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      Sholto Byrnes

      Sholto Byrnes

      Columnist
      Location
      Sholto Byrnes is an East Asian affairs columnist for The National. A commentator and consultant based in Kuala Lumpur, he previously held senior roles at the Independent and New Statesman in London, set up and edited a quarterly international affairs magazine in the Arabian Gulf, and was a senior fellow at the Institute of Strategic and International Studies Malaysia. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in 2009 and a corresponding fellow of the Erasmus Historical and Cultural Forum in 2019.
      Follow on XLinkedIn

      Articles

      A woman holds an Israeli flag with red paint on to resemble blood as protesters block a main road during a rally in Tel Aviv. Getty
      CommentTrump says 'everyone hates' Netanyahu - Israelis should take that seriously

      Whatever military victories Israel achieves in its current manner will never protect its future

      CommentJune 11, 2026
      Container ships and bulk carriers off Singapore in February, 2024. Bloomberg
      CommentThe race to bypass the Strait of Malacca is about more than trade

      A Thai land bridge and a Malaysian rail link are not only about easing congestion but about hedging against crisis

      CommentMay 27, 2026
      Plastic figures depicting Chinese President Xi Jinping dressed as a Qing Dynasty emperor and US President Donald Trump are displayed for sale in a store in Beijing last Sunday. AFP
      CommentXi will play nice with Trump at the Beijing summit – but will he play ball?

      Weakened by the Iran war, Washington is in a hurry to reopen the Strait of Hormuz

      CommentMay 13, 2026
      Afghans including those who worked for the US, Nato, EU and the UN in Afghanistan wait outside the Hamid Karzai International Airport to flee after Taliban took control of Kabul in August 2021. EPA
      CommentThreats to send asylum-seekers to Africa are racist

      It is also neo-colonialist to assume wealthy countries have the right to outsource their problems to a developing continent

      CommentApril 30, 2026
      US President Donald Trump’s remarks about Pope Leo have strained relations with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. AFP
      CommentThe Iran war is disrupting relations all over the world. Everyone needs to cool it

      Public feuds, like the one involving politicians in Singapore and Malaysia and between Trump and Meloni, are totally unnecessary

      CommentApril 16, 2026
      UN peacekeepers are stationed in southern Lebanon, where a war has raged between Hezbollah and Israel. Reuters
      CommentIs the UN sliding into irrelevance?

      From the Iran war to Security Council paralysis, the case for a bold new secretary general is urgent

      CommentApril 02, 2026
      Chinese President Xi Jinping was scheduled to host US President Donald Trump in Beijing later this month. AFP
      CommentHow Trump and Netanyahu's war on Iran has undermined US pivot to Asia

      Countries in the Asia Pacific being affected, both directly and indirectly, by the conflict will increasingly lean on China

      CommentMarch 18, 2026
      A march in Paris on Sunday in support of the US and Israel strikes on Iran. AFP
      CommentThe lesson America never learnt from Iraq: regime change almost never works

      Washington cannot escape blame if Iran's establishment is made to collapse without a viable alternative to take its place

      CommentMarch 04, 2026
      Jesse Jackson's clarity is a lesson for all politicians: that their platforms need to have a moral bedrock. EPA
      CommentThe world will miss Jesse Jackson's sense of moral purpose

      At a time when trust in politicians is low, the late American politician reminds us of a different class of public service

      CommentFebruary 18, 2026
      Officials count votes at a polling station in Bangkok after the polls closed in the general election on Sunday. EPA
      CommentDid Thai voters just flip the script?

      A surprising win for the party aligned with the royal-military establishment might provide the stability the country needs to rekindle economic growth

      CommentFebruary 11, 2026
      Henry Kissinger is one of a few former US secretaries of state to have been born outside the US. Robert Bumsted / AP Photo
      America and China should listen to Henry Kissinger and manage their difficulties

      The former US secretary is right to say the future of the world depends on the two sides working out solutions to ease hostility between them

      CommentFebruary 04, 2026
      An Asean foreign ministers' meeting with China in Vientiane, Laos in July 2024. AFP
      CommentThe challenges facing Asean as it tries to rise in the new world order

      The grouping can't reach its potential as a middle-power bridge unless all its members play ball

      CommentJanuary 29, 2026
      During a speech he gave in Davos this week, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said the world shouldn’t mourn the old order’s passing. EPA
      CommentCritics of the West shouldn’t rejoice at its swift collapse

      Global civilisation will survive its decline, but it will also miss some of its strengths

      CommentJanuary 22, 2026
      Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim deserves kudos for taking advantage of his position of relative strength to announce serious reforms. EPA
      CommentMalaysia's Anwar Ibrahim can finally burnish his reformist credentials

      The Prime Minister has a chance to secure his legacy

      CommentJanuary 16, 2026
      We can deal with a state of affairs in which rules are sometimes bent slightly. But we cannot have a world in which variants of the 'Donroe Doctrine' hold sway. Getty
      CommentTrump's Venezuela raid shows it's time to create a new rules-based order

      Sphere of influence may be a reality, but the international community should not take a defeatist attitude

      CommentJanuary 08, 2026
      More Articles

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