At the height of the Cold War in the 1960s, much of anti-communist Southeast Asia aligned itself with the United States, entrenching U.S. hegemony around North Vietnam and its close allies in communist China. These countries regarded ties with the U.S. as a way to maintain and develop their economic and political strength in a […]
Tag: Philippines
Red-Tagging and Reclamation: Manila Bay Activists Freed!
On September 2, 2023, Jhed Tamano, a programme coordinator of the Community and Church Program for Manila Bay of the Ecumenical Bishops Forum, and Jonila Castro, a member of the Alliance for the Defense of Livelihood, Housing and Environment in Manila Bay, went missing while volunteering in a fishing community near Manila Bay. Local eyewitnesses reported […]
Philippines Looks to U.S. for “Maintenance of Peace” in South China Sea
China’s culture of aggression in the South China Sea once again reached the headlines in the wake of a recent altercation in Philippine waters. On February 6th of this year, a Chinese Coast Guard cruiser engaged a Philippine Coast Guard vessel. The Filipino ship was headed to supply the crew of a beached ship turned […]
Natural Disaster Relief is No Horsing-Around Matter for Geopolitics
A magnitude of 7.0 on the Richter scale and reports count over 200,000 casualties—Haiti’s 2010 earthquake was one of the first natural disasters that received widespread attention for its devastating impacts on the nation’s people and infrastructure and detrimental impacts of international disaster relief. The United Nations aid programs that reached the nation led to […]
The Thrilla in Manila
By Griff Potrock Since the recognition of independence in 1946 and the mutual defense treaty signed in 1951, the United States and the Philippines have been staunch allies. This alliance has included establishing US bases in the Philippines, joint Filipino-American military exercises, hundreds of millions of dollars in aid, and protection under the US […]
The Mercurial Case of Misuari
This article originally appeared in the Fall 2013 print edition, which can be found here. The Bangsamoro region of the Southern Philippines has seen a great deal of turmoil over the past few decades as Muslims fight for greater autonomy and independence. The Southern Philippines has seen houses burn and cities terrorized in a decades-long […]