The Global Roadmap for Action on the Care Economy

Care isn't just a women's issue - it's an economic imperative

The caregiving crisis of Covid-19 and long-term trends such as aging popula...

U.S.–China–Southeast Asia Relations, a Special Report

Southeast Asia has become the central arena of U.S.-Chinese competition. In this conversation, the authors of a new report from The Asia Foundation di...

TAF70: Transforming a Time-Honored Tradition of Community Mediation

This week, we look back three decades to an Asia Foundation program that has transformed the delivery of justice in Bangladesh by making the country’s...

Meet the Young Asian Diplomats

Our annual study tour brought eleven young diplomats from across Asia to the United States. Two of them joined us to discuss their experiences. 

TAF70: Reforming Agricultural Land Titling in the Philippines

 In 1936, the Philippines gave traditional farmers formal title to the lands they had farmed for generations. The Public Land Act was expected to boos...

Cultivating Women’s Forest Stewardship: The 100 Champions Network

Rural women have proven to be uniquely effective protectors of Indonesia’s vast and threatened forests. Joining us this week is Rahpriyanto Alam Surya...

A New Chapter for a Storied Books Program

We explore the transformative journey of The Asia Foundation's Books for Asia, now reborn as Let's Read. Director Kyle Barker, alongside team members...

Myanmar: Resistance and the Cost of the Coup in Chin State

February 1 marked the anniversary of the military coup that upended Myanmar’s democracy and plunged much of the country into open conflict. Three year...

A Work in Progress: Nepal’s Bold Bet on Federalism

InAsia explores Nepal's transformative journey into federalism following a civil war and political deadlock. With the 2015 constitution, Nepal embarke...

Dancing on the Line between Art and Activism

Meet two political activists who have secret literary lives—or is it the other way around? We talk to our 2023 Asia Foundation Development Fellows Sha...

Markets, Motives, and Micro-Finance: A View of the SDGs

At the half-way point for the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, where we are, how we can move forward, and a shout-out to Adam Smith. 

Welcome to Woopie Town

The irrepressible disability activist, Tanzila Khan, tries her hand at board game design. We take the game out for a spin.

You can learn...

The Last Nomads

In a world grappling with climate challenges, Mongolia's nomadic herders have a unique perspective to offer. Join us for an engaging interview with As...

Looking Forward in Indonesia

The Asia Foundation’s country representative in Indonesia, Hana Satriyo,  is a veteran advocate  for women’s and minority rights and a champion agains...

Transformative Lessons from the LeadNext Global Leaders’ Summit

Young in experience, but passionate in their commitments: a six-month fellowship invests in young leaders from Asia, the Pacific, and the United State...

Southeast Asia’s Multipolar Future

Delving into geopolitical dynamics: navigating the rise of rivalries in Southeast Asia. Could the escalating U.S.-China tensions potentially lead to t...

To Save the Philippines’ Forests, He Sued for Future Generations

This July marks the 30th anniversary of a legal decision in the Philippines that has reverberated far beyond those shores. In 1993, a young attorney n...

Catching Up with the Young Asian Diplomats

Much work—and some play—on a U.S. study tour for 15 mid-career Asian diplomats.

We caught up with two of the group in San Francisco, jus...

APEC in 2023, a Conversation with Matt Murray

It’s the United States’ year to host the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, whose 21 members reach from Russia to the Pacific and from South Ame...

Flawless: Lessons from the Capital of K-Beauty

Elise Hu spent four years as NPR’s first bureau chief in Seoul. She joins us to talk about her new book, a deeply reported and deeply reflective accou...

Religious Freedom Gets an Early Warning System in Bangladesh

In the restless Rajshahi district of Bangladesh, a five-year experiment built a community warning system for religious freedom violations.

Understanding the “Care Economy”

If all the world’s care workers were one national economy, it would be among the largest, in hours worked, in the world. It would also consist mostly...

No Happiness without the Trees: Bhutan’s Trailblazing Environmental Law

Indonesia’s Women Forest Defenders

“You can’t protect what you don’t love, and you can’t love what you don’t know.” Indonesian women harness the local power of social forestry.  

Exit Interview: The Asia Foundation’s David Arnold

As president and CEO, David Arnold steered The Asia Foundation through 12 momentous years. 

Sri Lanka’s 75th Year of Independence Marred by Economic, Political Woes

Sri Lanka’s 75th anniversary arrives at a moment of peril and, perhaps, possibility for this nation of about 21 million in the Indian Ocean. 

What Path Forward? Afghanistan Continues to Haunt and Perplex.

A year and a half after the Taliban’s return to power, the hardships of daily life in Afghanistan are becoming dire. Yet, the government’s restrictive...

Hope over Fate: the Story of BRAC

A new book tells the story of Fazlé Hasan Abed, the “mild-mannered accountant” who helped lift Bangladesh from the ashes of its violent birth and reim...

The Heady Early Days of Rappler

Last week, The Asia Foundation presented our Chang Lin Tien Distinguished Leadership Award to the pioneering Philippine news site Rappler and its foun...

A Conversation with Abbas Hussain

How a two-year program helped vulnerable communities in South Asia protect themselves from Covid-19 and the “fake-news pandemic.”  

LeadNext Fellows: Citizens of the World

Meet twenty young leaders from the U.S. and the Asia-Pacific, the first graduates of The Asia Foundation’s LeadNext Fellowship program. Read the full...

South Korea: The Paradox on the Han River

After beating a path to postwar prosperity that’s been the envy of Asia and the world, South Korea suddenly finds itself in a profound malaise, with p...

Nothing Is Impossible: Full Interview with Ambassador Ted Osius

In this special episode we present an unabridged version of last week’s conversation with former ambassador Ted Osius about the improbable reconciliat...

Nothing is Impossible: America's Reconciliation with Vietnam

This week, former ambassador Ted Osius discusses the remarkable journey of America and Vietnam from bitter adversaries to friends and partners. 

Amid Commerce and Conflict, Some Border Towns Endure

The market town of Torkham stands on the Old Silk Road, with one foot on either side of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. As Islamabad seeks to secure...

Protecting Domestic Workers with the Blockchain

In Vietnam, rural women drawn to the booming cities for domestic work are often unprepared and undocumented. A technology that made its public debut w...

Transforming the Food Supply Chain, One Refrigerator at a Time

A marathon coding competition in Bangkok hatches a winning app that could transform the food supply chain—and your relationship with your refrigerator...

A Push Factor for Trafficking: Gender-Based Violence

One can lure victims into brothels and across international borders. The other is often hidden in the home. But their tangled relationship holds a key...

Nepal Elections: Why Can’t the Mayor Be a Woman?

Fourteen thousand women won political office in Nepal’s first local elections in 2017. With the 2022 elections now just days away, our guest, Sumina K...

A New Generation Takes the Driver’s Seat in Bangsamoro

This week, we talk to the BARMM's Attorney Abdel Jamal Disangcopan on how his parliamentary staff is part of a new generation of young professionals b...