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The United States unveiled a new Scam Center Strike Force, a multi-agency task force to dismantle scam compounds in Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos that defraud U.S. citizens and rely on forced labor, Bloomberg reported on Nov. 13.

U.S., Southeast Asia: Washington Launches Strike Force Targeting Regional Scam Centers

Thailand

Thai and Cambodian troops exchanged fire for roughly 10 minutes along the border between Thailand's Sa Kaeo province and Cambodia's Banteay Meanchey province, an area under Thailand's effective control but subject to overlapping territorial claims, AP reported on Nov. 12.

Thailand, Cambodia: Fresh Clash Follows Peace Plan Suspension

Economics

Thailand announced it is suspending the implementation of its Oct. 26 peace accord with Cambodia following a landmine explosion that injured four Thai soldiers along the Sisaket border, the Bangkok Post reported on Nov. 10.

Thailand, Cambodia: Bangkok Suspends Peace Plan Implementation

Brunei Darussalam

Timor-Leste

Indonesia

Malaysia

Philippines

Singapore

Vietnam

China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations signed the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area (CAFTA) 3.0 upgrade at the ASEAN leaders' summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Channel News Asia reported on Oct. 28. 

China, ASEAN: Trade Pact Upgrade To Expand Bloc's Market Access

Thailand and Cambodia signed a joint declaration, overseen by U.S. President Donald Trump, broadening their July 28 ceasefire, with each agreeing to pull heavy weapons from their shared border, deploy additional neutral observer teams and release prisoners, Reuters reported on Oct. 26.

U.S., Thailand, Cambodia: Peace Declaration, Trade Agreements at ASEAN Summit

Thailand and Cambodia will sign a joint declaration to de-escalate their border dispute on Oct. 25 at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' leaders' summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in the presence of U.S. President Donald Trump, the Thai Enquirer reported on Oct. 23.

Thailand, Cambodia: Bangkok, Phnom Penh To Sign 'Peace Declaration' at ASEAN Summit

The U.S. Trump administration is conditioning ongoing U.S.-Thailand trade negotiations on Bangkok's ability to reach a lasting ceasefire with Cambodia, effectively linking tariff relief to peace along their contested border, the Bangkok Post reported on Oct. 14.

Thailand, U.S.: Washington Conditions Trade Talks on Lasting Ceasefire With Cambodia

U.S. President Donald Trump is pressing Malaysia, chair and host of the upcoming Association of Southeast Asian Nations' leaders summit on Oct. 26, to grant him a ceremonial Thailand-Cambodia peace signing, Politico reported on Oct. 7.

U.S., Malaysia: Trump Conditions ASEAN Summit Participation on Peace Ceremony

Assessments

Chile

Venezuela

Israel

Saudi Arabia

India

Pakistan

People watch the USS Gravely, a Navy warship, departing the Port of Spain on Oct. 30, 2025. The U.S. warship arrived in Trinidad and Tobago on Oct. 26, 2025, for joint exercises near the coast of Venezuela, as Washington ratcheted up pressure on drug traffickers and Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.

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

The Weekly Rundown: U.S.-Saudi Meeting, Military Escalation in the Caribbean

Thailand's Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul (C) after chairing a National Security Council on Nov. 11 in Bangkok. An armed clash on the Thai-Cambodian border raises the risk of escalations that unwind the two countries' recent peace accord, though a return to full-scale war is less likely due to U.S. economic and security leverage.

While the most likely scenario is recurring but contained flare-ups through early 2026, a more escalatory scenario remains plausible.

More Clashes, but Not Full-blown Conflict, Likely on the Cambodian-Thai Frontier

U.S. President Donald Trump (center) poses for a group photo with the leaders of (L-R) Singapore, East Timor, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei, Indonesia and Laos during the ASEAN leaders summit on Oct. 26, 2025. 

Global Trade

U.S.-China Relations

The summit highlighted the Southeast Asian bloc's attempts to boost internal unity and economic integration amid the U.S.-China rivalry, but it also exposed structural divides and external pressures that hinder unified action and leave ASEAN states vulnerable to coercion.

The Takeaways From the 2025 ASEAN Summit

Poland

Ukraine

Russia

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in the Oval Office of the White House on July 22, 2025. 

Russia-Ukraine Conflict

The Weekly Rundown: Last-Minute U.S. Trade Talks, a New Polish President

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim (center) speaks during a press conference next to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet (left) and Thailand's acting prime minister Phumtham Wechayachai (right) in Putrajaya, Malaysia, on July 28, 2025. 

While the truce may hold in the short to medium term, unresolved disputes and political pressures sustain the risk of future clashes, with the next round likely to be even deadlier.

