PUBLICATIONS BY Walter Lohman
Research
Commentary
Media Appearances
2008 Research
July 17, 2008
Indonesia Holds Up ASEAN Charter Ratification for Burmese People
By Walter Lohman
(WebMemo #1999)
Legislators in Indonesia are holding out not for political or personal gain but to fight for the rights of one of their neighbors. Their most pressing concern is also ASEAN’s most embarrassing problem: Burma.
April 28, 2008
Playing with Fire in Indonesia
By Walter Lohman
(WebMemo #1902)
Indonesia is an extraordinarily resilient society. Its tolerant culture, religious traditions, and diversity cannot be easily subverted. Ample proof resides in what has proven a successful, centuries-long struggle with Islamism and its precursors—a triumph enshrined today in Indonesia’s 10-year-old democracy. But Indonesia’s democracy is more than a shrine. It is the battlefield in a continuing struggle of ideas.
March 14, 2008
Off the Rails in the Philippines
By Walter Lohman
(WebMemo #1856)
A scandal in the Philippines has the potential to become a constitutional crisis.
January 29, 2008
Enabling ASEAN's Economic Vision
By Walter Lohman and Anthony B. Kim
(Backgrounder #2101)
Enhancing economic freedom is at the heart of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' economic vision. By demonstrating serious, sustained interest in ASEAN's economic life, the U.S. can ensure that its advice and concerns are taken into account. The U.S. can also engage at the technical level in a way that enables the group to meet its objectives.
January 29, 2008
Executive Summary: Enabling ASEAN's Economic Vision
By Walter Lohman and Anthony B. Kim
(Executive Summary #2101)
Enhancing economic freedom is at the heart of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' economic vision. By demonstrating serious, sustained interest in ASEAN's economic life, the U.S. can ensure that its advice and concerns are taken into account. The U.S. can also engage at the technical level in a way that enables the group to meet its objectives.
2007 Research
September 28, 2007
Crisis in Burma: Choosing Our Friends
By Walter Lohman
(WebMemo #1649)
The United States needs to rely less on China and more on its democratic friends in the region.
July 31, 2007
Congress Should Extend Trade Preferences to Asia's Poorest
By Daniella Markheim and Walter Lohman
(WebMemo #1578)
Congress should act this year to extend the benefits of lowered tariffs to Asia's poorest countries.
July 10, 2007
It May Be Time for Asia to Position for the Next Administration
By Walter Lohman
(WebMemo #1545)
Recent decisions by the Bush Administration have increased the perception among friends and allies in East Asia of declining U.S. commitment to the region.
June 08, 2007
Adjusting to the Reality of a Democratic Indonesia
By Walter Lohman
(WebMemo #1495)
House appropriators have charted a strikingly unwise course in slashing and conditioning military assistance to Indonesia. Indonesia is a natural partner for the United States and the two countries share many fundamental interests in the region.
May 10, 2007
The Trap of China-ASEAN Military Cooperation
By Walter Lohman
(WebMemo #1451)
A proposed ASEAN-China military partnership could divide Asia into rival blocs, aligning the democracies of America, Japan, and Australia on one side, and China and ASEAN on the other.
March 20, 2007
Guidelines for U.S. Policy in Southeast Asia
By Walter Lohman
(Backgrounder #2017)
Southeast Asia is vital to U.S. political, economic, and security interests. Ensuring that the region remains strong, independent, and outward-looking is therefore in the best interests of both the United States and the nations of Southeast Asia. U.S. foreign policy should reflect the importance of the U.S.–ASEAN relationship and be continually adjusted to meet these aims.
2006 Research
December 22, 2006
Democracy Is a Necessary Hedge Against Crisis in Thailand
By Walter Lohman
(WebMemo #1292)
Bad government policy sends stock markets tumbling. Restoring democracy is the only way to cut the risk of more government mishaps.
2008 Commentary
June 19, 2008
Who'll lead in Asia?
By Walter Lohman
Occasionally, a simple remark reveals far more about the state of American leadership than any speech, policy statement or white paper. During an official visit to Beijing in late May by Lee Myung-bak, the new South Korean president and stalwart American friend, China's foreign ministry declared the U.S.-South Korea alliance a "historical relic."
June 10, 2008
Today's world, the reality of values
By Walter Lohman
In The Post-American World, Fareed Zakaria offers American policy makers an important perspective. He aims to illuminate the new world that U.S. foreign policy must navigate, and here, he is largely on target. His grand conclusions, however, miss the mark.
2007 Commentary
November 22, 2007
Building a Solution for Burma
By Walter Lohman
The nature of the news cycle and well-meant wishful thinking lends itself to short memories -- as the situation in Burma illustrates.
June 19, 2007
Adjusting to the Reality of a Newly Democratic Indonesia
By Walter Lohman
In Washington, inertia often carries the day on even the most anachronistic policy ideas. Congress proved this axiom on June 5 when appropriators in the House of Representatives slashed and conditioned the Administration's request to provide military assistance to Indonesia.
January 30, 2007
U.S. should support initiatives to build East Asia community
By Walter Lohman
The conversation in East Asia over economic community continued at the ASEAN annual meetings two weeks ago. It is a vitally important discussion, and the United States needs to keep close tabs on it. That doesn't mean, however, that for each new pronouncement regarding it, the United States must post a response.
January 15, 2007
U.S. joins the game
By Walter Lohman
The leaders of Southeast Asia last week opened their annual meetings. Although it involves 10 heads of government, including two U.S. treaty allies, encompasses a $700 billion economy, and represents half a billion people, the event goes mostly unnoticed in Washington, D.C.
