<p>The Asia-Pacific is home to more people than any other region. Centered on the western rim of the Pacific Ocean, this region includes the easternmost countries of continental Asia as well as the archipelagos that punctuate the coast. Several of these countries, most notably China, experienced rapid economic growth in the second half of the 20th century, giving the region a new sense of global economic relevance that continues today. That relevance, however, depends largely on China, a power in transition whose rise is testing the network of U.S. alliances that have long dominated the region. How effectively Beijing manages its transition will shape the regional balance of power in the decades to come.</p>

Centered on the western rim of the Pacific Ocean, the Asia-Pacific region includes the easternmost countries of continental Asia as well as the archipelagos that punctuate the coast. 

Asia-Pacific

Australia

Samoa

Brunei Darussalam

Cambodia

China

Timor-Leste

Federated States of Micronesia

Fiji

Indonesia

Japan

Kiribati

Laos

Malaysia

Marshall Islands

Mongolia

Myanmar

Nauru

New Zealand

North Korea

Palau

Papua New Guinea

Philippines

Singapore

Solomon Islands

South Korea

Taiwan

Thailand

Tonga

Tuvalu

Vanuatu

Vietnam

Beyond Quantitative Easing

The New Silk Road

Modernizing China’s Military

The U.S. and the Balance of Power

Globalization

Social Issues

Coping With a Nuclear North Korea

Moscow Looks to the East

China in Transition

A Japanese Awakening

Asia-Pacific: Among Great Powers

Southeast Asia: Burdened by Consensus

Assessments

The candidates running in the leadership election of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party -- (from left to right) Takayuki Kobayashi, Toshimitsu Motegi, Yoshimasa Hayashi, Sanae Takaichi and Shinjiro Koizumi -- pose after delivering speeches at the kick-off of the campaign in Tokyo on Sept. 22, 2025. 

Economics

Military & Security

Politics

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party's Oct. 4 vote for party president and therefore prime minister will influence the trajectory of Japan's fiscal policy and foreign relations.

Japan's LDP Leadership Election: Potential Outcomes and Their Implications

Global Elections

Media

Sub-Saharan Africa

Americas

Middle East and North Africa

Europe

Eurasia

South Asia

Forecast Webcast

Israel-Hamas Conflict

Russia-Ukraine Conflict

Join our analysts for this webcast recording exploring key topics identified in RANE's 2025 Fourth-Quarter Forecast.

2025 Fourth-Quarter Forecast Webcast

U.S.-China Relations

United States

Iran

Russia

The U.N. Security Council holds a meeting on Iran at the U.N. headquarters in New York City, New York, on Sept. 19, 2025. 

Energy

The increased isolation will make Iran more reliant on China and Russia, while the added economic strain could fuel domestic protests and empower Iranian hard-liners calling for more aggressive action against the West.

U.N. Sanctions Snapback: What's Next for Iran?

U.S.-Iran Relations

The fourth quarter will bring shifting trade tactics, evolving wars, and pivotal elections and flashpoints worldwide that will test governments’ stability and market confidence.

2025 Fourth-Quarter Forecast: An Excerpt

Israel

Palestinian Territories

France

United Kingdom

Dignitaries attend a U.N. Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East, including the question of Palestinian statehood, during the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 23, 2025, in New York City. 

Western countries' growing recognition of Palestinian statehood is largely symbolic and will likely galvanize Israel's push for West Bank annexation, risking further Israeli diplomatic isolation abroad and sporadic violence at home.

The West's Growing Support for Palestinian Statehood Will Have Limited Concrete Impacts

Guyana

Ukraine

The President of the 80th session of the U.N. General Assembly and former German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock speaks during a General Assembly meeting to vote on a two-state solution to the Palestinian question on Sept. 12 at the United Nations in New York. Countries including Australia, Canada, France and the United Kingdom will likely formally recognize Palestinian statehood over the next several days at the assembly.

A look at what the coming week will bring -- and a list of recommended RANE articles from the week that was.

The Weekly Rundown: Western Countries Recognize Palestine, the EU Discusses a 'Drone Wall'

Snapshots

Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng arrives for trade talks with US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent at the foreign ministry in Madrid on Sept. 14, 2025.

A Trump-Xi phone call and a fourth round of U.S.-China trade talks have yielded few concrete results, showing that negotiations on trade and TikTok will remain slow-going.

