Greg Lowe

Senior delegates at the Shangri-La Dialogue held in Singapore last weekend say that Asia-Pacific nations must renew their efforts to form a coherent and collaborative response to the region's complex security risks and potential for instability. Food and energy security, ethnic conflicts, insurgencies and rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula were key issues discussed at the high-level regional forum.
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BANGKOK -- Anti-government protesters have conditionally accepted Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's roadmap for national reconciliation in a move that is expected to end the rallies that have paralyzed parts of the capital for months. However, opinions are mixed over whether the plan can bring lasting peace to a country whose unity has become increasingly fractured along lines of wealth, development and the urban/rural divide.
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The state of emergency declared in Bangkok late on Wednesday night has done little if anything to calm Thailand's escalating political tensions. The Emergency Decree issued by Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva was meant to "return normalcy" as well as "safety and security" to Bangkok. But the "Red Shirt" supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra remain defiant, confronting Abhisit with a growing crisis of legitimacy.
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BANGKOK -- Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen's recent appointment of Thailand's former premier, Thaksin Shinawatra, as an economic adviser was the diplomatic equivalent of precision bombing, whose shockwaves have sent relations between the neighboring Southeast Asian nations into a tailspin. more

When Thai security forces recently raided the offices of a human rights group in the country's insurgency-torn south, it may have been business-as-usual for a military with a checkered human rights record. But a report released last week by the International Commission of Jurists shows this is part of a disturbing global trend, adding urgency to President Obama's pledge to shift American policy.
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