The manuscript contends that the strengthening of Australia's diplomatic relations with Southeast Asia can be attributed to the escalating threat posed by China's rise, the US's precarious role in the Asia-Pacific landscape, and the increasingly complex economic interconnections between the US, Australia, and Southeast Asia vis-à-vis China. Historically, the strategic alliance with the United States has been the cornerstone of Canberra's foreign policy framework. Nonetheless, Canberra's concerns about Washington's uncertain presence have grown as a result of the ongoing changes in US National Security Policy over the previous decade, from 2016 to 2025. In the long run, it can be argued that the dominant trajectory indicates Canberra's intention to strengthen its comprehensive strategic partnership with Southeast Asia, despite the increased complexity and fragmentation observed within Australia's multicultural society. While some analysts argue that Canberra's strategic alliance with the United States still predisposes it to prioritize the abandonment of Southeast Asia, there is a counterargument that Australia's strategic partnership with Washington is gradually dwindling after over 75 years of establishment and evolution. In light of the aforementioned circumstances, the manuscript advocates for Australia to recalibrate its domestic policies, particularly its ethnic policies concerning the Asian immigrant populace, and to leverage the existing networks of economic and social relationships with Southeast Asian nations, thus cultivating a framework of alliances among middle powers within the region, which would mitigate the risk of becoming ensnared in the strategic rivalry between the US and China in Southeast Asia.

In the early 21st century, China has increasingly recognized the critical importance of securing its national energy supply. As the demand for energy continues to rise, China has implemented an assertive and comprehensive energy diplomacy strategy on a global scale, with Southeast Asia emerging as a key focus. The region holds a geo-strategic significance, rich in vital natural resources such as oil, natural gas, and other minerals, making it a strategic partner in China’s broader energy security objectives. This policy, driven by China’s growing energy needs and its desire to diversify energy sources, has far-reaching impacts on Southeast Asia, influencing various sectors including economics, politics, and national security. China's energy diplomacy in Southeast Asia is not only an economic endeavor but also a means of strengthening political alliances and asserting its regional influence. This paper explores the nuances of China's energy diplomacy policy towards Southeast Asia in the early 21st century, highlighting its strategic objectives, the mechanisms employed, and the broader implications for regional and global security dynamics.

This article analyzes South Korea’s new National Security Strategy (NSS) released in June 2023 under President Yoon Suk-yeol. The study situates the NSS in the context of rapidly changing regional and global geopolitics, examining the factors driving the emergence of this new strategy. The article primarily uses secondary document analysis methods to identify the content of the NSS; the research clarifies significant changes in South Korea’s approach to national, regional, and global security issues. The research results not only provide insights into South Korea’s national security strategy but also contribute to a better understanding of the geopolitical dynamics reshaping the regional order.

The main purpose of this study is to examine the impact of credit risk management on profitability of commercial banks in Vietnam. While the existing literature emphasizes the necessity for a more in-depth study and additional empirical evidence to elucidate intricate relationships between market dynamics and credit risk, particularly in the context of commercial banks in Southeast Asia, there remains a gap in comprehensive studies, with a specific focus on Vietnam. The secondary data was collected from 20 commercial banks from the country for the period of 11 years, from 2012 to 2022. The study used non-performing loans ratio (NPLR), capital adequacy ratio (CAR) as well as loan-loss provision ratio (LLPR) as proxies of credit risk while the financial performance is measured by return on equity (ROE). Moreover, the bank's characteristics, such as its size (SIZE), the macroeconomic inflation rate (INF), and a dummy variable that looks at how ownership type (OWN) affects the bank's profitability are all applied to quantify the independent variables. The model does not exhibit the multicollinearity issue, according to the mean Variance Inflation Factor (VIF) data. The regression results reveal that SIZE, CAR and INF variables have a significant positive effect on ROE, while the NPLR variable has an opposite significant effect on ROE. Nevertheless, there is no connection between the ROE-measured financial performance of commercial banks and the OWN or LLPR variables. This offers further valuable insights to bankers and policy makers in credit risk management of commercial banks in Vietnam to enhance the stability of the Vietnamese banking system.

English is one of the keys to successful globalization; therefore, every country develops own English teaching policy. Teaching English in Asia is a very common issue ruled and supported by the government. This article is a contrastive study on different English policies in such Southeast and East Asian countries as China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, Taiwan, and Vietnam. The contrastive analysis focused on such aspects as school year of implementing English as required subject, teaching hours of English, teacher’s training, use of local and foreign teachers, teaching methods and materials, funding, etc. The contrastive study among countries mentioned above evaluated the advantages and disadvantages of certain English teaching policies. The positive results of one country can be borrowed and adapted by another country considering its cultural, political, economic or social features. On the other hand, the failures of one country’s English teaching policy can be considered and avoided by another country’s planning on English teaching policy.