Asia

The Vietnam War ranks among the 20th century’s most momentous and horrendous calamities. The United States, in a desperate bid to roll back the spread of communism and to curtail the unification of a divided Vietnam, let loose the full might of its unparalleled arsenal on a penurious peasant society. The record of this carnage is extensively documented. Much less is known about South Korean involvement in this disaster. This article provides an in-depth analysis of South Korean war crimes, explains why they still matter and explores how their legacy casts a stubborn shadow over Vietnamese-South Korean relations today.

It is difficult to be a neighbor of Russia because one fine morning the missiles may fall and the Kremlin’s policy will try to convince you that this is a “special operation” and everything is happening for your own good. Occupation of Abkhazia in 1992, the Russian-Georgian war in 2008, the annexation of Crimea in 2014, and the invasion of Ukraine in 2022: This is just a small list of Russia’s crimes in the recent past, disguised as a “special operation”. However, unlike in 2008, today the world clearly sees the bloody crimes committed by Russia.

The Pacific Islands and their vast expanse of ocean have never been a major source of traditional military threats. The post-World War Two security architecture of the Pacific has historically been dominated by the United States. Yet today, China’s diplomatic and economic push into the Pacific is incrementally reshaping the strategic landscape. While its presence in the region is not new, Beijing has capitalised on the dissonance between Washington and the Pacific Island nations by steadily and significantly expanding its commercial and geopolitical clout. As a result, ten of the fourteen Pacific Island nations now recognise the One China policy, which warrants considerable attention from the United States and other regional actors such as Australia.