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Sholto Byrnes

Sholto Byrnes

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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

US President Joe Biden delivers remarks at the White House in Washington last week. Reuters
Biden has gone from 'genial Joe' to a man all too comfortable with war

It isn't just his cognitive abilities that are worrisome, but also his appetite for belligerence

CommentFebruary 14, 2024
Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak, at the federal court in Putrajaya in 2022, has received a reduced sentence. AFP
Malaysians needn't be outraged by the royal clemency for Najib Razak

When tempers cool, many parties may find the partial pardon for the former prime minister more satisfactory than they do now

CommentFebruary 07, 2024
Indonesian Defence Minister and presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto is surrounded by his supporters at a campaign rally in Jakarta this week. Reuters
So what if Indonesia's presidential frontrunner has critics in West?

It is what the voters think that matters most – and they seem to prefer Prabowo Subianto ahead of the February vote

CommentFebruary 01, 2024
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds up a map of Israel that includes all of the West Bank and Gaza during his UN address in 2022. AFP
Netanyahu's western backers let him play them for fools

They indulged the Israeli leader hoping – wrongly, as it turns out – that he would agree to the establishment of a Palestinian state

CommentJanuary 24, 2024
A Palestinian man holds a portrait of late PLO leader Yasser Arafat and former South African president Nelson Mandela in Bethlehem last week. AFP
The ICJ case has exposed world's post-colonial fissures

Former colonial powers like the US are acting recklessly in their support for Israel, an occupier of the Palestinian territories

CommentJanuary 17, 2024
US and Chinese presidents Donald Trump, right, and Xi Jinping attend a working dinner after the G20 leaders summit in Buenos Aires in 2018. Reuters
Peaceniks should back Trump – not Biden – to make the world safe again

The transactional former president has a better chance of resolving both the Ukraine and Taiwan crises

CommentJanuary 11, 2024
Taiwanese Vice President Lai Ching-te attends an election campaign event in Taipei on Friday. Reuters
Why a 'Chinese commonwealth' could be the way forward for Taiwan

Rather than encouraging aspirations to independence, real friends of Taipei ought to be proposing new solutions

CommentJanuary 03, 2024
Paper lanterns are released at an Asean-Japan meeting in Tokyo on December 17. For many countries in the region, the priorities in 2024 will be stability and continuity. Reuters
Next year, Asian nations must do much more to build trust

Imaginative thinking over competing claims in the South China Sea would bode well for the region as it enters 2024

CommentDecember 28, 2023
An official near a display of US and Israeli flags at Ben Gurion Airport, near Tel Aviv, Israel, on July 13. EPA
Respect for the US is waning in many corners of the world

Washington seems to be in denial even as Biden's coalition appears to be cracking at home in America

CommentDecember 21, 2023
Mehdi Hasan attends the Muslim Public Affairs Council Convention: Authentic Voices For Principled Changed, in Los Angeles on November 11. Getty Images
We need more Mehdi Hasans

No one should have to 'fit in' by keeping quiet about their religion

CommentDecember 06, 2023
Japan's Prime Minister Kishida, US President Joe Biden, and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi attend the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity launch event in Tokyo, Japan, on May 23, 2022. Reuters
The US is indicating it may not be serious about trade in the Asia Pacific

Withdrawing from an ambitious trade agreement in the region is telling

CommentNovember 30, 2023
Seized weapons of the Myanmar army with the photo of Senior Gen Min Aung Hlaing in a rebel outpost in Shan state this month. The Tatmadaw has faced severe setbacks in recent weeks. AP
Is Myanmar's ruling military on the brink of collapse?

While it may not be on its last legs yet, recent setbacks suggest the world must prepare for the day after

CommentNovember 23, 2023
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
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