Director of the South East Asia Forum, Stanford University's Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center
Senior Fellow at the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center at Stanford University, director of its Southeast Asia Forum and affiliated scholar in its Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies; editor of Hard Choices: Security, Democracy, and Regionalism in Southeast Asia
Bombings Target Foreigners in Jakarta In Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, two suicide bombers attacked the Marriott and Ritz-Carlton Hotels. The attacks were almost simultaneous, killing at least eight people and wounding more than 50. Donald Emmerson is Director of the Southeast Asia Forum at Stanford University and Affiliated Scholar at the Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies.
ASEAN Adopts Charter despite Differences over Myanmar A long-time loose group of countries focused on trade and business, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations is trying to forge a common market roughly similar to the European Union . But the question of how to confront Myanmar's crackdown on democracy has left ASEAN divided. Will Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore start to take a stand on democracy, and are they turning away from the US as China booms? Donald Emmerson is director of the Southeast Asia Forum at Stanford’s Shorenstein Center and the author of many papers and books on the region.
Human Rights in the era of Donald Trump President Trump’s UN Ambassador, Nikki Haley, said today the US might pull out of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council. Serious violators of human rights are members of the Council itself–and a US resignation could make things worse. Later on today’s show, now that he’s into his second term, comedian turned US Senator Al Franken is telling jokes again.
Replacing Obamacare: Now you see it… now you don’t As the Senate deliberates replacing Obmacare, health coverage for millions of people is at stake. There've been no public hearings, and a draft measure won't be made public. Is the House version so unpopular that that Senate is hiding a version that looks much the same?
The longest US war: Will Trump send more troops to Afghanistan? The Trump White House is divided over the Pentagon's request for more troops in Afghanistan—where the US has been fighting for the past 16 years. Is there a formula -- either for "victory" or a political settlement? Is there an end in sight for America's longest war?
Ex-FBI Director Comey tells his side of the story Today, former FBI Director James Comey came close to calling the President who fired him a liar. The White House denied the claim and called it insulting, but Republican Senators did not challenge Comey’s truthfulness. Many questions remain: did the President try to obstruct a federal investigation? Later, we’ll go behind the “velvet rope” for a look at 5-Star health care for the richest Americans.