NEED TO KNOW  The Grain of Truth: In Japan, Political Fortunes Go With Rice   JAPAN  In Japan, rice is no joking matter.   […]

NEED TO KNOW  Rocks and Hard Places: Caught Between Pakistan and India, Kashmiris Hope for Peace  KASHMIR  On April 22, gunfire broke […]

NEED TO KNOW  Rough Seas: A Family Feud Divides Philippines as Voters Head to the Polls  PHILIPPINES  In March, when Filipino police […]

NEED TO KNOW  What’s Old Is New: Malaysia Moves Forward and Brings Old Habits With It  MALAYSIA  Nearly 100 years old, Mahathir […]

NEED TO KNOW  The Trump Effect: Anger at the US Fuels Leftist Advantage in Australian Elections  AUSTRALIA A global trade war, threats […]

NEED TO KNOW  In Singapore, an Election Brings Choices, Change and – Tingles  SINGAPORE  For years, elections in Singapore produced little excitement, […]

NEED TO KNOW  The Long Arm of the Law: In the Philippines, the Rules Remain an Afterthought  PHILIPPINES  When former Philippine President […]

NEED TO KNOW  Going a Courting: China Woos Neighbors to Beat US Trade War  CHINA Chinese leader Xi Jinping took his first overseas […]

NEED TO KNOW A Shot in the Dark: Indonesia’s President Want’s ‘Polite Democracy.’ Good Luck With That. INDONESIA When Indonesian President Prabowo […]

NEED TO KNOW The Omen: An Earthquake, Say Locals, Foretells the End of Myanmar’s Junta MYANMAR For the past four years, the […]

NEED TO KNOW Playing Coy: Armenia Wants Peace – Azerbaijan Doesn’t Mind Waiting ARMENIA/ AZERBAIJAN In mid-March, Armenia and Azerbaijan did what many thought was […]

NEED TO KNOW The Power of the Purse: China Pleads For Spending CHINA Pan Gongsheng, governor of the People’s Bank of China […]

NEED TO KNOW Give and Take: Vietnam Cracks Down, Opens Up VIETNAM Writing about Vietnam’s economic fortunes, global law firm White and […]

NEED TO KNOW Afghans In Pakistan Snared in US Resettlement ‘Trap’ AFGHANISTAN Afghan refugee Shakoofa Khalili had worked with an American NGO […]

NEED TO KNOW A Country, a Business TAJIKISTAN Starting on March 2, Tajik voters will go to the polls to choose their […]

NEED TO KNOW Chinese Roulette COOK ISLANDS Earlier this month, Mark Brown, the leader of the quasi-independent Cook Islands, flew to China […]

NEED TO KNOW Going South THAILAND On Jan. 14, two police officers were driving on a rural road in southern Thailand when a […]

NEED TO KNOW Dreams of Destiny TURKEY Late last year, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that Turkey needs breathing room. “Turkey […]

NEED TO KNOW The Declaration of Dependence ABKHAZIA/ GEORGIA In November, opposition-led protesters in Abkhazia stormed and occupied parliament, the president’s office, […]

NEED TO KNOW The Hermit’s Rumspringa NORTH KOREA When Russian President Vladimir Putin received help last year fighting his war in Ukraine […]

NEED TO KNOW A Dueling Paralysis TAIWAN Just before Christmas, Taiwanese lawmakers duked it out on the legislature’s floor, in what was […]

NEED TO KNOW Pyrrhic Victory PAKISTAN Last fall, Pakistan’s parliament passed a constitutional amendment that stripped the top court of some of […]

NEED TO KNOW K-Bubbles SOUTH KOREA The Seoul Detention Center usually holds murderers, rapists, drug dealers, and even former high-ranking government officials […]

NEED TO KNOW The Holy Grail VANUATU Last spring, Vanuatu’s voters approved new measures in a referendum to take effect this year […]