State of Asia

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State of Asia

Asia Society Switzerland

86 episodes

3 weeks ago

In this episode, we’re gonna take a sweeping look at Southeast Asia's political, economic, and security landscape. The region sits at a geopolitical crossroads, a position that has created huge potential and a delicate balancing act between China and the U.S. As an intrinsically diverse region, different countries pursue different levels of ambition. The difficulties the region has in finding a unified voice are clearly visible daily, whether it is in the ongoing crisis in Myanmar, the enviro...

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In this episode, we’re gonna take a sweeping look at Southeast Asia's political, economic, and security landscape. The region sits at a geopolitical crossroads, a position that has created huge potential and a delicate balancing act between China and the U.S. As an intrinsically diverse region, different countries pursue different levels of ambition. The difficulties the region has in finding a unified voice are clearly visible daily, whether it is in the ongoing crisis in Myanmar, the enviro...

Show more...

News Commentary

Episodes (20/86)

State of Asia

Southeast Asia's Potential: A Reality Check

In this episode, we’re gonna take a sweeping look at Southeast Asia's political, economic, and security landscape. The region sits at a geopolitical crossroads, a position that has created huge potential and a delicate balancing act between China and the U.S. As an intrinsically diverse region, different countries pursue different levels of ambition. The difficulties the region has in finding a unified voice are clearly visible daily, whether it is in the ongoing crisis in Myanmar, the enviro...

3 weeks ago

36 minutes

State of Asia

India's Tightrope: Domestic Strains, Regional Volatility, and Global Ambitions

This episode unpacks a pivotal year for India. Suhasini Haidar, diplomatic editor at The Hindu, explains how Delhi has adapted to unexpected tensions with the U.S., renewed pragmatism toward China, and its enduring reliance on Russia, while preparing for major trade negotiations with Washington and Brussels. Milan Vaishnav, Senior Fellow and Director, South Asia Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, explores India’s internal politics: Modi’s continued dominance, the realities o...

1 month ago

31 minutes

State of Asia

China's Next Chapter

At the 2025 STATE OF ASIA conference, we hosted two conversations focused on China. First, hear from Desmond Shum, entrepreneur, investor, philanthropist, and author of the internationally acclaimed memoir Red Roulette, presenting a rare and authoritative perspective on the intersection of global business and Chinese elite politics. Then, Abigaël Vasselier of the EU's External Action Service, shares her perspectives on China's next chapter and the country's relationship with Europe, in conver...

1 month ago

40 minutes

State of Asia

Tough Choices: Europe and its Middle Power Partners

How is Europe's role evolving amidst a retreating U.S. and a more fragmented global order? With middle powers repositioning themselves for greater agency and partnership, particularly in Asia, is Europe making enough of the new dynamic for cooperation with countries like Japan, South Korea, and Australia on fundamental issues like security, defense, trade, and technological governance? Listen to an engaging conversation, led by the FT's Mercedes Ruehl, with Huong Le Thu of the International C...

1 month ago

35 minutes

State of Asia

The State of the World, with Pita Limjaroenrat and Suhasini Haidar

How do you summarize the state of the world in 20 minutes and still have it make sense? By inviting two excellent speakers to take on that challenge, is what we found out at our annual STATE OF ASIA conference, held November 6 in Zurich. Listen to Pita Limjaroenrat, former Prime Minister-designate of Thailand, in conversation with Suhasini Haidar, diplomatic editor of The Hindu, who kicked off the day-long event with an engaging overview of sobering reflections and possible hopeful ...

1 month ago

21 minutes

State of Asia

2025 State of Asia Address with Pita Limjaroenrat

Pita Limjaroenrat, former Prime-Minister Designate of Thailand and current Visiting Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, delivers the fourth annual State of Asia Address, hosted by Asia Society Switzerland and the University of Zurich. In a packed Aula, he spoke about the period of transition the world finds itself in, with the post-post Cold War era having ended, but a new chapter yet to be written. He laid out what this means for power, progress, and peace in Asia. The full A...

2 months ago

15 minutes

State of Asia

A Closer Look: Vietnam

2025 marks 50 years since Vietnam's reunification. A great moment to reflect on the country's remarkable transformation. Since launching major economic reforms four decades ago, Vietnam has achieved one of the world’s fastest growth rates, attracting global investment as companies shift production from China. Today, it's a lower middle-income nation with bold ambitions to become a developed, high-income country by 2045. But, as Vietnam looks ahead, it faces significant challenges, from how to...

6 months ago

38 minutes

State of Asia

South Korea's Watershed Moment, with Eunwoo Lee

South Korea is heading to the polls to elect a successor to impeached President Yoon, whose failed attempt to put the country under martial law back in December laid bare the deep divisions and gloom that plague Korean society. We talk about all this with Eunwoo Lee in Seoul, from where he writes for The Diplomat. Want more Korea? Join us in Zurich on June 25 for an evening with stellar Korean author Bora Chung. More info and tickets on our website. A solid analysis of the challenges South Ko...

7 months ago

35 minutes

State of Asia

Like Swimming with Piranhas – Entrepreneurial China, with Zak Dychtwald

The defining characteristic of the environment in China has been its pace of change. And that has its impact on the latest generation of Chinese entrepreneurs who need to innovate to meet the tough demands of Chinese consumers. The message is: adapt or get washed away. It's like constantly swimming with piranhas, says Zak Dychtwald, our guest on this episode. The skill to adapt to people's always evolving demands, is increasingly making Chinese companies globally competitive. Zak is the found...

