On 5–6 December 2022, International IDEA gathered 30 leading experts on democracy, anti-corruption and human rights at the inaugural Democracy in Asia and the Pacific Outlook Forum. Representing 23 institutions and organizations from 12 countries, attendees discussed key trends in democracy in the Asia and the Pacific region over the course of seven topical sessions. The sessions were previously defined by a round of consultations and interviews with several experts on democracy and human rights. The sessions—on human rights; regional cooperation; climate change; China; disinformation; electoral authoritarianism and militarization; and political finance—attempted to take stock of the current state of democracy in the region and forecast the determining factors in the year to come.

Pathways of Autocratization addresses contemporary global politics’ one of the most important questions: how does a country regress from a democracy to an autocracy? This book offers a novel framework for understanding the processes that erode democracy and lead to autocracy and explains a specific instance of democratic backsliding in Bangladesh: the world’s eighth most populous country. With probing analysis of events and trends of Bangladeshi politics, especially since 2009, the book contextualizes the country’s autocratization process within global trends and compares it with others which have trod a similar path in recent decades, including Bolivia, Cambodia, Hungary, Poland, the Philippines and Turkey. The book discusses the implications of institutional changes, the role of pliant media, the contribution of ideology, and the conduct of international actors in the autocratization process while also mapping future trajectories for the country. Succinct, incisive, and thought provoking, this book is rich in its theoretical robustness and empirical details. This is a must-read for anyone interested in understanding the dynamics of democratic backsliding and prospects for reversing this trend.

Growth in Asia and the Pacific outperformed expectations in late 2023, reaching 5.0 percent for the year. Inflation has continued to decline, albeit at varying speeds: some economies are still seeing sustained price pressures, while others are facing deflationary risks. In 2024, growth is projected to slow modestly to 4.5 percent. Near-term risks are now broadly balanced, as global disinflation and the prospect of monetary easing have increased the likelihood of a soft landing. Spillovers from a deeper property sector correction in China remain an important risk, however, while geoeconomic fragmentation clouds medium-term prospects. Given the diverse inflation landscape, central bank policies need to calibrate policies carefully to domestic needs. Fiscal consolidation should accelerate to contain debt burdens and debt service cost, in order to preserve budgetary space for addressing structural challenges, including population aging and climate change.

This decade has been marked by multiple, often overlapping, crises. The COVID-19 pandemic, natural disasters, and the ongoing war in Ukraine have all threatened the fabric of our global food systems. But opportunities can be found amid crises, and the world’s food systems have demonstrated surprising resilience. With new evidence on what works, now is the time to rethink how we address food crises. Better prediction, preparation, and resilience building can make future crises less common and less devastating, and improved responses can contribute to greater food security, better nutrition, and sustainable livelihoods.

Prompted by geostrategic rivalry and the war in Ukraine, COVID-19 and the climate transition, trade policy is increasingly being weaponized. This trend towards protectionist capture and retaliation is self-sabotaging and bad for growth. But there is another way. In this hard-hitting book, Ken Heydon offers alternatives to the trade weapon: the need for diplomatic carrots to accompany the sanctions stick; for resilience in supply chains rather than self-sufficiency through ill-advised reshoring and friend-shoring; for multilateral WTO remedies to rule breaking rather than unilateral penalties in the name of national sovereignty; and for direct action on environment and public health goals rather than the blunt tool of trade restriction. But, to restrain the damaging subordination of trade policy to other ends, governments must address the discontents of trade and do better at helping losers, adjusting to technological change and making the case for open markets. At stake are three decades of income gains from globalization and the ability to deal effectively with the climate transition and the next pandemic.

Timor-Leste has made impressive progress since independence in 2002 but remains a fragile post-conflict nation with pressing development needs. With oil and gas production having recently come to a halt, progress on diversifying the economy and developing the private sector is urgently needed. Fiscal deficits are financed by the country’s considerable Petroleum Fund savings, but regular large withdrawals are expected to lead to its full depletion by the end of the 2030s. A new coalition government—formed following parliamentary elections in May 2023—targets higher growth and achieving fiscal sustainability.

Marked exchange rate depreciation following the global terms of trade shocks at the start of 2022 year brought high inflation and deteriorating living standards and caused substantial increases in the domestic currency values of public debt and bank liabilities. Nonetheless, growth continued, and the prospect is for a return to steady growth in 2023. But public debt is assessed to be unsustainable, and servicing government debt presents substantial risks to this outlook.

This report, developed by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific in cooperation Asian Development Bank, offers an evidence-based look at progress at the regional and country level, providing an overview of long-term trends since 1990, and focuses on progress achieved in the most recent period, 2012-2014. Furthermore, it examines the key drivers behind progress, as well as identifies major challenges to achieving energy access, efficiency, and renewable energy objectives. Evidence is drawn from the Global Tracking Framework (GTF) data, as well as other international sources to provide a comprehensive view of progress in light of regional and national contexts. A strong focus is also placed on examining national policy frameworks and offering case studies to illustrate national approaches to common challenges faced by countries advancing the sustainable energy agenda.

This handbook explores the significance of the Indo-Pacific in world politics. It shows how the re-emergence of the Indo-Pacific in international relations has fundamentally changed the approach to politics, economics and security. The volume: explores the themes related to trade, politics and security for better understanding of the Indo-Pacific and the repercussions of the region's emergence studies different security and political issues in the region: military competition, maritime governance, strategic alliances and rivalries, and international conflicts analyses various socio-economic dimensions of the Indo-Pacific, such as political systems, cultural and religious contexts, and trade and financial systems examines the strategies of various states, such as the United States, Japan, India and China, and their approaches towards the Indo-Pacific covers the role of middle powers and small states in detail Interdisciplinary in approach and with essays from authors from around the world, this volume will be indispensable to scholars, researchers and students in the fields of international relations, politics and Asian studies.