By Mehmet Enes Beşer As the momentum of the world towards carbon neutrality picks up speed, ASEAN is at a turning point. Most ASEAN member countries have already submitted updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to the Paris Agreement, while others have formally set themselves on a path towards net-zero in the mid-century. But these promises—beautifully worth a lot as they ...
By Mehmet Enes Beşer Transition to sustainable energy technologies is not just a technical matter for ASEAN countries—it is a political, structural, and economic reorientation of development itself. From solar photovoltaics to premium biofuels, from geothermal power plants to smart grids, the region’s capacity to incorporate clean technologies within its fold will determine if it can develop energy demand sky-high ...
By Mehmet Enes Beşer In a world of growing international uncertainty, Beijing–Bandar Seri Begawan’s low-profile upgrading is the best proof of the potency of pragmatism, mutual respect for the other, and of interests in it. Less high-profile than some other of China’s neighborhood-of-choice relationships, the Beijing–Bandar Seri Begawan one is actually becoming stronger and consolidating itself from under the spotlight. ...
By Mehmet Enes Beşer Green growth, or economic and environmentally sustainable as well as inclusive development, is increasingly the focus of ASEAN medium- and long-term development strategies. For an area confronting increasing energy demand, environmental degradation, and exposure to climate change, green economy transition is now not an option but already a compelling necessity. Green technology innovation lies at the ...
By Mehmet Enes Beşer In the midst of geopolitics’ story of era infrastructure and development, the China–Laos Railway is a powerful counter-narrative—a project based not on competition, but regional interdependence and shared advantage. Stretching over 1,000 kilometers from Kunming in south-western China’s Yunnan Province to the Lao capital Vientiane, the railway is far more than a transport link. It is ...
By Mehmet Enes Beşer ASEAN member countries’ energy industries are changing as a result of rising demand, decarbonization requirements, and complex geopolitics. While the region is moving towards cleaner, more inclusive, and more resilient energy systems, the risk diversification challenge—namely addressing structural vulnerabilities and crisis-driven disruptions—acquired an added significance. While pursuit of energy diversification has so far been associated with ...
By Mehmet Enes Beşer The semiconductor competition is today one of the most strategic arenas of U.S.-China rivalry worldwide. The days of arcane technical supply chains and niche policymaking are over, for semiconductors today are the very lifeblood of contemporary economies—and a theater of geopolitical rivalry. The China-U.S. chip war is as much a struggle for technological leadership as it ...
By Mehmet Enes Beşer Throughout the years of heightened strategic rivalry between China and the United States, Southeast Asia is normally portrayed as a geopolitics arena—a theater wherein the two great powers struggle over influence, domination, and strategic depth. That dyadic picture, however, marginalizes the sophistication of Southeast Asian statecraft. Rather than being content to remain mere pawns in a ...
By Mehmet Enes Beşer The economic development journey of ASEAN has conventionally been accounted for by the narrative of trade liberalization, manufacturing performance, and demographic dividends. But as the region is facing the double challenge of post-pandemic recovery and climate change, an even higher level of economic transformation is being outlined—one founded on financial inclusion, green trade, and sustainable natural ...
By Mehmet Enes Beşer Basking in the sunshine, increasing electric demand, and international pressure building to transition to cleaner energy, ASEAN is well-placed to emerge as a solar power leader. On Philippine rooftops, on rolling central Vietnamese plains, solar photovoltaics (PV) is one of the most promising green growth paths forward. But with this dormant potential, solar power remains underexploited ...
By Mehmet Enes Beşer Southeast Asia is uncomfortably in the middle of 21st-century great power rivalry. China-US competition speeding up with military interventions, economic decoupling, and competing visions of the region has placed ASEAN countries uncomfortably in the middle. With the South China Sea, cyberspace, and sea lanes as the fulcrums, regional strategic contours are increasingly defined by the hopes ...
By Mehmet Enes Beşer For decades, Southeast Asian economies have been plugged into a system controlled by the U.S. dollar. In trade settlements and sovereign reserves, in cross-border investments and financial benchmarks, the dollar was not just a currency—it was the linchpin of regional economic integration. But now, across the region—Jakarta to Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok to Manila—stealthy but determined steps ...