Asia Insight

From the National Bureau of Asian Research, an Asia Insight miniseries examining the future of foreign policy through the lens of emerging leadership in South and Southeast Asia. This first episode features Dr. Christopher Clary of the University at Albany sitting down with Dr. Rohan Mukherjee and Mr. Bashir Ali Abbas to discuss India’s emerging generation of political leaders and the factors influencing their foreign policy outlooks from New Delhi. To view the project webpage, visit https://www.nbr.org/program/next-generation-of-leaders-in-south-and-southeast-asia/. Mr. Bashir Ali Abbas is a Senior Research Associate with the Council for Strategic and Defense Research based in New Delhi, India. His written commentary can be viewed at https://www.nbr.org/publication/continuity-amid-change-how-indias-emerging-political-leaders-will-steer-its-future-foreign-policy/. Dr. Rohan Mukherjee is an Assistant Professor of International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science and a Nonresident Fellow at NBR. His written commentary can be viewed at https://www.nbr.org/publication/after-modi-political-leadership-and-the-future-of-indian-foreign-policy/.

In this new Asia Insight miniseries, Next in Line: Rising Leaders and Foreign Policy in South and Southeast Asia examines how a new generation of political leaders is shaping foreign policy across a strategically vital region amid intensifying U.S.-China competition. Across six episodes, leading experts analyze how domestic pressures and international dynamics are converging to influence the foreign policy outlooks of emerging leaders in Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. Moderated by Dr. Christopher Clary of the University at Albany and Dr. Ann Marie Murphy of Seton Hall University, the miniseries launches on March 30, 2026, with new episodes released monthly through August 30, 2026.

From the National Bureau of Asian Research, an Asia Insight miniseries exploring the geostrategic significance of China’s borderlands, led by Nadège Rolland, Distinguished Fellow for China Studies at NBR. Episode Seven: Liquid Borders This seventh episode describes China’s position as a “hydro-hegemon,” considers how transboundary rivers can be used either as sources of transborder cooperation or geopolitical leverage, and explores the consequences of China’s river damming. With Selina Ho Li Ching (Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore) and Brian Eyler (Stimson Center). Materials cited or referenced in the recording “Water Wars? A Talk with Ismail Serageldin,” World Policy Journal 26, No.4 (Winter 2009-2010). Li Zhifei 李志斐 “An Analysis of Transboundary River Issues Between China and the Countries of Its Periphery” [中国与周边国家跨国河流问题之分析] Pacific Journal 19, No.3 (March 2011). Mark Zeitoun, Jeroen Warner, “Hydro-Hegemony: A Framework for Analysis of Trans-Boundary Water Conflicts,” Water Policy 8, No.5 (2006). Anthony Spaeth, “China’s Toxic Shock,” Time, November 27, 2005. Brahma Chellaney, “Water, Power, and Competition in Asia,” Asian Survey 54, No.4 (2014). Recommended additional readings Selina Ho, “China’s Transboundary River Policies Towards Kazakhstan: Issue-Linkages and Incentives for Cooperation,” Water International 42, No.2 (2017). Selina Ho, “River Politics: China’s Policies in the Mekong and the Brahmaputra in Comparative Perspective,” Journal of Contemporary China 23, No.85 (2014). Hoang Thi Ha, "China’s Statecraft through the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation: Building a Sino-Centric Regional Order," November 13, 2025 https://strategicspace.nbr.org/chinas-statecraft-through-the-lancang-mekong-cooperation-building-a-sino-centric-regional-order/.

As part of The Evolution of AI Governance and Regulation in the Indo-Pacific project at NBR, this Asia Insight episode features NBR Senior Director of Research and Programs Doug Strub sitting down with Mr. Renan Araujo and Ms. Husan Chahal as they discuss AI risks and the role of multilateral organizations in AI governance. Renan Araujo is the Director of Programs at the Institute for AI Policy and Strategy. Husan Chahal is an AI policy researcher currently working as a Senior AI Risk Analyst for the AI Risk Explorer Project at the Observatorio de Riesgos Catastroficos Globales. She is also a Nonresident Fellow at NBR. Doug Strub is Senior Director of Research and Programs at NBR.

As part of The Evolution of AI Governance and Regulation in the Indo-Pacific project at NBR, this Asia Insight episode features NBR Senior Director of Research and Programs Doug Strub sitting down with Mr. Nigel Cory and Dr. Karryl Kim Sagun Trajano as they discuss AI governance in Southeast Asia, and opportunities and challenges for ASEAN countries to collaborate with the United States in shaping a future AI agenda. Nigel Cory is a Nonresident Fellow at NBR and is a Director with Crowell Global Advisors. His November 2025 paper on "Codeveloping the Model: U.S. and ASEAN Cooperation in Shaping and Deploying AI" can be viewed at https://www.nbr.org/publication/codeveloping-the-model-u-s-and-asean-cooperation-in-shaping-and-deploying-ai/. Doug Strub is Senior Director of Research and Programs at NBR. Karryl Kim Sagun Trajano is a Research Fellow for Future Issues and Technology in the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. Her September 2025 paper on "Charting ASEAN’s Path to AI Governance: Uneven Yet Gaining Ground" can be viewed at https://www.nbr.org/publication/charting-aseans-path-to-ai-governance-uneven-yet-gaining-ground/.

