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Sholto Byrnes

Sholto Byrnes

Columnist
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.
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Articles

Protesters in Florida, US, gather to denounce Israeli actions in Gaza, while supporters of Israel demonstrate across the street. AP
Gone are the days of limitless western support for Israel

The more Palestinians suffer, the weaker Israel's case becomes for young people who don't remember its foundational traumas

CommentNovember 15, 2023
Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong visit the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, China, on November 6, 2023. Reuters
Albanese's cheery China visit shows a sea change in Australia's Asian outlook

Warming ties between Canberra and Beijing provides a rare instance of good news this month

CommentNovember 10, 2023
Street art showing US President Joe Biden as Captain America, the super hero, in southern Tel Aviv on Wednesday. Getty Images
The US has made it clear that rules are for other people

America and its allies, it would appear, have total impunity from following the international 'rules-based order'

CommentNovember 01, 2023
RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA - October 20, 2023: (HH Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates (L) and HRH Prince Mohamed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of Saudi Arabia (R), stand for a photograph during the joint summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), at King Abdulaziz International Convention Center. ( Hamad Al Kaabi / UAE Presidential Court ) ---
The GCC and South-East Asia make a good team

Aligned as the blocs are in many ways, together they could project a far stronger voice in the global conversation than they do on their own

CommentOctober 26, 2023
Palestinian children inspect a damaged car following Israeli bombardment in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, on Wednesday. AFP
Quickly evolving Israel-Gaza war must offer pause for thought

Some pertinent and uncomfortable questions need to be asked amid this never-ending cycle of violence

CommentOctober 18, 2023
Palestinians beside the bodies of their loved ones, at Al Shefa hospital, in Gaza City, on October 11. EPA
The reactions to Israel-Gaza reveal a multipolar world

While Israel has the support of US and its allies, Indonesia and Malaysia have long been on the Palestinian side

CommentOctober 11, 2023
A satellite image shows gas from the Nord Stream pipeline bubbling up in the water following incidents in the Baltic Sea last September. Reuters
Why disinformation from the West is particularly dangerous

The world is, disturbingly, consuming a specific kind of disinformation. Let me explain

CommentOctober 03, 2023
Houses and armoured vehicle destroyed during the fighting between Russian and Ukrainian armed forces in Klishchiivka, Donetsk region, Ukraine. AP
Why the Global South is fed up with being lectured on Russia-Ukraine

Countries held back by past superpower violence have little patience left for a faraway 'call to arms'

CommentSeptember 27, 2023
Performers with Malaysia flags celebrate National Day at Putrajaya last month. Malaysia's is a cosmopolitan society. Reuters
Malaysia offers valuable lessons on how to stay together and thrive

Sixty years after being 'put together', the country has fared well despite the challenges

CommentSeptember 21, 2023
Trainees learn how to build and operate an EUV machine, which makes advanced semiconductors, in Taiwan. Reuters
Why America's 'silicon blockade' against China is counterproductive

Economic warfare between the world's two largest economies will lead somewhere neither want to go

CommentSeptember 13, 2023
The late Bill Richardson helped negotiate Taylor Dudley's release from a prison in Kaliningrad, Russia, in January. AFP
The world needs more diplomats like Bill Richardson

His style of diplomacy benefited America and the world immensely. Yet it seems to have gone out of fashion

CommentSeptember 05, 2023
A protester holds a sign that reads "Don't throw radiation-contaminated water into the sea", during a rally against discharging of treated radioactive water the ocean, in front of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's official residence in Tokyo, Japan, on August 25. Reuters
Japan releasing water from the Fukushima nuclear plant sets a bad example

For most people the words 'nuclear contaminated' and 'perfectly safe' do not belong in the same sentence

CommentAugust 29, 2023
Delegates walk past logos of the Brics summit at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg on August 23. Pool/ AFP
Brics: There is a reason countries want to join

Brics represents an important global shift and scepticism regarding the grouping is a category error

CommentAugust 23, 2023
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, centre, speaks as Deputy Prime Minister Zahid Hamidi, left, looks on after the state election results in Kuala Lumpur. EPA
Trouble on the horizon for Malaysia's Anwar Ibrahim

The Prime Minister's struggle to win the traditional Malay vote threatens to undermine his unity government

CommentAugust 16, 2023
Visitors at a technology conference In Beijing wait near illuminated boards highlighting Chinese President Xi Jinping's Belt and Road Initiative. AP
Italy's decision to exit China's BRI is mystifying in both tone and tenor

Defence Minister Guido Crosetto used strong language about a loose association that aims to boost trade and build much-needed infrastructure

CommentAugust 02, 2023
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