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East Asia Explorer
The East Asia Explorer tracks evolving geopolitical trends, emerging security challenges, and progress towards regional integration in East Asia. It focuses on the ASEAN grouping, domestic and foreign policy developments in countries of East Asia and Oceania, great power contestation in the region, and India’s relations with ASEAN and its member countries.
In this issue, Dr. Pradeep Taneja summarises Australia’s 2026 National Defence Strategy (NDS) and its accompanying investment program. Building on earlier reviews from 2023 and 2024, the strategy pursues a denial-based posture, expands long-range strike capabilities under AUKUS — including nuclear submarines and autonomous systems — and commits A$887 billion in defence spending over a decade, targeting 3% of GDP by 2033. Looking ahead, as India is elevated to a “top-tier” security partner, he highlights the potential for deeper Australia-India cooperation in the Indian Ocean and Pacific.
Dr. Satish Mishra examines the political and economic implications of the Strait of Hormuz blockage for Indonesia, arguing that while the country’s exposure is real, its structural resilience is considerably more robust than prevailing anxieties suggest. He further contends that shared chokepoint vulnerabilities create a natural foundation for an Indonesia-India energy security partnership that remains unrealised.
Dr. Ashok Chawla argues that PM Sanae Takaichi’s ascent within Japanese politics reflects not disruption but the logical culmination of Japan’s institutionalised preference for incremental, consensus-driven change. Shaped by Abe’s patronage and seasoned through successive portfolios, PM Takaichi has transitioned from ideological contender to governance-ready consolidator, embodying Japan’s capacity to project strategic confidence without departing from its foundational principles of harmony and due process.
To read this issue please click East Asia Explorer, Vol. IV, Issue 3.
