State of Asia – Details, episodes & analysis

Pita Limjaroenrat, former Prime-Minister Designate of Thailand and current Visiting Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, delivers the fourth annual State of Asia Address, hosted by Asia Society Switzerland and the University of Zurich.

In a packed Aula, he spoke about the period of transition the world finds itself in, with the post-post Cold War era having ended, but a new chapter yet to be written. He laid out what this means for power, progress, and peace in Asia.

The full Address, including a conversation between Pita and University of Zurich economics professor Ralph Ossa, is also available on Asia Society's YouTube channel.

Stay up-to-date on all events and activities at Asia Society Switzerland: subscribe to the newsletter and support our work by becoming a member.
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STATE OF ASIA is a podcast from Asia Society Switzerland. 
Published: November 10, 2025
Host/Editor: Remko Tanis, Managing Editor, Asia Society Switzerland

2025 marks 50 years since Vietnam's reunification. A great moment to reflect on the country's remarkable transformation. Since launching major economic reforms four decades ago, Vietnam has achieved one of the world’s fastest growth rates, attracting global investment as companies shift production from China.

Today, it's a lower middle-income nation with bold ambitions to become a developed, high-income country by 2045. But, as Vietnam looks ahead, it faces significant challenges, from how to unleash more human creativity and reforming institutions to getting badly needed investments in infrastructure off the ground.

And like every other country, Vietnam cannot escape dealing with a fragmenting world order, that will challenge its famed bamboo diplomacy, where Hanoi works to be friends with everyone. Something that might no longer suit a geopolitical environment that incereasingly demands chosing sides.

In this episode, hear dr. Hai Hong Nguyen discuss all these points, and more. He's a senior lecturer in politics, social change, and international relations at VinUniversity in Hanoi.

This conversation is part of our long-running web series A Closer Look and available as video on the Asia Society YouTube channel.

Stay up-to-date on all events and activities at Asia Society Switzerland: subscribe to the newsletter and support our work by becoming a member.
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STATE OF ASIA is a podcast from Asia Society Switzerland. 
Season 8, episode 16 - Published: July 8, 2025
Host/Editor: Remko Tanis, Managing Editor, Asia Society Switzerland

For years, for most of us, news on global trade mostly hid out in the pages of The Wall Street Journal or the Financial Times. Not anymore. as the U.S. is threatening and hitting friend and foe with punitive tariffs. The rules-based system that has been governing global trade seems to be evaporating in front of our eyes.

What does that mean for consumers, companies, and governments in Europe and Asia? Hear insights from both continents. Renowned trade policy experts Deborah Elms, Head of Trade Policy at the Hinrich Foundation in Singapore, and Hosuk Lee-Makiyama, Director of the European Centre for International Political Economy, try to make sense of the rapid changes.

The conversations were recorded as part of the latest episode of our online series A Closer Look. That video is available on our website.

Stay up-to-date on all events and activities at Asia Society Switzerland: subscribe to the newsletter and support our work by becoming a member.

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STATE OF ASIA is a podcast from Asia Society Switzerland. 
Season 8, episode 7 - Published: February 18, 2025
Host/Editor: Remko Tanis, Managing Editor, Asia Society Switzerland

Late last year, at our annual STATE OF ASIA conference, we hosted a conversation on the economic developments in Japan, China, and India.

After decades of stagnation, Japan’s economy is showing optimism from structural shifts like labor market reforms and wage increases that are finally starting to pay off.

 In China, growth has peaked and the government is yet to succeed in convincing its population it’s okay to spend money.

All the while, India is now the fastest-growing developing economy and scrambling to shed its protectionist past in order to create a lot more much-needed jobs.

 This, and much more, was discussed in three 12-minute conversations by:

• Garima Mohan, Senior Fellow in the Indo-Pacific program at the German Marshall Fund of the United States
• Alicia García Herrero, Chief Economist Asia Pacific at Natixis
• Yumiko Murakami, General Partner at MPower Partners Fund, L.P.

More information on the conference, the speakers, plus videos and summaries, are available on our website.

Stay up-to-date on all events and activities at Asia Society Switzerland: subscribe to the newsletter and support our work by becoming a member.

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STATE OF ASIA is a podcast from Asia Society Switzerland. 
Season 8, episode 6 - Published: February 11, 2025
Host/Editor: Remko Tanis, Programs and Editorial Manager, Asia Society Switzerland

Kaiser Kuo, host of the long-running Sinica podcast, joins us in Zurich to discuss the evolving narrative on China, and why the West is so often 'stunned' by Chinese breakthroughs in electric vehicles, green technology, or, most recently: AI, with DeepSeek.
We explore the reasons behind the challenges of reporting on China, the importance of strategic empathy, and the shifting dynamics of global influence, particularly in relation to American exceptionalism.

Recommendations mentioned at the end of the episode:

• Chartbook, by Adam Tooze
• Pekingnology and The East is Read, by Zichen Wang
• Interconnected, by Kevin Xu
• Baiguan, by Robert Wu
• Chinese Cooking Demystified
• Playground, by Richard Powers
• Dal recipe

Stay up-to-date on all events and activities at Asia Society Switzerland: subscribe to the newsletter and support our work by becoming a member.

