In this episode of Southeast Asia Radio, produced by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Gregory B. Poling and Andreyka Natalegawa are joined by Susannah Patton to discuss the Southeast Asia Program’s upcoming Global Alignment Index report. The podcast also covers the latest from Southeast Asia, from updates on U.S.-Cambodia ties to the Philippines assuming the ASEAN chairmanship.

In an article for Al Jazeera, Erin Hale gives an overview of the upgraded ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement, which will broaden collaboration on infrastructure, digital and green transitions, trade facilitation, and people to people exchanges, as trade between both parties grow under Trump's trade wars.

In an article for New Mandala, Amelie Katczynski reflects on Laos' internal public health developments, which pursues a vision of socialist health care that emerged during the Lao revolution. Yet, as challenges persist, Lao nursing students train to be vanguards of health development, training beyond nursing skills, playing the role of developing citizens and citizen-developers.

In this episode of Southeast Asia Radio, produced by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Gregory B. Poling and Elina Noor are joined by Brian Eyler and Prashanth Parameswaran to discuss President Trump’s visit to Malaysia during the ASEAN Summit. The podcast also covers the latest from Southeast Asia, including mass scam operations in Cambodia and Myanmar’s upcoming general elections.

In a brief by the Asia Society Policy Institute, Bryanna Entwistle and Shay Wester cover President Trump’s first stop on his Asia tour: the ASEAN Leaders' Summit in Kuala Lumpur. On the sidelines, he presided over the signing of a number of deals, including a ceasefire deal between Thailand and Cambodia, and “reciprocal trade” deals with Malaysia and Cambodia, respectively.

In an article for Mekong Independent, Ly Lin and Danielle Keeton-Olsen discuss the license suspensions of more than a dozen casinos in Cambodia, several of which are suspected of involvement in spiraling global scam operations, following international sanctions and mounting pressure. Some of the casinos on the list of 14 suspensions have links to the recently sanctioned entities, such as Cambodian Heng Xin Real Estate Investment Co. Ltd., and Jin Bei Group Co. Ltd.

In an article for East Asia Forum, Ronald Tundang discusses gaps in ASEAN's health systems, which leave millions without reliable access to essential medicines. Tundang proposes that, to bridge regional gaps, ASEAN's least developed countries could follow the "ASEAN Minus X" model to establish a sub-regional facility, combining a patent-licensing hub with pooled procurement, which would facilitate WTO-compliant licensing, aggregate demand, and uphold quality benchmarks.

In this episode of Southeast Asia Radio, produced by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Gregory B. Poling and Elina Noor discuss Greg’s section of the recent CSIS compendium, “Navigating Disruption: Ally and Partner Responses to U.S. Foreign Policy.” The podcast also covers the latest from Southeast Asia, from protests to contaminated shrimp.

In an article for the New York Times, Emily Anthes interviews Joshua Plotnik, who has been studying Asian elephant cognition for 20 years. In his research at Salakpra Wildlife Sanctuary Thailand, his team had created personality profiles to direct mitigation tactics toward each  particular elephant's personality.

In an article for East Asia Forum, Shiro Armstrong discusses Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs and ASEAN’s response, where the latter avoided retaliation, which would worsen economic consequences, and instead communicated a coordinated, non-retaliatory response to the tariffs.

In an article for Mekong Independent, Gerald Flynn discusses Thailand's decision to delay the decommissioning of several coal-fired units at the 2,400-megawatt Mao Moh power plant, which has sparked health related worries amongst the community, as the plant is Thailand's largest carbon dioxide pollution project.

In a paper for SSRN (the Social Science Research Network), NYSEAN Member Haakon Huynh analyzes the political economy of AI infrastructure in Vietnam, focusing on how the Vietnamese state regulates data centers and cloud services while increasing reliance on foreign capital and expertise.

In an article for Asia Sentinel, Toh Han Shih discusses a US Department of Justice case involving an online scam allegedly operated by a Cambodian conglomerate, Prince Holding Group, and its founding chairman, Vincent Chen Zhi. The case constitutes a growing recognition of the nature of the cybercrime threat from Cambodia, which costs Americans up to $10 billion annually and produces hundreds of thousands of human trafficking victims  across the world, particularly in the US, China, and the EU.

In this paper published by NYSEAN Partner ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, Angel Hsu and Silvia Landa discuss how the US government has withdrawn both domestically and globally from climate and clean energy engagement. This withdrawal has been marked by a dismantling of foreign development assistance, proposed rollbacks of the Inflation Reduction Act, and aggressive tariffs. They assert that these policy shifts undermine the possibility of bilateral clean energy and climate collaboration with Southeast Asian nations.

In this episode of Southeast Asia Radio, produced by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Gregory B. Poling and Elina Noor are joined by Ken Mathis Lohatepanont to discuss the latest updates from Thailand, including the new Bhumjaithai-led government, the fate of the Shinawatras, and the snap elections scheduled in early 2026.

In an article for East Asia Forum, Gerhard Hoffstaedter discusses China's rising influence over area studies, particularly in Southeast Asia. What was once an area dominated by Western scholars has shifted, in light of funding cuts and shifting government priorities by the US, UK, EU, and Australia. The shift towards Chinese advancements in this area constitutes a fundamental rebalancing of global knowledge production with profound geopolitical implications.

In an article by East Asia Forum, Mari Pangestu and Julia Tijaja discuss the need for ASEAN to strengthen regional resilience in light of geopolitical tensions and the negative effects of US tariffs on the region's economy. By deepening regional integration, fully implementing RCEP, coordinating and addressing reforms and priorities, ASEAN may turn these issues into an opportunity for growth and leadership.