Blog

The blog echoes the remit of the RSAA, covering current affairs, culture, travel, exploration and recent history from the Levant to East Asia.

Opinions expressed in posts are those of the contributor, not of the RSAA.

Contributions

Got a subject you would like to post about?  Please contact us for a copy of our editorial guidance.  Publication is at the RSAA’s discretion

The Heartbeat of Iran

Tara Kangarlou is an Iranian-American global affairs journalist who has produced, written and reported for…

Could Green Industry Unite the BRICS and Save the Planet?

Muhammad Zulfikar Rakhmat is the Director of the China-Indonesia Desk and the Indonesia-MENA Desk at…

Navigating the Transition: India’s Role in Global Energy Security

Manish Vaid is a Junior Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation India stands at the…

China’s road to Central Asia: the re-development of the Hexi Corridor

Sean Paterson is a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society living in Guangzhou Hong Kong…

The Textile Obsessed Island of Sumba

David and Sue Richardson are independent UK-based specialists in Asian textiles Just a 90-minute flight…

Is the Resurgence of the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Symptomatic of a Collapsing State?

Marcus Andreopoulos is a Senior Research Fellow at the Asia-Pacific Foundation, and a Subject Matter…

From Osh to Dushanbe: Along the Silk Road

Christopher Wilton-Steer is a travel photographer, writer and the Global Lead for Communications at the…

Underground Counterculture in Tashkent: The First Independent Theatre in the Soviet Union

Lucas Fraser-Taliente It’s a Wednesday night in the centre of Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The darkness of…

Science Diplomacy in Asia: A Quiet Force for Peace and Progress

Dr Sandeep Sandhu FRSB is Head of Stakeholder Relationships at Innovate UK Business Connect and…

The German Apsara Conservation Project (GACP) at Angkor Wat – A Report

Hans Leisen & Esther von Plehwe-Leisen From the 9th to the 14th century the Khmer,…

What Does Vietnam Actually Celebrate on 30 April?

Bill Hayton is the editor of the RSAA’s journal Asian Affairs and was the BBC…

Trump and Iran: Between Nuclear Compromise and Military Conflict

Amin Saikal is Professor Emeritus of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies at the Australian…

Kuwaiti Exceptionalism Under Siege

Sean Yom is Associate Professor of Political Science at Temple University, Pennsylvania and Non-Resident Fellow…

How to build a city, fast: life in one of China’s ‘new areas’

Sean Paterson is a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society living in Guangzhou Many of…

Pakistan – An Era Past

Most recently a Director of VanEck in New York, Tom Butcher has travelled extensively, particularly…

South Korea’s Martial Law Peripeteia

Sung-Yoon Lee is a Korea expert and board member of The Committee for Human Rights…

Islam in the Modern World

Trevor Mostyn is a Lecturer in Middle East History at the University of Oxford teaching…

More-Than-Human Heritages of the Bhutanese Highlands

Jelle J P Wouters, Erik de Maaker, Chencho Dorji, Suraj Bhattarai, & Nithil Dennis Heritage…