Keyword: human rights

Are Drone Strikes Killing Terrorists or Creating Them?

Pakistani demonstrators shout anti-US slogans during a protest in Multan on January 8, 2013, against the drone attacks in Pakistan's tribal areas. (S.S Mirza/AFP/Getty Images)

Policy

After the publication of an interactive website visualizing drone strikes in Pakistan, Asia Society Senior Advisor Hassan Abbas analyzes the difficulty of assessing whether drone strikes are actually an effective terror-fighting tool.

March 28th by Hassan Abbas | Comments

International Migrants Day: Time to Commit to a Pro-Migrant Future

Migrant workers in Hong Kong, many of them from the Philippines and Indonesia, regularly congregate on city sidewalks. (KC Wong/Flickr)

Policy

For the wealthiest nations of the world, with the resources to act with foresight, now is the time to move away from divisive and often ilinformed biases toward migration challenges, writes Andrew Billo.

December 18th by Andrew Billo | Comments

Interview: For Wu Qing, Pushing for Change is 'Citizen's Responsibility'

Policy

I want to change China from a country ruled of man and by man to a country ruled of law and by law," activist and legislator Wu Qing tells Asia Blog.

December 10th by Liz Flora | Comments

To Ensure Peace and Justice, International Community Must Lead by Example

Former Thai prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva (C) arrives at the Bangkok Metropolitan Police headquarters on Dec. 9, 2011 for questioning over a deadly military crackdown he oversaw on mass opposition protests in Bangkok in April and May of 2010. (Joan Manuel Baliellas/AFP/Getty Images)

Policy

A critical question confronts Thailand, Sri Lanka and other Asian nations: Is lasting peace possible in the absence of justice?

December 7th by Andrew Billo | Comments

The 'Visionary' Women Critical to a Unified Myanmar

A Kachin tribe woman listens to Aung San Suu Kyi in the town of Moe Kaung on February 23, 2012. (Soe Than Win/Getty Images)

Policy

Asia Society Asia 21 fellow Wenchi Yu argues that formerly-suppressed women's border NGOs should not be excluded from reform in Myanmar.

October 1st by Wenchi Yu | Comments

Video: Photography as a Revolutionary Tool in Bangladesh

Multimedia

Bangladeshi photographer and activist Shahidul Alam talks about the power of photography to promote change.

June 13th by Stella Guan | Comments

Chen Guangcheng, Hoping to Return Home, 'Waiting' on China to Enforce Laws

Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng listens to a question at the Council on Foreign Relations on May 31, 2012 in New York. (Don Emmert/AFP/GettyImages)

Policy

Blind legal activist Chen Guangcheng said during a public appearance today in New York that he hopes China can follow its own laws and that he can return to his native country after studying in the U.S.

May 31st by Alex Ortolani | Comments

In Southeast Asia, U.S. Preaches Human Rights While China Opens Door to Trade

A Cambodian woman washing dishes outside her house on the edge of the Boeung Kak lake (background) in central Phnom Penh as debris from destroyed buildings litter the ground nearby on May 25, 2011. (Christophe Archambault/AFP/Getty Images)

Policy The U.S. needs to tone down its human rights rhetoric with Southeast Asian countries like Myanmar if it intends to compete with China in the region.

March 30th by Andrew Billo | Comments

What You Need to Know About Myanmar's Upcoming Elections

A Burmese worker hangs up freshly silkscreened National League for Democracy party (NLD) tshirt ahead of the parliamentary elections March 26, 2012 in Yangon, Myanmar. (Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)

Policy

"The world will be watching to see if the shift toward democracy in Myanmar is real," writes Asia Society's Suzanne DiMaggio.

March 26th by Suzanne DiMaggio | Comments

Interview: Robert Barnett on Why Tibetans Are Setting Themselves on Fire

Tibetans offer prayers near mock coffins to represent the victims self-immolation during a rally in Siliguri, in the Indian state of West Bengal, on February 8, 2012. China said February 7 it would 'resolutely crack down' on any attempts to instigate violence in Tibetan-inhabited areas, where authorities have launched a deadly clampdown on protesters. (Diptendu Dutta/AFP/Getty Images)

Policy

Current tensions — including Tibetan monks and nuns using self-immolation as a form of protest — are not going to disappear without some concession from China's government, says a leading Tibet expert.

February 24th by Alex Ortolani | Comments