As powerful democratic states around the world face increasing strain from an interconnected set of domestic challenges — political, economic, and cultural — as well as uncertainty about American strategy and the implications of emerging technologies, Asia represents a critical frontier for democracy and a major focal point for America’s leadership in the 21st century. […]

Democratic politics is about making government work for the people by giving citizens a voice in government and the ability to remove leaders from office. Corruption is the misuse of public office for private gain. When politicians use their office to enrich themselves or their political allies, they violate the public’s trust and undermine the […]

The nature of the problem In Asia and around the world, disinformation campaigns — perpetrated by foreign actors seeking to shore up power at home and weaken their competitors abroad and by domestic actors seeking political advantage — are increasingly putting pressure on democratic societies. This pressure manifests through several pathways. Democratic societies rest on […]

Introduction A key challenge to democracies in Asia is persistent or rising inequality. The diversity of cases in Asia — characterized by varying levels of economic and political performance — indicates, at best, a complicated relationship between inequality and democracy. To help address this issue, four scholars examine inequality and democratic governance in the Philippines, […]

Since 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has been a stress test for national and international institutions. In particular, governments have been forced to reckon with how effectively their health, economic, and political systems can withstand a crisis and manage its consequences. In 2020, with public health thrust to the forefront of daily discussion and policymaking, many […]

Introduction At the heart of today’s geopolitical competition is a contest over what type of governance model best meets the needs and enables the potential of citizens. Leaders in the United States and other Western capitals have expressed concern about a global democratic recession occurring alongside a resurgence of global authoritarianism. To counter these trends, […]

Executive summary While their shared democratic nature has not been the only driver, it has certainly contributed directly and indirectly to the development of the U.S.-India partnership over the last two decades. Democracy, in various ways, has also been a realm of cooperation between the two countries in the past. It could be in the […]

Executive Summary In May 2018, Malaysians elected a new coalition to power, putting an end to 61 years of a single party’s de facto monopoly on power. Two years later, the democratization many expected has yet to materialize. Structural and contextual factors have plunged the country in a political crisis alongside the health crisis of […]

Executive Summary Australians are proud that their country is one of the first genuine liberal democracies in the modern world. Its democratic institutions and practices have been hailed for its robustness, adaptability, functionality, and resilience. Indeed, Australia has been leading the world when it comes to a public conversation about protecting liberal institutions from subversion […]

Executive Summary This primer characterizes the authoritarian practices of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration and their legacies for liberal democracy in the country. It argues that the policy and rhetoric of the Duterte administration’s war on drugs have created fragile democratic institutions that are prone to abuse of power. It highlights three key areas of […]

Executive Summary Originally touted as a reformer when elected, Indonesian President Joko Widodo has presided over a period of democratic regression and increasing illiberalism. During his tenure it appears that the military is gaining greater ground in the civil-military balance, marked by the appointment of several New Order figures in politics, increased reliance on the […]

Executive Summary Since the late 2000s, regional intergovernmental frameworks and NGO networks have begun to emerge in Asia, demonstrating commitment to the norms and values of democracy. While intergovernmental frameworks have not yet moved beyond verbal commitment, civil society has been steadily forming and developing cross-border networks. The four main drivers for institutional formation are: […]

Executive Summary South Korea has often been touted as a democratic and economic miracle. After decades of authoritarianism, it transitioned into a consolidated democracy and a technologically advanced, economic powerhouse in the past three decades. In recent months, the country has received international praise for its successful tackling of the coronavirus pandemic. Yet South Korean […]

Executive Summary Taiwan has gotten high marks when it comes to holding clean elections and protecting political rights. The public strongly supports democracy in principle and by and large approves the island’s system in practice. When it comes to performance, however, the political system does not do so well. This is partly because of a […]

Executive summary Japan plays a central role in the endeavor to rekindle liberal internationalism. The country boasts one of Asia’s oldest democracies and the fulcrum of institutions and norms of representative democracy: free and fair elections, rule of law, full civil rights, and freedom of the press. Given that stable democracies that have adjusted to […]

The COVID-19 pandemic brings to light the essential role of politics in shaping public health around the world. Some advanced democracies such as the United States have experienced bitter partisan conflict over the public health response, and in many fragile democracies, populist leaders have downplayed the threat of the virus. At the same time, some […]

What do the Hunger Games, Hamtaro (a famous Japanese cartoon), and Harry Potter have in common? All have been referenced in recent Thai protests. For the past three months, tens of thousands of people have been protesting across Thailand. The protesters are mostly students, but their demands are much more serious than their symbols of […]

