Asia
Japan controls a 1200km chain of islands that sits across the Chinese navy’s main routes to the Pacific. In peacetime, Chinese warships sail through the gaps legally, but in a war, the Ryukyu Islands could become a giant wall. With China historically sensitive to being hemmed in by foreign powers, how has Japan managed to control the Ryukyus, and what impact does this have on geopolitical strategy?
Read MoreNorth India and South India share a country, but they speak unrelated languages and grew up on very different land. Today the south holds a disproportionate share of India’s wealth while the north holds a growing share of its people, and India’s first census in sixteen years could shift the balance of power between them. So how did these two Indias form, and what does the tension between them mean for India’s place in the world?
Read MoreIf we look at a map of modern Thailand, we’ll see that it’s wedged between former French and British colonies. But if nearly all of southeast Asia was dominated by foreign powers, why is Thailand the exception, and how does this influence its geopolitical dynamics?
Read MoreThe border between India and Bangladesh is a mess. At first glance, it looks basically random, but when we dig into the history and geography of the region, we can find some really fascinating answers. So why are India and Bangladesh divided up like this?
Read MoreMacao is like the Las Vegas of Asia, and China is very happy with it because while it’s a Special Administrative Region just like nearby Hong Kong, Macao has no mass democracy movement. So why is Macao so different from Hong Kong, and how did it become such a hub for gambling?
Read MoreSri Lanka is one of those places that most people have heard of but know next to nothing about. But the country is a fascinating place with a bloody history, and it’s disproportionately important to geopolitics. So what makes Sri Lanka more important than you might expect?
Read MoreMongolia is a genuine multiparty democracy wedged between two enormous authoritarian powers in the form of Russia and China. So how has Mongolia managed to stay free and independent?
Read MoreThe Yellow Sea is one of the most strategically sensitive bodies of water in the world. It's bordered by China, North Korea, and South Korea, and the United States gets pulled in by treaty. The Yellow Sea’s inner gulf, the Bohai, reaches to within about 150 kilometers of Beijing. So how exactly does the Yellow Sea shape geopolitics?
Read MoreBrunei is a tiny absolute monarchy split into two halves on the island of Borneo, bordered on land entirely by Malaysia with its only open frontier facing the South China Sea. It’s the surviving piece of a once vast maritime empire, but today it is approaching a serious economic and political crisis. So why did Brunei shrink to a fraction of its former self, and what is putting its remaining future at risk?
Read MoreAfghanistan has changed a lot in the five years since the US pulled out and the Taliban returned to power, but there’s a good chance you’ve barely heard anything about it. In many ways, Afghanistan has actually stabilized, but it faces some serious humanitarian issues that should be on everyone’s radar. So how is Afghanistan different than it was under US control?
Read MoreThere’s a good chance you’re familiar with the Chinese government’s oppressive treatment of ethnic minorities in places like Tibet and Xinjiang. But if we look far to the south we’ll find the Guangxi Autonomous Region, which hosts the country’s largest ethnic minority and is actively showcased by the Chinese government to exemplify what successful minority integration looks like. So why is Guangxi’s fate different from places like Tibet and Xinjiang, and what does China consider to be successful integration to begin with?
Read MoreThis Southeast Asian country has two names, and using either of them means that you are taking a side. Myanmar is the name most people use for it, but most maps also call it Burma in parentheses. This country is the site of one of the longest and most fragmented civil wars on the planet, and the fight over what to call it is really a part of that war itself. So why does Myanmar, or Burma, have two names, and what can this dynamic tell us about the country’s role in geopolitics?
Read MoreIf you look at a map of North Korea’s nuclear facilities, you might notice that they’re mostly clustered in the west-central part of the country, north of Pyongyang, and along the east coast. But if you look a little closer near the border with China and Russia, you’ll see some unique infrastructure, including a nuclear test site and several undeclared bases that operate intercontinental ballistic missiles. So why would North Korea be putting some of their most sensitive nuclear infrastructure so close to China and Russia?
Read MoreThe Western image of Buddhism as a completely serene and apolitical religion is not really accurate. Buddhist monks have blessed armies. Buddhists have run nationalist political parties and helped commit crimes against humanity. Today, Buddhism is a dominant religion across much of Asia, but how does it actually influence geopolitics?
Read MoreTucked between India and China is a tiny Buddhist kingdom best known for its monasteries, fortresses, and incredible Himalayan landscapes. Bhutan has only about 800000 people, but its critical position with India and China has made it disproportionately important in the realm of geopolitics. So why has such a small country managed to stay independent between two major powers, and what impact does Bhutan actually have on the world?
Read MoreFor almost as long as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has existed, Pakistan has been one of its closest allies. In fact, many consider this relationship to be one of the closest friendships between any two countries in the world. But in 2025, the two countries signed a Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement to codify this relationship for the first time. This is an important geopolitical shift. Let’s talk about why.
Read MoreThe country of Timor-Leste is Asia’s youngest state, having restored its independence in 2002 after 24 years of Indonesian occupation. But Timor-Leste is increasingly being courted by Indonesia, China, Australia, Japan, and the US despite occupying only half of a single island. So what makes Timor-Leste so interesting to the region’s far more powerful stakeholders?
Read MoreVietnam is the only country on Earth that has top-tier strategic partnerships with China, Russia, the United States, Britain, and France. That’s all five permanent members of the UN Security Council, plus many more like India, Japan, South Korea, and Australia. All of these countries view Vietnam as a strategic partner, even if they don’t get along very well with Vietnam’s other allies. So how did Vietnam become so universally attractive to other countries?
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