8 months ago

30 minutes

State of Asia

Vietnam at 50, with Bich Tran

Bich Tran, a senior fellow at Verve Research, an adjunct fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and a nonresident fellow at We Protect our Seas, discusses Vietnam's strategies at navigating geopolitical turmoil, while the country celebrates fifty years since its 1975 reunification. Why is the country rapidly increasing and intensifying its diplomatic ties around the world? Can it overcome the challenges and cement its place as Asia's next economic powerhouse, as the gov...

8 months ago

28 minutes

State of Asia

Everything, Everywhere, All at Once

Asia Society Switzerland's Manuela Coldesina (live from Tokyo), Serena Jung, Nico Luchsinger, and Remko Tanis try to discuss everything that happened thus far in 2025 and the insights many experts shared with us over these months in events and podcasts. Impossible? Let's find out. Full recaps and recordings of all our events are available on our website, and on the Asia Society YouTube channel. Stay up-to-date on all future events and activities at Asia Society Switzerland: subscribe to the n...

8 months ago

25 minutes

State of Asia

China's Assertive Insecurity in a Chaotic World, with Selina Ho

Selina Ho, Associate Professor in International Affairs and Co-Director of the Centre on Asia and Globalisation at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, discusses the Southeast Asia trip of Chinese leader Xi Jinping, why she labels China's foreign policy as both assertive and insecure, and why China is using the Korean War of the 1950s to rally its population behind the country's leaders in the current trade war with the United States. Stay up-to-date on ...

9 months ago

34 minutes

State of Asia

Innovation Made in China Will Change the World – Or, Will It?

China's patent applications have surpassed every other country for over a decade and the speed with which technology out of China impresses the world has picked up in the last few years. Its factories churn out cutting-edge electric vehicles packed with futuristic features – so advanced that European carmakers are now partnering with Chinese firms to gain access to their technology. A complete reversal of the old playbook. In renewable energy and green tech, China has leapfrogged to become th...

9 months ago

30 minutes

State of Asia

What's Bonding Beijing and Bern, with Ariane Knüsel

Switzerland was one of the first western nations to recognize the People's Republic of China, in 1950, and one of the first to reach a free trade agreement with Beijing as well, in 2013. Historian Ariane Knüsel explores the special bond between China and Switzerland in Die Schweiz und China, a book she co-authored with Ralph Weber. Ariane spoke at an event in our Talk at the Library series. More info, and her bio, is available here. More on the book Die Schweiz und China is available from the...

10 months ago

22 minutes

State of Asia

Tech and global power, with John Lee

Semiconductors, EVs, AI, TSMC, BYD, DeepSeek... In a time when trade, technology, and global power dynamics are more interconnected and in flux than ever before, we turn to an expert on all those things on this episode: John Lee, a leading voice on high-tech industries in China and the region, and on how they impact foreign relations. John is the 2025 TOY Senior Fellow at Asia Society Switzerland, which means he'll be around frequently this year to explore key global challenges, geopolitics, ...

10 months ago

37 minutes

State of Asia

A Closer Look: Trade

For years, for most of us, news on global trade mostly hid out in the pages of The Wall Street Journal or the Financial Times. Not anymore. as the U.S. is threatening and hitting friend and foe with punitive tariffs. The rules-based system that has been governing global trade seems to be evaporating in front of our eyes. What does that mean for consumers, companies, and governments in Europe and Asia? Hear insights from both continents. Renowned trade policy experts Deborah Elms, Head of Trad...

10 months ago

43 minutes

State of Asia

Economy Watch: Japan, China, and India

Late last year, at our annual STATE OF ASIA conference, we hosted a conversation on the economic developments in Japan, China, and India. After decades of stagnation, Japan’s economy is showing optimism from structural shifts like labor market reforms and wage increases that are finally starting to pay off. In China, growth has peaked and the government is yet to succeed in convincing its population it’s okay to spend money. All the while, India is now the fastest-growing developing eco...

11 months ago

40 minutes

State of Asia

How We Talk About China, with Kaiser Kuo

Kaiser Kuo, host of the long-running Sinica podcast, joins us in Zurich to discuss the evolving narrative on China, and why the West is so often 'stunned' by Chinese breakthroughs in electric vehicles, green technology, or, most recently: AI, with DeepSeek. We explore the reasons behind the challenges of reporting on China, the importance of strategic empathy, and the shifting dynamics of global influence, particularly in relation to American exceptionalism. Recommendations mentioned at...

11 months ago

42 minutes

State of Asia

India and Indonesia: Can They Pull It Off?

India and Indonesia, the juggernaut democracies of South and Southeast Asia, both ended 2024 with new governments that hold new ambitions. How will this pan out in the year to come?We talked about this with Dewi Fortuna Anwar, one of Indonesia’s foremost foreign policy experts; and Garima Mohan, Senior Fellow in the Indo-Pacific Program at the German Marshall Fund. The conversation is moderated by James Crabtree, 2024 TOY Senior Fellow at Asia Society Switzerland, and was recorded at the thir...

11 months ago

32 minutes

State of Asia

An Unprecedented Presidential Arrest in South Korea

We check in with Schoni Song in Seoul, to discuss this morning's unprecedented arrest of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, who is accused of leading an insurrection. How have people in South Korea responded to the news, and what could come next?Schoni is a former colleague at Asia Society and was a speaker in our 2023 webcast A Closer Look at South Korea.-STATE OF ASIA is a podcast from Asia Society Switzerland. Season 8, episode 3 - Published: January 15, 2025Host/Editor: Remko Tan...

12 months ago

11 minutes