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The RSAA blog publishes new posts every week, covering the whole range of Asian current affairs, culture, travel, exploration and recent history from the Levant to East Asia. Browse our recent posts!

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

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The Gardener of Lashkar Gah

An interview with author Larisa Brown about her new book The Gardener of Lashkar Gah, the powerful true story of the Afghans left behind as the Taliban retook Afghanistan.

Curriculum Reform and Diversification in Rural Nepal

Charlie Mackenzie Portlock, Chairman, Partners for Progress Nepal is home to the most formidable mountain range in the world. It annually welcomes upwards of a million tourists to engage in adventurous sports, trekking and to visit its remarkable UNESCO world heritage sites. Its unique culture, hospitality and environmental diversity make it an attractive tourist destination…

Damage Control: Kazakhstan after the January 2022 Crisis

Professor Charles J Sullivan, Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan In early January 2022, the Republic of Kazakhstan (once regarded for its political stability and economic development in a conflict-prone and impoverished region) suffered an unexpected and unprecedented bout of political violence. Based upon my initial analysis elsewhere, it appears that “an elite faction within the government seized…

Research, Reform, and Renaissance in Uzbekistan’s Cultural Heritage

Sophie Ibbotson, a Trustee of the RSAA, reports on progress in combatting cultural theft Indiana Jones built his reputation single-handedly rescuing priceless antiquities from villainous grave robbers. But his real-life counterparts fighting the lucrative international trade in illicitly trafficked artefacts are a far more diverse crowd drawn from law enforcement agencies, museums, academic institutions, and…

HONG KONG: FROM PROTEST TO PERDITION? WHERE NEXT FOR ONE COUNTRY TWO SYSTEMS?

Dr Bijan Omrani, Editor of Asian Affairs, the RSAA journal, reports on the latest online expert discussion On 27th November, the RSAA hosted an online panel discussion about the latest developments in Hong Kong. The panellists were Martin Purbrick, a former HK police officer and writer of several articles for Asian Affairs who has just taken…

Forced Labour in Xinjiang: Can Western Companies be Held to Account?

Nick Kenny looks at the scope in national and international law for responses to human rights abuses in Xinjiang As has become routine the last few years, yet again in 2020 we have heard worrying reports concerning China’s alleged mistreatment of its Uyghur population. For several years there have been stories of how Chinese authorities…

Breakthrough or Breakdown: Thailand’s Latest Political Pandemonium

Dr Bijan Omrani, Editor of Asian Affairs, the RSAA Journal, reports on this week’s online expert discussion On 18th November, the Society was addressed online by Dr Paul Chambers of Naresuan University, Thailand. Dr Chambers spoke to the Society directly from Bangkok, just a few streets away from where pro-democracy protests were actively taking place….

After the elections: where next for US/Asia relations?

Dr Bijan Omrani, Editor of the Asian Affairs Journal, reports on this week’s RSAA online expert panel discussion. The day after the US presidential election (Wednesday 4th November, when the final results were still unknown), the RSAA hosted an online panel discussion with four experts on US-Asia policy to discuss what direction the relationship between…

Silence in Hong Kong: a Focused Purpose Achieved

Angus Forsyth responds to Martin Purbrick’s 6 July blog with an alternative view of the imposition of the National Security Law in Hong Kong.  As everybody worldwide now knows, we in Hong Kong are now subject to a new Hong Kong Basic Law Schedule 2 Supplemental Enactment by the National People’s Congress of China to…

As silence is imposed, freedom is a whisper in Hong Kong

Martin Purbrick looks at the impact of the Safeguarding National Security law in Hong Kong At 11.00pm on 30 June 2020, Hong Kong people were silenced by the Chinese Communist Party and the concept of One Country Two Systems ended. At that time the new national “Law of the People’s Republic of China on Safeguarding…

In Afghanistan, Coronavirus Threatens More Than a Medical Catastrophe

Rupert Stone looks at the likely impact of coronavirus in Afghanistan and anticipates worrying consequences reaching far beyond the medical challenge   On Eid this year, a bizarre scene unfolded in eastern Afghanistan.  Government officials, led by the national security advisor, prayed at the grave of former socialist president and secret police chief, Mohammad Najibullah….

The Singapore Circuit-Breaker: COVID-19 in a City State

Eleanor Thorp has shared this view of  the successes and uncertainties of Singapore’s life with the coronavirus pandemic 24 May 2020 Singapore did not lockdown officially, we embarked upon a circuit breaker.   Following a couple of months of global praise for its official response with contact tracing and isolation the key tactics, and relative calm…

A Letter from Hong Kong – 21 May 2020

As Martin Purbrick (@mtpurbrick) leaves Hong Kong he reflects again on Covid-19 and Hong Kong’s relationship with China. It is difficult to describe the Coronavirus situation in Hong Kong when most people in the city remain preoccupied with the continued downward negative spiral of the political situation. Yet now in Hong Kong the Coronavirus pandemic…

Pakistan’s corona crisis puts Britain’s in perspective

Rupert Stone comments on the impact of Covid-19 in Pakistan While much of Europe and the US remains in varying degrees of lockdown as fatalities from the novel coronavirus continue to rise, Pakistan could be on the verge of a far more devastating crisis. With its huge population of around 220 million (the world’s fifth…