Traveling to a country soon after they celebrate the national day of reflection, their Independence Day, should be an opportune time to visit for an insight into the business, political and security posture and capture a sense of the state of the nation.
As it was with my recent visits to Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia and with national flags still flying soon after each of their respective Independence Days. As seen from Australia, as well as on centre ground in each of their capital cities, it remains apparent these three dominant Southeast Asian nations face a web of existential threats to their domestic and national security interests. Beyond the regional political and economic challenges, the security threat around illicit trade and people smuggling, drug trafficking, terrorism, pandemics and natural disasters remains inherently high and all will remain within a long term risk environment.
Immediately following the G20 Leader’s Summit in China, ASEAN meetings were held in Laos, and followed the ASEAN Regional Forum on political and security issues. Meetings included the 25th ASEAN-China anniversary, alongside the first ever ASEAN-Australia meeting, with each reviewing the strategic partnerships between ASEAN member states and regional partners.
Australia has yet some catching up to do and won’t be helped by Islamophobia appearing within the 45th Australian Parliament…Click HERE to read full article.