Despite Trump-Xi Phone Call, U.S.-China Trade Talks Struggle To Gain Traction

Flag of China on a red-painted printed circuit board.

Cyber

Environment, Science & Technology

Advancements in China's semiconductor sector are reducing Chinese companies' reliance on foreign technology, enabling them to push back more firmly against Western hegemony.

China's Chip Advances Increase Beijing's Leverage in Talks With the U.S.

Kazakhstan

In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev waits to greet foreign leaders during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization member states leaders' summit in Astana on July 4, 2024.

Despite President Tokayev's reform proposals, Kazakhstan's succession process will remain vulnerable to destabilizing forces, including elite rivalries and foreign influence.

How Kazakhstan's Proposed Reforms Will Impact the Question of Succession

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba attends a press conference at the Prime Minister's Office on Sept. 6, 2025, in Tokyo, Japan.

Japan's leadership contest will threaten to split the ruling party as conservative and reformer factions compete to place their leaders in the country's highest office.

In Japan, Ishiba's Resignation Sparks a Volatile Party Leadership Contest

Myanmar's military claimed the full recapture of Kyaukme, a key district capital in Shan state along National Highway 3, the main trade route linking Mandalay to China, AP reported on Oct. 2. 

Myanmar: Junta Recaptures Key Township Ahead of December Elections

Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister James Marape announced that his Cabinet had approved a mutual defense treaty with Australia, pending parliamentary approval, Reuters reported on Oct. 2.

Australia, Papua New Guinea: Defense Agreement Signed, Leaves Door Open to China

State-owned Khmer Times stated on Oct. 2 that Cambodian officials had invited Thai forces to hold three Regional Border Committee (RBC) meetings between local border defense groups, scheduled for Oct. 4-6, Oct. 7-9, and Oct. 10-12 -- all to be held in Cambodian provinces. The report did not indicate any response from Thai authorities.

Thailand, Cambodia: Border Meetings Proposed Amid Eviction Deadlines

India

India's foreign ministry announced that direct flights between selected cities in India and China will resume this month, ending a suspension that lasted over five years, Reuters reported Oct. 2.

India, China: Countries To Resume Direct Flights After Five-Year Suspension

Malaysia's sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional and Chinese entities are in early talks for a potential rare earth project that would see China build a rare earth refinery in the Southeast Asian country and would include developing some of Malaysia's rare earth reserves, Reuters reported on Oct. 2.

Malaysia, China: Governments Discuss Potential Rare Earth Refinery Project 

U.S. Ambassador to China David Perdue held a closed-door meeting with U.S. lawmakers in which he offered no potential method or timeline to revive Chinese agriculture purchases, including of U.S. soybeans, Bloomberg reported Sept. 30.

China, U.S.: Trade Tensions To Deepen in Winter Over Agriculture Purchases

Taiwanese Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun on Oct. 1 rejected a recent request by U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick for Taiwan to move to the United States at least 50% of its production capacity for the semiconductor chips it sells to the United States, saying that the issue ''was not discussed in this round of negotiation, and we will not agree to such a condition,'' Bloomberg reported.

Taiwan, U.S.: Taipei Rejects Washington's Pitch To Onshore More Chip Capacity 

The chair of Kazakhstan's nuclear energy agency, Almasadam Satkaliyev, announced that a state commission had approved a site in the Almaty region for the country's second large nuclear power plant, KazTAG reported on Oct. 1.

Kazakhstan: Government Plans Second Nuclear Plant in Energy-Deficient South

Asia-Pacific

SITUATION REPORTS

Myanmar: Junta Recaptures Key Township Ahead of December Elections

Australia, Papua New Guinea: Defense Agreement Signed, Leaves Door Open to China

Thailand, Cambodia: Border Meetings Proposed Amid Eviction Deadlines

India, China: Countries To Resume Direct Flights After Five-Year Suspension

Malaysia, China: Governments Discuss Potential Rare Earth Refinery Project

China, U.S.: Trade Tensions To Deepen in Winter Over Agriculture Purchases

Taiwan, U.S.: Taipei Rejects Washington's Pitch To Onshore More Chip Capacity

Kazakhstan: Government Plans Second Nuclear Plant in Energy-Deficient South

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