific project at NBR, this Asia Insight episode features NBR Senior Director of Research and Programs Doug Strub sitting down with Mr. Renan Araujo and Ms. Husan Chahal as they discuss AI risks and the role of multilateral organizations in AI governance. Renan Araujo is the Director of Programs at the Institute for AI Policy an...

As part of The Evolution of AI Governance and Regulation in the Indo-Pacific project at NBR, this Asia Insight episode features NBR Senior Director of Research and Programs Doug Strub sitting down with Mr. Nigel Cory and Dr. Karryl Kim Sagun Trajano as they discuss AI governance in Southeast Asia, and opportunities and challenges for ASEAN countries to collaborate with the United States in shaping...

From the National Bureau of Asian Research, an Asia Insight miniseries exploring the geostrategic significance of China’s borderlands, led by Nadège Rolland, Distinguished Fellow for China Studies at NBR. Episode Six: In Russia's Shadow This sixth episode unpacks how China has managed to significantly increase its presence in Central Asia across four key domains (political, economic, people-to-peo...

This first Asia Insight episode of 2026 features NBR President Michael Wills in discussion with NBR colleagues Jeremy Rausch, Nadège Rolland, and Doug Strub on their outlooks for U.S.-Asia policy and the Indo-Pacific more broadly in the year ahead. Jeremy Rausch is Director of Political and Security Affairs at NBR. Nadège Rolland is Distinguished Fellow for China Studies at NBR. Doug Strub is Seni...

From the National Bureau of Asian Research, an Asia Insight miniseries exploring the geostrategic significance of China’s borderlands, led by Nadège Rolland, Distinguished Fellow for China Studies at NBR. In this special episode, NBR Project Manager Alayna Bone sits down with NBR Distinguished Fellow for China Studies Nadège Rolland to look back at NBR’s Mapping China’s Strategic Space: Borderland...

From the National Bureau of Asian Research, an Asia Insight miniseries exploring the geostrategic significance of China’s borderlands, led by Nadège Rolland, Distinguished Fellow for China Studies at NBR. Episode Five: The Himalayan Rim China’s growing economic and political power is redrawing the map of South Asia as a cluster of countries centered around its Himalayan borderlands, connecting its...

From the National Bureau of Asian Research, an Asia Insight miniseries exploring the geostrategic significance of China’s borderlands, led by Nadège Rolland, Distinguished Fellow for China Studies at NBR. Episode Four: The Great Wall of Villages Since 2016, China has been building or refurbishing several hundreds of so-called “xiaokang (well-off) villages” along its Borderlands, complete with new...

This episode of Asia Insight complements an ongoing NBR initiative examining Indo-Pacific approaches to digital regulations and competition policy, with this episode focusing on Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) enforcement activities targeting U.S. firms, featuring NBR Senior Director of Research and Programs Doug Strub in conversation with NBR Advisor Tami Overby and NBR Nonresident Fellow Nige...

From the National Bureau of Asian Research, an Asia Insight miniseries exploring the geostrategic significance of China’s borderlands, led by Nadège Rolland, Distinguished Fellow for China Studies at NBR. Episode Three: The Opening-Up/Securitization Paradox Since the early 1990s, China’s borderlands have played a crucial role in the central government’s "opening-up" program. However, starting in t...

On this episode of Asia Insight, NBR Senior Director of Research and Programs Doug Strub sits down with NBR Advisor Meredith Miller and SAFE Senior Policy Analyst Zoe Oysul to discuss U.S. and Indonesian critical minerals strategies and opportunities and challenges for the two countries to work together within the larger geopolitical context. Meredith Miller is a member of the Board of Advisors at...

From the National Bureau of Asian Research, an Asia Insight miniseries exploring the geostrategic significance of China’s borderlands, led by Nadège Rolland, Distinguished Fellow for China Studies at NBR. Episode Two: A Hundred Years of CCP Borderlands Policies The Chinese Communist Party’s borderlands policies fluctuated over time since its founding, alternating between periods of gradual integra...

In this episode of Asia Insight, we explore a recent NBR research project that examined the cumulative impact of three trends—the evolution of the Indo-Pacific geopolitical landscape, recurring questions about U.S. alliance commitments, and domestic political debates on nuclear armament—on the sustainability of U.S. extended deterrence and nuclear restraint in Australia, Japan, and South Korea. Za...

From the National Bureau of Asian Research, an Asia Insight miniseries exploring the geostrategic significance of China’s borderlands, led by Nadège Rolland, Distinguished Fellow for China Studies at NBR. Episode One: From Empire to Nation When you look at the People’s Republic of China’s map today, you look roughly at the map of the Qing empire - with the notable exceptions of outer Mongolia, Tai...

This episode of Asia Insight was recorded directly following NBR’s annual Energy Security Workshop in Washington, D.C., on July 22, 2025. NBR advisor and Energy Security Program research director Mikkal Herberg hosts a conversation with Philip Andrews-Speed, Kurt Glaubitz, and Ken Koyama. The four discuss takeaways from the workshop’s presentations on Asia’s LNG (liquified natural gas) landscape a...