Council on Foreign Relations Senior Fellow for Southeast Asia and South Asia. All opinions my own, not CFR's. A RT is not an endorsement. [email protected]
Washington, D.C.
Joined December 2011
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Thailand’s national election did not go the way many polls predicted, but those polls were capturing party list intentions to vote. @bhumjaithai_TH did a great job in the campaign period of picking up support from power brokers in rural areas, and getting commitments to constituency seats. 1/
Josh Kurlantzick retweeted
Prabowo may be following Suharto's playbook of blaming foreign intervention in the 1998 financial crisis, but times have changed. In a democracy Prabowo must answer for his administration's poor handling of the economy (recall things did not work out well for Suharto) #Indonesia
"I simply say to the MSCI: the Indonesian nation fears no one and will not be cowed," Prabowo said, adding: "We possess strength, we have courage, we are willing to make sacrifices, and we refuse to surrender." reuters.com/world/asia-pacif…
Josh Kurlantzick retweeted
Backsliding does not have to be a death sentence. Eroding democracies can be defended.
Here's a toolkit from our October issue 👇
Josh Kurlantzick retweeted
The United States appears to be shifting course on Myanmar. CFR Expert @JoshKurlantzick argues that working with the regime grants it legitimacy and is unlikely to bring substantive gains in the dash for rare earths access. bit.ly/4zIT6U0
My latest appearance on @AJEnglish talking about why the White House's new relationship with Myanmar is unikely to result in any strategic gains for the U.S. at all @CFR_org Why the US is holding secret talks with Myanmar’s military ruler aje.news/zjtsto via @AJEnglish
Josh Kurlantzick retweeted
Breaking News: Indonesian stocks suffered their biggest plunge since 1998, deepening investor fears about Southeast Asia’s largest economy. nyti.ms/4B4pCBv
Josh Kurlantzick retweeted
New: The State Department is updating its travel advisory for mainland China to include an increased risk level for wrongful detention:
semafor.com/article/10/16/20…
Josh Kurlantzick retweeted
Authoritarian regimes have modernized repression while movements have reduced strategic nonviolent struggle to street protest, mistaking visibility for leverage, write Breza Race Maksimovic and Jamila Raqib.
Read "Does Nonviolent Action Still Work?"👇
muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/article/1…
Josh Kurlantzick retweeted
My colleague @JoshKurlantzick argues that the increase in authoritarian soft power is helping autocrats achieve strategic objectives and undermining global democracies' faith in their own foreign policy. Read the full article below. worldpoliticsreview.com/auto…
Josh Kurlantzick retweeted
FWIW I wouldn't read into US delistings from the SDN list (so far). I don't think they are reflective of a wider thaw in US #Myanmar policy - though that appears to be happening independently. So far the two are not being pursued in a coordinated manner. thediplomat.com/2026/10/us-d…
Josh Kurlantzick retweeted
With over 70 percent of the world’s population now living in autocracies, authoritarian regimes are using their state media to amplify one another’s messages and spread authoritarianism further, @JoshKurlantzick writes.
wpr.pub/4yrTEgb
An authoritarian world could be coming, as autocrats collaborate and are defeating democratic collaboration. My latest for @WPReview and @CFR_org The World’s Autocrats Are Winning the War of Narratives worldpoliticsreview.com/auto…
Josh Kurlantzick retweeted
“For now, Japan has staked its future on the United States, but its continued course depends on the United States also choosing to loudly and publicly embrace Japan,” write @DavidMSacks1 and Nick Snyder.
foreignaffairs.com/japan/jap…
Josh Kurlantzick retweeted
"U.S. connections to the junta are bad news for the people of Myanmar, and they make little strategic sense for the United States itself." Cogent argument by @JoshKurlantzick @CFR_org: cfr.org/articles/the-trump-a…
Josh Kurlantzick retweeted
Japan should help ASEAN bring Myanmar back into fold: Kishida s.nikkei.com/4jTb0i8
Josh Kurlantzick retweeted
🇲🇲 A new @BBCNews investigation reveals how civilians are being abducted by #Myanmar’s military and forced into military service.
The article cites @FortifyRights’s documentation of forced recruitment and research by @MyanmarWitness, which analyzed hundreds of missing-person advertisements posted on Facebook between 2021 and 2025.
bbc.com/news/articles/c680zl…
Josh Kurlantzick retweeted
Beyond the diplomatic headlines, more critical are the ongoing developments inside Myanmar.
The Tatmadaw appears increasingly confident in its ability to beat back the broader opposition with extreme force, and a fleeting window for ceasefire may now be closing. 1/4
Josh Kurlantzick retweeted
Is there any indication the @ASEAN SG discussed his organization's official policy on Myanmar -- the #FivePointConsensus -- or the Naypyidaw regime's continued violence against civilians, disastrous economic policies, and transnational criminal activities during this meeting?
#WhatsHappeningInMyanmar
#BusinessAsUsual
Secretary-General of ASEAN, Dr. Kao Kim Hourn, today met with the Chargé d’Affaires of the Permanent Mission of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar to ASEAN, Mr. Mang Hau Thang, at the ASEAN Headquarters/ASEAN Secretariat. During the meeting, they discussed preparations for the upcoming 49th ASEAN Summit and Related Summits and exchanged views on recent developments in ASEAN, including ASEAN Community-building and integration efforts to advance the implementation of ASEAN 2045: Our Shared Future.
