Join hosts Ray Powell and Jim Carouso as they delve into the crucial issues defining the 21st century's pivotal region--one that spans from Hollywood to Bollywood. Learn to navigate its most important geopolitical, economic, military, environmental and cultural challenges, with a practical emphasis on why it matters. Hosted by seasoned diplomatic and national security practitioners, each episode offers insightful analysis and thought-provoking discussions. From bustling cities like Beijing, Mumbai and Tokyo, through the diverse countries of Southeast Asia, down to the Australian Outback and the pristine islands of the South Pacific, expert guests help Jim and Ray explore the region's defining issues, emergent crises and future trajectories. Discover the interplay of the U.S.-China strategic competition against the interests of rapidly emerging powers like India and Indonesia. Explore the complexities of regional alliances old and new like ASEAN, AUKUS and "the Quad". Understand the forces driving hotspots like the Korean Peninsula, Taiwan Strait, South China Sea and the China-India border ... and most importantly, why we should care.

Infographic of China's artificial islands in the South China Sea overlaid with the Philippines' rights under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Join hosts Ray Powell and Jim Carouso as they delve into the crucial issues defining the 21st century's pivotal region--one that spans from Hollywood to Bollywood. Learn to navigate its most important geopolitical, economic, military, environmental and cultural challenges, with a practical emphasis on why it matters. Hosted by seasoned diplomatic and national security practitioners, each episode offers insightful analysis and thought-provoking discussions. From bustling cities like Beijing, Mumbai and Tokyo, through the diverse countries of Southeast Asia, down to the Australian Outback and the pristine islands of the South Pacific, expert guests help Jim and Ray explore the region's defining issues, emergent crises and future trajectories. Discover the interplay of the U.S.-China strategic competition against the interests of rapidly emerging powers like India and Indonesia. Explore the complexities of regional alliances old and new like ASEAN, AUKUS and "the Quad". Understand the forces driving hotspots like the Korean Peninsula, Taiwan Strait, South China Sea and the China-India border ... and most importantly, why we should care.

Philippine vlogger and journalist Richard Heydarian talks to SeaLight Director Ray Powell about ongoing tensions in the West Philippine Sea.

Managing Chinese Gray Zone Activity in the South China Sea and Indian Ocean Region

Ray Powell is the Director of SeaLight, a maritime transparency initiative of the Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation at Stanford University, and a member of the South China Sea NewsWire Advisory Board. This interview was conducted on March 12, 2024.

How does a government respond to a threat or coercion by a larger and better-resourced military? That is a question faced by countries across the Indo-Pacific when it comes to actions conducted by the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Taiwan and the Philippines have experienced similar, yet unique, forms of PRC coercion that have resulted in both capitals developing analogous responses that fall within an analytical spectrum. This report focuses on how these two Indo-Pacific countries responded to actions conducted by the military apparatus of the PRC since 2022.

Headstart: Karen Davila talks to Maritime Security Expert Ray Powell for his insights on the latest incident of 'dangerous maneuvers' by China in the West Philippine Sea.

Ray Powell joins the program to discuss his recent work “Game Changer: The Philippines’ Assertive Transparency Campaign: How the Philippines Rewrote the Counter Gray Zone Playbook in 2023.”

Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative report tracking the dramatic increase in PRC and Philippine ships during resupply missions at Second Thomas Shoal over time.

In the most hotly contested waterway in the world, the risk of Asia’s next war hinges increasingly on a ramshackle ship past her time, pockmarked with holes, streaked with rust and beached on a reef.

Dozens of Chinese paramilitary and coast guard ships have flooded into contested waters in the South China Sea this week as the U.S. and its ally the Philippines began their premier military exercise this week.

The number of Chinese vessels has increased in the West Philippines Sea amid Balikatan, the joint military exercise of the Philippines and United States, the Philippine Navy said on Tuesday.

The French Navy is in the Philippines to take part in joint maritime activities between Manila, Paris, and Washington in the South China Sea during Balikatan 2024.

The Group of Seven, composed of seven of the world’s most powerful democracies, said China’s vast maritime claims in the South China Sea have no legal leg to stand on.

Two Chinese maritime militia ships were reportedly seen some 30 nautical miles from the coastline of Palawan yesterday, a day before the Philippines and United States begin Balikatan 2024. American maritime expert Ray Powell said the Chinese militia ships turned back in the direction of Mischief Reef after loitering outside the Philippines’ 24-nautical-mile contiguous zone.

The Houthis’ activities in the Red Sea and the Chinese actions around Second Thomas Shoal have notable similarities in tactical conduct and adversarial responses.

China says the Philippines is neglecting its side of a behind-the-scenes bargain struck under the previous administration, complicating a territorial dispute in the South China Sea that has the potential to draw in Philippine ally the U.S.

Last week's unprecedented White House summit of the leaders of the U.S., Japan and the Philippines put the spotlight on a new, informal alliance that could reshape Asia's security scene.

Two Chinese warships have been present at Cambodia's Ream Naval Base for much of the past five months, satellite images show, raising questions about the permanency of China's military presence at the facility.