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Asia and Pacific

The CSTO and its deployment in Kazakhstan

In October 2007, the CSTO agreed to create a ‘Peacekeeping Force’ that could deploy under a United Nations (UN) mandate, or, within one of its member states without a UN mandate. And in January 2022, the CSTO would, for the first time, deploy collective military forces in the form of ‘peacekeepers’, when violent protests sparked a domestic crisis in Kazakhstan.

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Another year, another Prime Minister: prospects for Japanese foreign policy under Kishida -“selective hawkishness”?

How long Kishida remains in office depends on the potentially uncomfortable choices he will have to make: as the moderate leader of a conservative-dominated party, either his old dovishness will alienate the LDP right or his new hawkishness will alienate the Japanese public.

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The Right to Self-Determination for West Papuans

West Papua has been a territory of Indonesia since it was annexed by the Southeast Asian country in 1962. Before then, it was a Dutch colony and has been a UN Trust territory. However, West Papuans have continuously agitated for independence on the basis of their distinct ethnic, cultural and religious diversity to the majority of Indonesia.

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Humanitarian Implications for the Uyghur Minorities under the Sino-Afghanistan Relationship

Without the international support and any accountability system on China’s repression, the future of the Uyghurs’ liberty – let alone their support via humanitarian aid – seems dubious at best. In the face of the close Sino-Afghanistan relationship, there is also a lower chance for escaping abroad.

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Uncomfortable allies? South Korea’s approach to the Taiwan Strait crisis through the lens of Regional Security Complex Theory

South Korea and Taiwan share surprisingly complex bilateral relations, especially considering that they have so much in common: they are US allies who have experienced far-reaching democratisation and economic growth in the past three decades, they are both former Japanese colonies and they both possess historical links with China.

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