Gauging the Stability of the Thailand-Cambodia Ceasefire

Canada

Mexico

Japan

South Korea

Taiwan

Europe

A Cambodian soldier stands on a truck with a rocket launcher in Cambodia's Oddar Meanchey province, which borders Thailand, on July 25, 2025. 

The Weekly Rundown: U.S. Tariff Deadline Passes, Thai-Cambodian Border Tensions Persist

A ''Danger'' sign warns visitors about a fragile structure within the grounds of the Preah Vihear temple in Cambodia.

Border clashes will likely persist and could escalate if Cambodia later tries to seize disputed territory, but a full-scale war remains unlikely in the short term.

Deadly Clashes Sharply Escalate Thai-Cambodian Border Dispute

Snapshots

Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra (center) speaks next to Deputy Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai (2nd from left) during a press conference in Bangkok following her suspension by the country's Constitutional Court on July 1, 2025. 

Paetongtarn's suspension from office over a leaked phone call with Cambodia's former leader risks collapsing her fragile government and inviting more economic disruption amid U.S. trade tensions.

A Fresh Political Crisis Erupts in Thailand Following Prime Minister's Suspension

The Geopolitics of Trade

The impending full implementation of sweeping U.S. tariffs threatens to significantly disrupt export-driven ASEAN economies, which is driving countries to seek alternative trade partners.

The Geopolitics of Trade: U.S. Tariffs Give Impetus to ASEAN Trade Diversification

Ecuador

Iran

Italy

Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the closing session of the National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, China, on March 11, 2025. 

U.S.-Iran Relations

The Weekly Rundown: Xi Tours Southeast Asia, Iran-U.S. Nuclear Talks Begin

The Ta Moan Thom temple is seen on the border between Thailand and Cambodia.

While full-scale military conflict is unlikely, the dispute risks spurring localized border clashes, as both Cambodia and Thailand maintain entrenched military positions with no clear legal resolution.

Thai-Cambodian Tensions Flare Over Disputed Temple, Raising Fears of Clashes

The flags of the countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, are seen on display.

Malaysia's chairmanship will be pivotal in navigating security risks as well as those from U.S. trade restrictions, potential Chinese economic coercion, and supply chain realignments that threaten ASEAN's cohesion and strategic autonomy.

Previewing Malaysia's 2025 ASEAN Chairmanship

Cambodia occupies a transition zone between the western and eastern portions of mainland Southeast Asia and is defined by its weak geopolitical position between Thailand and Vietnam. This vulnerability led to massive instability throughout the 1946 to 1989 Indochina Wars and into the 1990s. In ancient times, the Cambodian Angkor empire controlled much of the Mekong Basin to the north, parts of Thailand, and extend east to the South China Sea. Since the fall of Angkor in the 15th century, however, Cambodia has been gradually eaten away by the expansion of powers to its east and west.     Cambodia's core is the basin of the seasonal Tonle Sap lake and the lowlands where the Mekong River flows toward Vietnam. This region is home to much of Cambodia's population and produces its vital agricultural surplus. It also contains the capital city of Phnom Penh, which is a center for Cambodia's low-end manufacturing sector that accounts for nearly 80 percent of the country's exports.     Having lost the Mekong Delta, modern Cambodia's only coastline is a 440-kilometer (273-mile) strip on the Gulf of Thailand that is largely screened off from the country's interior by the Elephant and Cardamom mountains. Furthermore, Cambodia lacks control of its main river system, the Mekong, which enters the South China Sea through southern Vietnam.     Cambodia's unachievable imperative is to reclaim its lost buffer space and its eastern access to the sea via the Mekong. But its weak geopolitical hand makes modern Cambodia's achievable imperative to protect its lowland core and enlist the help of a foreign patron to guard against its powerful neighbors. However, doing so risks making the country into a client state or causing it to fall prey to a great power's games.

SITUATION REPORTS

U.S., Southeast Asia: Washington Launches Strike Force Targeting Regional Scam Centers

Thailand, Cambodia: Fresh Clash Follows Peace Plan Suspension

Thailand, Cambodia: Bangkok Suspends Peace Plan Implementation

China, ASEAN: Trade Pact Upgrade To Expand Bloc's Market Access

U.S., Thailand, Cambodia: Peace Declaration, Trade Agreements at ASEAN Summit

Thailand, Cambodia: Bangkok, Phnom Penh To Sign 'Peace Declaration' at ASEAN Summit

Thailand, U.S.: Washington Conditions Trade Talks on Lasting Ceasefire With Cambodia

U.S., Malaysia: Trump Conditions ASEAN Summit Participation on Peace Ceremony

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