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Economics

China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations signed the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area (CAFTA) 3.0 upgrade at the ASEAN leaders' summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Channel News Asia reported on Oct. 28. 

China, ASEAN: Trade Pact Upgrade To Expand Bloc's Market Access

Politics

Timor‑Leste officially became the 11th member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations during the bloc's annual leaders' summit, Reuters reported on Oct. 25.

Timor-Leste: Country Becomes ASEAN's 11th Member

Association of Southeast Asian Nations member states are disproportionately impacted by U.S. President Donald Trump's imposition of reciprocal tariffs on April 2, The Wall Street Journal reported April 3. 

ASEAN: Southeast Asia Most Severely Impacted Region by U.S. Tariff Hikes

Environment, Science & Technology

Science & Technology

Rice prices are up more than 40% in Southeast Asia since late 2022 amid India's rice export ban instituted on July 20 and El Nino conditions that are reducing rice output from harvests, BenarNews reported on Sept. 29.

Southeast Asia: Food Insecurity on the Rise Amid Rice Export Bans, El Nino

Timor Leste's application to join the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has been accepted, and the country will be admitted in principle pending the completion of an "objective criteria-based road map," The Straits Times reported Nov. 11.

Timor Leste: Country to Become ASEAN's 11th Member State

Security

Military & Security

Asia-Pacific: Among Great Powers

Jose Ramos-Horta was sworn into office as Timor-Leste's new president, and he promised to strengthen ties with China and continue prioritizing regional ties with Indonesia and Australia, The Straits Times reported May 20.

Timor-Leste: President Promises to Deepen Ties With China

Australia

Energy

The Politics of Pipelines

The New Silk Road

Timor Gap, East Timor's state-owned natural gas company, is prepared to sign an $11 billion deal with China's state-owned Exim Bank to fund an onshore liquefied natural gas plant, port and subsea pipeline to the Greater Sunrise gas block, The Australian reported June 25, citing an unnamed source. 

East Timor, China: Island Nation Prepares to Sign $11 Billion Loan for LNG Plant

East Timor has notified Australia that it intends to scrap a maritime border treaty that divides oil and natural gas revenues between the two countries, according to a joint statement released by the two governments Jan. 9, AFP and the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

East Timor: Government To Withdraw From Oil And Natural Gas Treaty With Australia

East Asia Military and Security

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Flight routes.

Cyber

As 2026 approaches, we look back at the previous year and consider the top five patterns and trends as measured by geopolitical impact.

2025: A Geopolitical Review

U.S. President Donald Trump (center) poses for a group photo with the leaders of (L-R) Singapore, East Timor, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei, Indonesia and Laos during the ASEAN leaders summit on Oct. 26, 2025. 

Global Trade

U.S.-China Relations

The summit highlighted the Southeast Asian bloc's attempts to boost internal unity and economic integration amid the U.S.-China rivalry, but it also exposed structural divides and external pressures that hinder unified action and leave ASEAN states vulnerable to coercion.

The Takeaways From the 2025 ASEAN Summit

The flags of the countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, are seen on display.

Malaysia's chairmanship will be pivotal in navigating security risks as well as those from U.S. trade restrictions, potential Chinese economic coercion, and supply chain realignments that threaten ASEAN's cohesion and strategic autonomy.

Previewing Malaysia's 2025 ASEAN Chairmanship

Global Perspectives

Contributor Perspectives

East Timorese Foreign Minister Jose Luis Gutierrez (R) speaks with Australian lawyer Bernard Collaery (L) during a session of the International Court of Justice in 2014.

On July 25, a former Australian Secret Intelligence Services operative and his attorney will go on trial for allegedly disclosing secret information about the agency in an effort to blow the whistle on corruption. 

Oil, Spies and Audiotape in East Timor

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The Geopolitics of the Cook Islands

Environmental Issues

Globalization

In the remote Pacific islands, the world's crises are dulled by distance. But the plight of the Cook Islands -- a grouping of 15 islands at the heart of the South Pacific is a tiny segment of a sweeping arc that sprawls across the Pacific from the Marianas to Polynesia -- is dire. In spite of the fantasies of travelers over the centuries, these islands are not pristine utopias.

A Place Where Geopolitics Fades

Media

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Paris Agreement Emphasizes Shift Away From Oil

The pace of the transition will be decided by how quickly new technologies reach the developing world.

Delegates attend a plenary session at the U.N. climate change summit in Paris on Dec. 9.

The agreement signed Dec. 12 in Paris is just a small part of a broader energy transition driven by technological change.

Climate Agreement Will Only Hasten Transition Beyond Oil

_Energy

Reflections

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's visits to the Asia-Pacific underscore Washington's shifting attention away from trans-Atlantic relations toward trans-Pacific ones.

Washington's Long Turn East

Videos

Dispatch: Chinese Influence Expands in South Pacific

SITUATION REPORTS

China, ASEAN: Trade Pact Upgrade To Expand Bloc's Market Access

Timor-Leste: Country Becomes ASEAN's 11th Member

ASEAN: Southeast Asia Most Severely Impacted Region by U.S. Tariff Hikes

Southeast Asia: Food Insecurity on the Rise Amid Rice Export Bans, El Nino

Timor Leste: Country to Become ASEAN's 11th Member State

Timor-Leste: President Promises to Deepen Ties With China

East Timor, China: Island Nation Prepares to Sign $11 Billion Loan for LNG Plant

East Timor: Government To Withdraw From Oil And Natural Gas Treaty With Australia

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