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STATE OF ASIA is a podcast from Asia Society Switzerland. 
Season 8, episode 5 - Published: February 4, 2025
Hosts: Nico Luchsinger and Remko Tanis, Asia Society Switzerland
Editor: Remko Tanis, Programs and Editorial Manager, Asia Society Switzerland

India and Indonesia, the juggernaut democracies of South and Southeast Asia, both ended 2024 with new governments that hold new ambitions. How will this pan out in the year to come?

We talked about this with Dewi Fortuna Anwar, one of Indonesia’s foremost foreign policy experts; and Garima Mohan, Senior Fellow in the Indo-Pacific Program at the German Marshall Fund. The conversation is moderated by James Crabtree, 2024 TOY Senior Fellow at Asia Society Switzerland, and was recorded at the third edition of our STATE OF ASIA conference, held last November in Zurich.

More information on the conference, the speakers, plus videos and summaries, are available on our website.

Stay up-to-date on all events and activities at Asia Society Switzerland: subscribe to the newsletter and support our work by becoming a member.

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STATE OF ASIA is a podcast from Asia Society Switzerland. 
Season 8, episode 4 - Published: January 28, 2025
Host/Editor: Remko Tanis, Programs and Editorial Manager, Asia Society Switzerland

We check in with Schoni Song in Seoul, to discuss this morning's unprecedented arrest of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, who is accused of leading an insurrection. How have people in South Korea responded to the news, and what could come next?

Schoni is a former colleague at Asia Society and was a speaker in our 2023 webcast A Closer Look at South Korea.

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STATE OF ASIA is a podcast from Asia Society Switzerland. 
Season 8, episode 3 - Published: January 15, 2025
Host/Editor: Remko Tanis, Programs and Editorial Manager, Asia Society Switzerland

China is undergoing unprecedented changes domestically, while also dealing with the challenges of a volatile world.

Listen to Qing Wang, host of the popular Chinese-language podcast The Weirdo; Zichen Wang, Research Fellow at the Center for China and Globalization; and Adam Tooze, economic historian and professor at Columbia University discuss the state of China.
The discussion is moderated by Finbarr Birmingham, Europe correspondent for the South China Morning Post, and was recorded at STATE OF ASIA, the flagship conference hosted by Asia Society Switzerland last November, in Zurich.

More information on the conference, the speakers, plus videos and summaries, are available on our website.

Stay up-to-date on all events and activities at Asia Society Switzerland: subscribe to the newsletter and support our work by becoming a member.

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STATE OF ASIA is a podcast from Asia Society Switzerland. 
Season 8, episode 2 - Published: January 14, 2025
Host/Editor: Remko Tanis, Programs and Editorial Manager, Asia Society Switzerland

We're kicking off the year with two great minds discussing the State of the World as Asia's global importance continues to grow, Europe seems somewhat lost, and the U.S. is preparing for the return of Donald Trump to the White House.

Listen to Asia Society President & CEO Kyung-wha Kang and economic historian Adam Tooze, professor at Columbia University in New York. Their conversation was recorded at STATE OF ASIA, the flagship conference hosted by Asia Society Switzerland last November, in Zurich.

More information on the conference, the speakers, plus videos and summaries, are available on our website.

Stay up-to-date on all events and activities at Asia Society Switzerland: subscribe to the newsletter and support our work by becoming a member.

-
STATE OF ASIA is a podcast from Asia Society Switzerland. 
Season 8, episode 1 - Published: January 7, 2025
Host/Editor: Remko Tanis, Programs and Editorial Manager, Asia Society Switzerland

The Gen A Young Leadership Program is a key initiative of Asia Society Switzerland. It brings together a group of around 25 vetted young professionals and advance students to participate in a year of deepening their Asia knowledge and to provide them with the tools to interpret developments in Asia and identify opportunities for successful collaboration. Gen A enables the next generation of leaders to engage with Asia at eye level and builds a community of young Asia-curious people in Switzerland.

Recently, our 2024 cohort graduated from the Gen A program, joining a community that has now grown to well over a hundred alumni. At the graduation ceremony for the Gen A 2024 fellows, Bettina Schaller, Head of Group Public Affairs of The Adecco Group and President of the World Employment Confederation, spoke with the graduates about skills young professionals at the start of their careers need in a changing world.

A world, Bettina says, that with 2024 has gone through a huge number of disruptions on many different levels and with countries the world over now being led by new governments who will shape what the world will look like in the immediate future. What does this mean for the grads and the demand for their skills? Where does Asia and Asia Competence fit into this? And what’s the one thing still no one has found the full answer to?

We are now accepting applications for the 2025 iteration of Gen A. All information is on our website. Apply before January 12, 2025.

Asia Society Switzerland is deeply grateful for the generous support of the Gen A – Young Leadership Program by the Ernst Göhner Stiftung, the Hirschmann Stiftung, Nicolas Oltramare and IMP AG.

STATE OF ASIA brings you engaging conversations with leading minds on the issues that shape Asia and affect us all.

Stay up-to-date on all events and activities at Asia Society Switzerland: subscribe to the newsletter and support our work by becoming a member.

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STATE OF ASIA is a podcast from Asia Society Switzerland. 
Season 7, Bonus Episode 3 - Published: December 16, 2024
Host, Editor/producer: Remko Tanis, Programs and Editorial Manager, Asia Society Switzerland