Former autocrat and self-reinvented democrat Mahathir Mohamad won the 2018 general elections, but less than two years later, the democratic fairy tales ended. In January 2020, under pressure from internal dissenters in his coalition, Mahathir resigned from the government. The old ruling party (United Malay National Organisation, or UMNO) then came back to power in […]

An hour before the toll of the midnight bell on July 1, 2020 — the 23rd anniversary of Hong Kong’s handover to China from British rule — Hong Kong authorities promulgated a new national security law that had been sent from Beijing. The law gave sweeping new powers to authorities to crack down on acts […]

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY A wealth of recent academic analyses and popular discussions about democratic backsliding across the world have identified Southeast Asia as a region that is particularly vulnerable to democratic decline. Taking stock of the comparative experiences of the 11 countries in the region, this essay argues that Southeast Asia is characterized by the decoupling […]

In the months since its effective response to the outbreak of COVID-19, the world has gained a greater appreciation of Taiwan’s capacity for confronting problems. Previously known for its exacting standards in producing the world’s most sophisticated semiconductor chips, Taiwan now also is known for its technocratic competence in protecting its own people. Taiwan is […]

The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is engulfed in a firestorm of suspicion, concern, and criticism from Hong Kong residents and the international community over a contentious decision to adopt national security legislation covering the Hong Kong Special Autonomous Region. PRC law requires public participation in lawmaking, which should apply to the Hong Kong legislation […]

China’s legislature, the National People’s Congress, recently voted to prepare national security legislation that will impose new restrictions on Hong Kong and may threaten the civil and political rights of the people there. To explain what led to this recent escalation and the implications for Hong Kong’s “special status” under U.S. law, David Dollar is […]

Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, was sworn in for a second term at the office of the president on the morning of May 20. Shortly thereafter, she gave her inaugural address to a relatively small audience on the grounds of the nearby Taipei Guest House. Instead of the traditional celebration with thousands of people in the […]

The mood in Taiwan’s presidential office felt funereal as I settled into an overstuffed chair and awaited the arrival of President Tsai Ing-wen for a meeting with an unofficial delegation I was a member of in December 2018. The week prior, Tsai’s political party had experienced a drubbing in local elections, losing 15 out of […]

Unlike virtually every country in the world, Taiwan has weathered the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic admirably well. Taiwan’s governance system has stood firm in the face of crisis, gaining international acclaim for the competence and efficiency of its response to the outbreak. And the people of Taiwan have garnered goodwill through their generosity, […]

Many Taiwan policymakers hold the view that U.S.-China tensions create favorable conditions for closer U.S.-Taiwan relations. As the thinking goes, the less beholden Washington is to maintaining stable relations with Beijing, the more it will be willing to show support for its democratic friends in Taiwan. In the coming months, this proposition may be tested. […]

As Natasha Kassam and Richard McGregor recently observed in The Australian, “The paradox for Xi Jinping’s China is that despite Beijing’s rising economic and military power, Taiwan in many respects has never been so far out of reach.” There presently is negligible support in Taiwan for unification, and even less for the “one country, two systems” […]

We are likely witnessing the end of Hong Kong as we know it. What began as a refugee society after the end of World War II and the civil war victory of the Chinese Communist Party, transformed itself into an international financial center and a prosperous, middle-class metropolis by the 1990s. Hong Kong was also […]

These are not easy times for allies and partners that rely on security protection from the United States. President Trump has taken a wrecking ball to the bedrock principle that America’s word is its bond. Trump has sought to leverage American security commitments to extract better terms from partners on issues ranging from trade to […]

Director’s summary With a dramatic power shift in the Indo-Pacific, the intensification of U.S.-China strategic rivalry, and uncertainty about the United States’ international role, Japan confronts a major stress test. How will Tokyo cope with an increasingly assertive China, an increasingly transactional approach to alliances in Washington, and a growing nuclear and missile capability in […]

The United States is reshaping how it uses foreign aid in order to compete with China. The executive branch and Congress are exploring efforts — some controversial and still few on details — to better leverage foreign aid as a tool to prevail in an era of great power competition. This competition is one over resources, influence and nothing […]

Richard Bush’s recent piece on how and when Hong Kong went awry provides a superb, balanced description of the current situation there and the role — for better or worse — of the various actors. What is unfolding is a Shakespearean tragedy in five acts. Act 1: The United Kingdom creates a fantastically dynamic, business-friendly […]

I spent my high-school years in Hong Kong, and so it has been sad to watch the last three months of demonstrations, violent actions by protesters, violent responses by the police, and the floundering of the Hong Kong government. A fight to the finish between a politically mobilized public and a recalcitrant Hong Kong and […]

