As the 2022 ASEAN leaders’ summit convenes in Cambodia, Hoang Hai Ha and Le Lena argue in their co-authored brief that ASEAN should bolster its collective diplomacy with other regional powers as the bloc navigates an increasingly bitter US-China rivalry in their region. Finally, we highlight our members’ activities.

Anastasia Barannikova, Research Fellow at ADM Nevelskoy Maritime State University (Vladivostok, Russia), warns that we cannot rule out indirect repercussions from the war in Ukraine on Russia’s nuclear weapons posture in Northeast Asia. She argues that threats could materialize in the future that may see Russia revising its nuclear weapons strategy in the region, but for now, Russia’s role will most likely be limited to supporting China while responding to United States military activities.

Salman Bashir, former Foreign Secretary of Pakistan, examines the wider regional and global geopolitical entanglements of China, India, and Pakistan and the prospects for promoting regional stability and avoiding nuclear conflict. Read Bashir’s report.

Feroz Hassan Khan, a former Brigadier in the Pakistan Army, warns that strategic stability at the China-India-Pakistan trijunction remains tenuous. Read Khan’s thoughts.

Prakash Menon, Director of the Strategic Studies Programme at the Takshashila Institution in Bangalore, proposes a Global No First Use Treaty governing nations’ nuclear weapons arsenals in South Asia and beyond. Read Menon’s analysis.

The 40th and 41st ASEAN Summits are underway in Cambodia this week. Hoang Hai Ha, Associate Professor at the Hanoi National University of Education, and Le Lena, Lecturer at Vietnam National University-Hanoi, assess ASEAN’s volatility and vulnerability and how the Association might best balance its interests in the midst of an intensifying US-China great power rivalry in Southeast Asia.

The Institute for Security and Technology (IST) invites you to join a conversation on nuclear risk reduction and crisis communication with Dr. Tong Zhao, APLN board member and Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, alongside Dr. Todd Sechser and Dmitry Stefanovich. IST Senior Defense Associate Leah Walker will moderate. The webinar will be held on Wednesday, November 16th from 10:00-11:00 a.m. EST.