Asia has done a much better job of containing the pandemic. Do values have anything to do with it?
What Explains COVID’s East-West Divide?
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Indonesia
The “Are You Serious?” Awards: Looking Back on 2020
A short review of some of the lesser known absurdities of 2020.
This Year’s Forest Fire Season Could Be Even Deadlier
Countries are using the coronavirus crisis to lift environmental regulations, even as COVID-19 leaves populations more vulnerable to health impacts from fires.
The Corporate Food System Is Making the Coronavirus Crisis Worse
COVID-19 is so dangerous to food security because the global supply chain was insecure to begin with. Could we remake it?
Indonesia’s Journalists Grapple With Islamism
Reporters in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country are navigating — and too often abetting — a rising trend of reactionary Islamism.
To Defeat Trump, ‘the Resistance’ Must Own Up to Its Own White Supremacy
From immigration to climate, the white left’s blind spots have sullied even well intentioned efforts to combat Trump, the far right, and ecological collapse.
Jakarta’s Election and Alternatives to US Policy Towards Muslims
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence arrived in Jakarta near midnight on April 19 just hours after Anies Baswedan won Jakarta’s heated gubernatorial election against the incumbent Basuki Tjahaya Purnawa (better known as Ahok). Outsiders viewed the loss by Ahok, who is the...
Bernie’s Broadsides Against Kissinger Weren’t Even Half of It
At the February 11 Democratic Debate, Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton had a spirited exchange about an unlikely topic: the 92-year old former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. In particular, Sanders berated Clinton for saying that she appreciated the foreign...
Crash of AirAsia Flight QZ8501 a Tragicomedy of Errors
Last December, AirAsia flight QZ8501 crashed into the Java Sea killing 155 passengers and seven crew members. Indonesia’s National Transportation Safety Commission has finally determined the causes. In the Guardian, Kate Lamb explains that an electrical interruption...
Slavery, Genocide, Abuse: The Dark Side of Asia’s ‘Tiger Economies’
A few years ago, Southeast Asia's rapidly growing "tiger economies" were the envy of the world. Today, the area is better known for a trio of maladies: ethnic cleansing, burgeoning inequality, and super-exploited labor. The sorry state of human rights and labor...