Michael Hart

Politics, insecurity and post-war issues in SE Asia. Editorial @ReviewPacific. Contributor to @IISS_org Armed Conflict Survey, @WPReview and others.

[Michael Hart @_MichaelHart]

The paper reinforces a need for joined-up, multilateral coordination on financial crime, digital governance, as well as intelligence-sharing. This is important to tackle hubs that are geographically-centred but becoming more diffuse in their organization and reach.

[Michael Hart @_MichaelHart]

This new @IISS_org paper introduces a framework for identifying major criminal hubs in Southeast Asia - geographic clusters where transnational actors and multiple criminal economies converge, bringing cross-border threats and impacting regional security. https://t.co/NqsmFZnnHl

[The Pacific Review @ReviewPacific]

Our fifth issue of 2026 (Vol. 39, Issue 5) is out! 📖

Take a first look at the line-up here: https://t.co/IZr8yQanPB

[Michael Hart @_MichaelHart]

In this @WPReview briefing, I write that Laos must navigate geopolitical uncertainty and ongoing effects of its China-related debt crisis, as well as overcome domestic structural problems, if it is to build a more balanced and self-reliant economy. https://t.co/B1ywsVegwS

[The Pacific Review @ReviewPacific]

New metrics for @ReviewPacific ⤵️

Our Impact Factor has increased from 2.0 in 2024 to 2.4 in 2025, with our ranking among Area Studies journals 13/184.

Huge thanks to authors, reviewers, and all those that have engaged with the journal in the last year.

[World Politics Review @WPReview]

Since President Prabowo Subianto took office, Indonesia’s armed forces have returned to the center of national affairs in a way not seen since the fall of the Suharto regime in 1998, @JoshKurlantzick writes.
https://t.co/Mhipwhn0Q5

[The Pacific Review @ReviewPacific]

Our second issue of 2026 (Vol. 39, Issue 2) is out! 📖

Take a first look at the line-up here: https://t.co/wxioWRRqvD

[Crisis Group @CrisisGroup]

NEW REPORT | The Bangsamoro’s Moment of Truth

The peace process in the Bangsamoro, the newly autonomous Muslim-majority region in the southern Philippines, is confronting barriers. Manila and regional authorities need to work to continue the transition.
https://t.co/59J5J9zTSt

[Michael Hart @_MichaelHart]

In this @WPReview briefing, I write about what might drive #Vietnam’s economy as To Lam targets 10% growth: export-led manufacturing, private sector reforms, and #infrastructure projects that aim to boost linkages in-country and with China to the north. https://t.co/AORT8mKors

[The Pacific Review @ReviewPacific]

Our first issue of 2026 (Vol. 39, Issue 1) is out! 📖

Take a first look at the line-up here: https://t.co/491Kh83mjV

[Michael Hart @_MichaelHart]

Huge thanks as always to Editor @_IreneMia and the team at IISS. The report (covering July 2024 to June 2025) can be accessed here: https://t.co/N6OG9ZDnLk

[Michael Hart @_MichaelHart]

It was great to see @IISS_org Armed Conflict Survey launched this week.

In the #Philippines: NPA insurgency persists, Bangsamoro elections again delayed. In southern #Thailand: peace talks stalled amid political upheaval and fallout from border conflict with Cambodia.

[The Pacific Review @ReviewPacific]

Our sixth issue of 2025 (Vol. 38, Issue 6) is out! 📖

Take a first look at the line-up here: https://t.co/sFd3B6xwaT

[Michael Hart @_MichaelHart]

For context, no States Parties to @ISUCCM have used cluster munitions since the treaty entered into force in 2010 and all with stocks have since destroyed them, demonstrating its effectiveness.

Find out more: https://t.co/VfSgKuHI81

[Michael Hart @_MichaelHart]

It was great to present findings of #ClusterMunitionMonitor2025 with @lorenpersi and Katrin Atkins in Geneva last week @banclusterbombs @UNIDIR. The @ISUCCM remains vital to protect civilians from these weapons despite recent use in several conflicts.

[Michael Hart @_MichaelHart]

In Southeast Asia context: #Myanmar continues to produce and use air-dropped cluster bombs while #Thailand appeared to admit using cluster munitions in July border clashes with Cambodia. Lao PDR and Vietnam remain heavily contaminated long after use in 1960s-70s.

[Michael Hart @_MichaelHart]

In @WPReview, I write that for the LPRP, securing future income from hydropower is tied not only to the state’s economic viability but also its legitimacy to govern, as #Laos seeks to forge a new national narrative centred on state-led economic development.https://t.co/qvOtysWkWX

[The Pacific Review @ReviewPacific]

Our fifth issue of 2025 (Vol. 38, Issue 5) is out! 📖

Take a first look at the line-up here: https://t.co/MUhDeg7kSV

[The Pacific Review @ReviewPacific]

In @Diplomat_APAC, based on research published in @ReviewPacific, @yaguerika and @hmberents argue that understandings of #peace and security in Southeast Asia can be enhanced via a focus on the role of #youth and their relationships with institutions. https://t.co/mXP3IqfSxq

[The Pacific Review @ReviewPacific]

In this new article, Zhaohui Wang develops a sociopolitical regime framework composed of elite legitimization, inter-elite relations and elite-mass relations, to explain the outcomes of China’s railway infrastructure projects in Southeast Asia. ⤵️ https://t.co/cyHCEZz5kG