Beyond the Indus

James Schoff joins the podcast to discuss Tokyo’s options on missile defense.

’s Asia Geopolitics podcast host Ankit Panda () speaks to James L. Schoff, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment on International Peace and an expert on U.S.-Japan relations, on Tokyo’s recent decision to scrap plans to deploy two Aegis Ashore ballistic missile defense systems.

Click the play button to the right to listen. If you’re an iOS or Mac user, you can also subscribe to  Asia Geopolitics podcast ; if you use Windows or Android, you can subscribe , or .

If you like the podcast and have suggestions for content, please leave a review and rating on iTunes and TuneIn. You can contact the host, Ankit Panda, .

A conversation with travel and culture writer Marissa Caruthers.

Marissa Carruthers is a British journalist who spent 10 years working on newspapers in England before moving to Cambodia in 2012. Since then she has edited various publications in Cambodia and contributed to many regional publications.

She currently freelances for various newspapers and magazines, specializing in travel, lifestyle and culture, is the Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos and Vietnamese correspondent for travel trade publisher TTG Asia and often writes for the .

But the travel industry has taken an unprecedented hit from the new coronavirus and Carruthers says the challenges facing destinations, hotels and small business operators are daunting but could be overcome if there’s no second spike with the COVID-19 virus.

She says a lack of coherency over what’s required for travel remains a sore point.

Regulations governing quarantines, medical certificates and the costs involved vary greatly between nations and in her base country, Cambodia,  $3,000 into a local bank account to cover any COVID-related costs.

Carruthers spoke with Luke Hunt about the future of travel in a COVID-19 world.

A conversation with environmentalist Marcus Hardtke.

Marcus Hardtke graduated in environmental law before moving from his native Germany to Southeast Asia where he has earned a non-nonsense reputation when dealing with illegal trading in wildlife and timber more than 25 years ago.

He spoke with ’s Luke Hunt about the realities of saving pristine wilderness areas from logging and how to trap traders of endangered species, like the pangolin, which Beijing  use in traditional Chinese medicine.

His work encompasses governance and corruption around the region, including Cambodia where Hardtke has spent much of his time developing a rapport with locals and government officials, too often the flash-point for environmental issues.

In some respects he is optimistic about the future, but there are hurdles to get over first, which he says would be helped by enlisting human rights advocates into the fight to protect what remains of the region’s natural habitat.

How did the two Koreas go from summitry and diplomacy in 2018 to high tensions in 2020?

’s Asia Geopolitics podcast host Ankit Panda () speaks to Andray Abrahamian, lecturer at George Mason University Korea, about recent developments in inter-Korean relations.

Click the play button to the right to listen. If you’re an iOS or Mac user, you can also subscribe to  Asia Geopolitics podcast ; if you use Windows or Android, you can subscribe , or .

If you like the podcast and have suggestions for content, please leave a review and rating on iTunes and TuneIn. You can contact the host, Ankit Panda, .

The Diplomat's Catherine Putz explains the state of the February 2020 U.S.-Taliban agreement.

’s Asia Geopolitics podcast host Ankit Panda () speaks to Catherine Putz, ’s managing editor, about the state of the February 2020 U.S.-Taliban agreement. The podcast covers the extent to which the Taliban continue to work with Al Qaeda and the state of the Afghan government as it seeks its own talks with the group.

Click the play button to the right to listen. If you’re an iOS or Mac user, you can also subscribe to  Asia Geopolitics podcast ; if you use Windows or Android, you can subscribe , or .

If you like the podcast and have suggestions for content, please leave a review and rating on iTunes and TuneIn. You can contact the host, Ankit Panda, .

What’s driving the latest bout of India-China tensions?

’s Asia Geopolitics podcast host Ankit Panda () speaks to M. Taylor Fravel, the Arthur and Ruth Sloan Professor of Political Science and Director of the Security Studies Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, about the ongoing India-China tensions along the Line of Actual Control. The podcast covers the history of the Sino-Indian border, the terrain involved in the 2020 standoffs, and possible pathways out for both sides.

Click the play button to the right to listen. If you’re an iOS or Mac user, you can also subscribe to  Asia Geopolitics podcast ; if you use Windows or Android, you can subscribe , or .

If you like the podcast and have suggestions for content, please leave a review and rating on iTunes and TuneIn. You can contact the host, Ankit Panda, .

How will the eventual imposition of a new national security law affect Hong Kong’s place in the world?

’s Asia Geopolitics podcast host Ankit Panda () speaks to Shannon Tiezzi, ’s editor-in-chief, about the Chinese National People’s Congress’ approval of a draft decision on the imposition of a new national security law on Hong Kong. The law will likely take effect later this year and change the nature of rights and freedoms for Hongkongers.

Click the play button to the right to listen. If you’re an iOS or Mac user, you can also subscribe to  Asia Geopolitics podcast ; if you use Windows or Android, you can subscribe , or .

If you like the podcast and have suggestions for content, please leave a review and rating on iTunes and TuneIn. You can contact the host, Ankit Panda, .

Will the Indian government be able to stave off the worst economic consequences of the pandemic?

’s Asia Geopolitics podcast host Ankit Panda () speaks to Aman Thakker, an adjunct fellow with the Wadhwani Chair in U.S.-India Policy Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, D.C. and author of the newsletter on Substack, about the Indian government’s economic response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Click the play button to the right to listen. If you’re an iOS or Mac user, you can also subscribe to  Asia Geopolitics podcast ; if you use Windows or Android, you can subscribe , or .

If you like the podcast and have suggestions for content, please leave a review and rating on iTunes and TuneIn. You can contact the host, Ankit Panda, .

What are the ways in which the Chinese Communist Party seeks to protect its interests outside China’s borders?

’s Asia Geopolitics podcast host Ankit Panda () speaks to Matt Schrader, a a China Analyst with the Alliance for Securing Democracy at the German Marshall Fund, about the Chinese Communist Party’s overseas influence operations and political interference. The discussion covers the tactics favored by the CCP overseas and the implications of influence operations for liberal democracies. Schrader is the author of a recent report on the topic, .

Click the play button to the right to listen. If you’re an iOS or Mac user, you can also subscribe to  Asia Geopolitics podcast ; if you use Windows or Android, you can subscribe , or .

If you like the podcast and have suggestions for content, please leave a review and rating on iTunes and TuneIn. You can contact the host, Ankit Panda, .

How did Vietnamese state-backed hackers seek COVID–19 intelligence from Chinese authorities?

’s Asia Geopolitics podcast host Ankit Panda () speaks to Ben Read, the senior manager of Mandiant Threat Intelligence’s cyber espionage team, about APT32, a cyber threat actor with suspected links to the Vietnamese state. for targeting local government institutions in Wuhan as COVID–19 began spreading in the Chinese city. The episode also covers the cyber capabilities of Southeast Asian states and Chinese cyber surveillance of Taiwan.

Click the play button to the right to listen. If you’re an iOS or Mac user, you can also subscribe to  Asia Geopolitics podcast ; if you use Windows or Android, you can subscribe , or .

If you like the podcast and have suggestions for content, please leave a review and rating on iTunes and TuneIn. You can contact the host, Ankit Panda, .