Executive Summary Digital authoritarianism — the use of digital information technology by authoritarian regimes to surveil, repress, and manipulate domestic and foreign populations — is reshaping the power balance between democracies and autocracies. At the forefront of this phenomenon, China and Russia have developed and exported distinct technology-driven playbooks for authoritarian rule. Beijing’s experience using […]

For two and a half years, the world has wondered how President Donald Trump would cope with a real international crisis. That crisis may have finally arrived in Hong Kong, as Beijing appears poised to execute a massive, violent crackdown against protesters. And how it’s resolved will matter not just for Trump’s political fortunes—it will […]

The early estimates from Indonesia’s April 17 presidential, legislative, and regional elections have the incumbent, President Joko Widodo, defeating his opponent Prabowo Subianto by a margin of approximately 10 points. If this margin holds, it will amount to a decisive victory for Jokowi, who has now twice defeated Prabowo in a presidential race. The key […]

Inequality is a contentious political issue in Indonesia, and a key theme in the current election campaign leading up to this month’s presidential elections. The incumbent, President Joko Widodo (known as Jokowi), speaks routinely of how his welfare and land redistribution schemes can close the gap between rich and poor. His challenger, Prabowo Subianto, campaigns […]

After nearly a week’s delay, Thailand’s Electoral Commission has announced what can best be called the “official preliminary” results of the March 24 national elections. While it will probably take at least until the final official results are out in early May for a new government to be formed, the outcome already points to an […]

Indonesians will go to the polls in April to elect their next president, national legislature, and many provincial and local governments. This will be Indonesia’s fourth direct presidential election and its fifth parliamentary election since the country democratized in 1999, propitious signs of a consolidated and maturing democracy. But although the 2019 election will mark two […]

Executive Summary Today, authoritarianism has emerged as the greatest challenge facing the liberal democratic world—a profound ideological, as well as strategic, challenge. Or, more accurately, it has reemerged, for authoritarianism has always posed the most potent and enduring challenge to liberalism, since the birth of the liberal idea itself. Authoritarianism has now returned as a […]

Indonesia, a presidential democracy, is the largest Muslim-majority nation in the world and the fourth most populated on earth. It is also the largest nation in Southeast Asia—Indonesia’s archipelago of over 18,000 islands stretches the distance from Seattle to Boston. In this episode, Senior Fellow Jonathan Stromseth interviews Tom Pepinsky, a professor at Cornell University and nonresident […]

A lot is at stake in Thailand’s national elections, to be held on March 24. The first since the last elected government was thrown out in a 2014 coup, they are widely seen as an opportunity for a fresh start after a “lost decade” of squabbling by political elites over the right to rule. The […]

East Asia is home to diverse political regimes, economies, and religions, and is central to global economic trade and growth. But it is also a region increasingly defined by U.S.-China competition. Moving forward, what role Japan will play in upholding a rules-based order, and how will China’s rise influence domestic political trends, particularly in Southeast Asia? […]

Executive Summary The rise of China and the persistence of deep, internal challenges across open societies have created tremendous headwinds for democracy and liberal values globally, threatening U.S. alliances, liberal economic order, and even the political identity of the United States and its democratic partners and allies. Beijing’s “flexible” authoritarianism abroad, digital tools of surveillance […]

Executive Summary Taiwan faces a special and perhaps unique challenge in balancing democracy and security. Its only security threat is the People’s Republic of China (PRC), which has long since declared the objective of “reunification” to end Taiwan’s de facto independence and self-rule, and has refused to renounce the use of force to achieve that […]

Executive Summary This paper explores how growing geopolitical competition in Asia, increasingly defined by Sino-U.S. rivalry, is affecting governance trends in Southeast Asian countries. The paper begins by describing the geopolitical context itself—especially China’s rising influence and related policy initiatives in the region, as well as changes in U.S. policy toward Southeast Asia under the […]

Executive Summary Compared to other advanced democracies in the West afflicted by rising populism, the Japanese polity appears in good health. The country has enjoyed six years of political stability, has experienced moderate economic expansion, and has been spared the deep political and social polarization consuming democracies elsewhere. Hence, the question has arisen as to […]

Executive Summary Hundreds of thousands of South Koreans took to the streets in the fall of 2016 to demand the resignation of then-President Park Geun-hye for corruption, captivating the world with this extraordinary display of peaceful collective action. However, what came to be known as the “candlelight protests” belied the weaknesses of democratic governance in […]