Policy Pathways to Strengthen Value Chain Participation By Mehmet Enes Beşer Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of Southeast Asia’s economy. SMEs consist of over 97% of the total number of firms and add significantly to employment and GDP of ASEAN nations. But in spite of all their dynamism and compactness, ASEAN SMEs are still firmly under-connected into ...
If Cambodia is to chart its own independent path, then it will have to diversify its alliances, improve institutional governance, and balance the benefits of Chinese engagement with broader regional and global cooperation. By Mehmet Enes Beşer There is no other nation-state that comes close to equaling the breadth and depth of Chinese engagement in the Cambodian international relations world. ...
From its peak of economic and military power in the Med in 200 BC, Rome took several centuries to decline and fall. It won’t be so long in the modern capitalist world. By Michael Roberts On the first day of talks during US President Donald Trump’s recent state visit to China, his host China’s Xi Jinping invoked the so-called “Thucydides trap” ...
Towards Strategic Partnerships By Mehmet Enes Beşer Australian regional ambition resembles the manner the nation considers Indonesia, a country that holds a key position in the regional geopolitical constructs of Southeast Asia. The relations among the two neighbor nations stretch for decades and constitute economic, security, and diplomatic relations. The more the world goes internationally, regional inclusion of Indonesia by ...
The EU’s expectations and scenarios. By Gökalp Erbaş There is much debate about the possible economic effects of Europe’s rearmament. When examining the discussions on this topic, the most critical question seems to be: Has there been a structural change in the economic function of the arms industry from the past to the present? The arms industry actually works to ...
Balancing Economic Growth with Sustainability By Mehmet Enes Beşer Cambodia stands at a pivotal moment in its development journey, striving to transition from a low-income to an upper-middle-income country by 2030. This ambitious goal necessitates not only rapid economic growth but also a focus on inclusivity, sustainability, and resilience. The nation’s trajectory is influenced by various factors, including economic diversification, ...
It’s Something More Precocious. By Mehmet Enes Beşer In an increasingly bipolar global order—autocracy vs. democracy, West vs. East, United States vs. China—Vietnam doesn’t fit quite so well. Honed to high definition by the press into either China’s potential enemy in the South China Sea or, conversely, as a natural ally in socialist solidarity, Vietnam is neither. Hanoi-Beijing is an ...
Turkish Central Bank sold more than 50 billion US dollars to the market to keep the exchange rate stable. It also raised interest rates. Türkiye’s economy experienced turbulence in the foreign exchange market. The Central Bank took precautions and calmed the situation, but its measures will have medium-term effects. The turning point occurred on March 19 when the Metropolitan Mayor ...
China expands Egypt’s options. By Mohamed Sabreen, from Cairo / Egypt Egypt and China have begun their first joint air maneuvers, and there are reports that Cairo is purchasing advanced Chinese weapons. All of this coincides with Beijing’s massive investments in Egypt. What is the “coded message” from Cairo and Beijing behind the “golden decade” of partnership between the two ...
Unveiling the Socio-Environmental Costs By Mehmet Enes Beşer Mongolia’s extensive mineral resources have turned it into a rapidly emerging mining center, with very high promises of rapid economic development and growth. But overlying this veneer of prosperity is a richly embroidered brocade of environmental degradation, social dislocation, and economic problems that need to be thoroughly examined. Environmental Degradation: The Ecological ...