From the National Bureau of Asian Research, an Asia Insight miniseries exploring the geostrategic significance of China’s borderlands, led by Nadège Rolland, Distinguished Fellow for China Studies at NBR. Episode Six: In Russia's Shadow This sixth episode unpacks how China has managed to significantly increase its presence in Central Asia across four key domains (political, economic, people-to-people, and security), in what Russia considers a “region of privileged interests,” part of its so-called “near abroad.” With Bradley Jardine (Oxus Society for Central Asian Affairs), Nargis Kassenova (Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Harvard University), Edward Lemon (Oxus Society for Central Asian Affairs), and Temur Umarov (Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center). Materials cited or referenced in the recording Xi Jinping, “Championing the China-Central Asia Spirit for High Quality Cooperation in the Region,” Speech at the Second China-Central Asia Summit, June 17, 2025. “Wang Yi on Neighborhood Diplomacy: Harmony is Key to a Prosperous Family in All Endeavors,” Press Conference, March 7, 2025. Hu Hao [胡昊] China’s Achievements and Challenges in Promoting the Construction of a Community of Shared Future for Mankind in Central Asia [中国在中亚地区推进人类民运共同体建设的成就和挑战] Contemporary China and the World no.4, 2024. Bradley Jardine, Edward Lemon, Backlash: China’s Struggle for Influence in Central Asia (Oxford University Press, December 2025). Bradley Jardine, Edward Lemon, “China Is Using Vocational Training Centers to Rebuild Its Image in Central Asia,” Carnegie Politika, October 6, 2025. Recommended additional readings Nicola Di Cosmo, Ancient China and Its Enemies: The Rise of Nomadic Power in East Asian History (Cambridge University Press, 2002). Craig Benjamin, Empires of Ancient Eurasia: The First Silk Roads Era, 100 BCE-250 CE (Cambridge University Press, 2018). Dan Markey, China’s Western Horizon: Beijing and the New Geopolitics of Eurasia (Oxford University Press, 2020). Adina Masalbekova, Nigora Tangatarova, "What Happens to Central Asian Youth After Following China’s ‘Educational Silk Road?’" The Diplomat, December 29, 2023. https://thediplomat.com/2023/12/what-happens-to-central-asian-youth-after-following-chinas-educational-silk-road/

This first Asia Insight episode of 2026 features NBR President Michael Wills in discussion with NBR colleagues Jeremy Rausch, Nadège Rolland, and Doug Strub on their outlooks for U.S.-Asia policy and the Indo-Pacific more broadly in the year ahead. Jeremy Rausch is Director of Political and Security Affairs at NBR. Nadège Rolland is Distinguished Fellow for China Studies at NBR. Doug Strub is Senior Director of Research and Programs at NBR. Michael Wills is President of NBR.

From the National Bureau of Asian Research, an Asia Insight miniseries exploring the geostrategic significance of China’s borderlands, led by Nadège Rolland, Distinguished Fellow for China Studies at NBR. In this special episode, NBR Project Manager Alayna Bone sits down with NBR Distinguished Fellow for China Studies Nadège Rolland to look back at NBR’s Mapping China’s Strategic Space: Borderlands project, what we have learned so far, and to share some highlights of what is in store for 2026.

From the National Bureau of Asian Research, an Asia Insight miniseries exploring the geostrategic significance of China’s borderlands, led by Nadège Rolland, Distinguished Fellow for China Studies at NBR. Episode Five: The Himalayan Rim China’s growing economic and political power is redrawing the map of South Asia as a cluster of countries centered around its Himalayan borderlands, connecting its land neighbors through infrastructure building and economic corridors, while redefining the region’s governance norms according to the so-called "Chinese model." This fifth episode, recorded in New Delhi with Professor Jabin T. Jacob (Shiv Nadar Institute of Eminence, India), Shruti Jargad (Australian Strategic Policy Institute), and Dr. Constantino Xavier (Center for Social and Economic Progress, India) takes a look at the many facets of China’s increased presence in the Himalayan region. Materials cited or referenced in the recording Constantino Xavier and Jabin T. Jacob (Eds.) “How China Engages in South Asia: In the Open and Behind the Scenes,” CSEP Report, July 2025. Constantino Xavier and Jabin T. Jacob (Eds.) “How China Engages in South Asia: Themes, Partners and Tools,” CSEP Report, May 2023. Shruti Jargad and Constantino Xavier, “Semantics as Strategy: Interpreting China’s Official Discourse on South Asia,” CSEP Working Paper 103, September 2025. National Land Borders Law of the People’s Republic of China (adopted on October 23, 2021 and officially in effect as of January 1, 2022) https://www.mfa.gov.cn/web/wjb_673085/zzjg_673183/bjhysws_674671/bhflfg/ldfxzhxfl/202303/P020230313533924391693.pdf. Recommended additional readings The PRC’s Land Borders Law, USINDOPACOM J06/SJA TACAID Series, October 23, 2023 https://www.pacom.mil/Portals/55/Documents/Legal/J06%20TACAID%20-%20PRC%20LAND%20BORDERS%20LAW%20-%20FINAL.pdf.