Director, La Trobe Asia @latrobeasia / Professor of International Relations @latrobe
Melbourne, Victoria
- Tweets 10,293
- Following 1,403
- Followers 4,343
- Likes 18,017
Bec Strating retweeted
Darjeeling's spring dependence has been my area of study for close to 10 years. Today, Ruth Gamble and I published our research into this embattled relationship between a perpetual but declining source of water and a growing city.
nature.com/articles/s41599-0…
4
24
96
4,713
Bec Strating retweeted
1/6 On behalf of the China Strategic Knowledge Initiative (CSKI) at Macquarie University and my fellow CSKI co-director @CourtneyFung I am very happy to announce that our post-doc position in contemporary China studies is now open for applications.
1
10
17
3,788
AIS data shows Beijing has increased its oil and gas operations in the East China Sea over the past year, building three new permanent structures and expanding exploration efforts in waters even more sensitive for Tokyo. cs.is/4ocLjJG
3
3
566
Bec Strating retweeted
Sorry, folks, but it IS America's reverse pivot FROM Asia. Yes, we can rationalize this or that discrete action as having logic, as a bargaining ploy, or by invoking some sort of "madman theory" of leverage in a supreme effort at what I call "Trump strategic retrofitting" — the habit of imputing Bismarckian strategic genius after the fact to explain Trump's impulsive or transactional statements and actions.
I think we just have to see the whole picture and take it together. To be (1) bogged down in a war in another region, (2) pull all carriers and other assets from the Pacific, (3) burn through munitions and people that will be needed to deter, much less prevail, in a fight in Asia, (4) withdraw from trade pacts that many of the major regional economies are in — and that Washington's own allies urged it to join, (5) tariff everyone including allies, (6) coerce investment, (7) withdraw or raise the cost of market access, and more is not, in fact, a sign that the United States is "intensifying" its engagement in the world's most vital and dynamic region.
As I told Joe Kelly at @australian this week, "anyone that says this whole package of steps is a net positive for deterrence is deluded. We’ve gone from a stillborn ‘pivot to Asia’ to a reverse pivot from Asia.”
Or as Chico Marx, disguised as Groucho, told Mrs. Teasdale in Duck Soup, "who ya gonna believe, me or your own eyes?"
Cynically yours.
5
27
88
15,511
Bec Strating retweeted
NBR advisor @arzandc & NBR nonresident fellow
@becstrating @WarOnTheRocks: "Cooperation depends on whether agreements have been translated into routine staff interactions, delegated authorities, secure communications, and practiced operational procedures." warontherocks.com/why-milita…
2
2
380
China pushes harder in South China Sea – as attention drifts away | @becstrating | bit.ly/3TtEvfu
4
4
8
2,083
Bec Strating retweeted
OUT NOW Maritime Affairs Issue 20 | Human Trafficking at Sea: From a "3-P's" to a "3-R's" Framework by Sallie Yea.
1
3
3
446
Bec Strating retweeted
Can ASEAN handle a crisis in the Indo-Pacific? The @LowyInstitute's @hmarston4 discussed this and more with experts @becstrating, @DonMcLainGill95 and Murni Abdul Hamid. 📽️Watch the full event here: piped.video/live/fZBZ3J1e7xQ
5
12
1,798
Bec Strating retweeted
I greatly enjoyed moderating this discussion with three excellent speakers on regional security in Southeast Asia, Australia & whether ASEAN can manage the challenges of today. Glad to have a full house @LowyInstitute for my first public event! 🙏🏼 @becstrating @DonMcLainGill95
Can ASEAN handle a crisis in the Indo-Pacific? The @LowyInstitute's @hmarston4 discussed this and more with experts @becstrating, @DonMcLainGill95 and Murni Abdul Hamid. 📽️Watch the full event here: piped.video/live/fZBZ3J1e7xQ
1
14
644
Looking forward to it!
You can still register for our event next Thursday @LowyInstitute on ASEAN and Indo-Pacific security ft. @DonMcLainGill95 @becstrating & Murni Abdul Hamid: events.lowyinstitute.org/Pre…
4
450
Bec Strating retweeted
You can still register for our event next Thursday @LowyInstitute on ASEAN and Indo-Pacific security ft. @DonMcLainGill95 @becstrating & Murni Abdul Hamid: events.lowyinstitute.org/Pre…
1
2
7
1,044
Bec Strating retweeted
How ironic... Communist #Vietnam appears a defender of Rules Based Order. The #US - the leader of the free world - dismisses the RBO as utopian fantasy. The reversal has happened.
#SLD26
Following his speech at #IISS_SLD26, United States @SecWar Pete Hegseth fielded a broad range of questions from the audience in an animated question-and-answer session @DeptofWar | Here are a few highlights, you can watch the full session here: go.iiss.org/SLD26
3
11
26
4,200
Bec Strating retweeted
The @LowyInstitute will host 3 outstanding speakers in Sydney on 11 June to discuss traditional & non-traditional security threats in Asia & gaps in regional response mechanisms ft. @becstrating @DonMcLainGill95 & Murni Abdul Hamid. RSVP at the link below: events.lowyinstitute.org/Pre…
3
7
566
Bec Strating retweeted
Maritime security: @becstrating says maritime order is a subset of the international order, observing changes here help us think of the order writ large. @asianewzealand Asia Symposium.
2
6
292
Bec Strating retweeted
Both countries claim overlapping parts of the Gulf of Thailand with potentially lucrative oil and gas reserves. There is a peaceful path to resolve the dispute. @becstrating @madeandi @latrobe @UOW theconversation.com/thailand…
2
1
645
Very happy to be leading the new La Trobe Centre for Global Security, building on fantastic interdisciplinary expertise in Humanities and Social Sciences and across @latrobe to address multidimensional challenges
Threats to global security are overlapping like never before. Climate change, health, food security, cybersecurity, economics—they're all interconnected, and cannot be meaningfully understood in isolation.
Enter the La Trobe Centre for Global Security. brnw.ch/21x1Ktu
2
5
36
3,980
Bec Strating retweeted
Productive discussions on conflict prevention at the 18th ASEAN Regional Forum Experts and Eminent Persons Meeting, co-chaired with Malaysia. The ARF is critical to strengthening dialogue in support of regional peace, stability and upholding international law. #ARF #ASEAN
1
8
15
1,645
SPEAKER ANNOUNCEMENT 📢
We're delighted to announce that @becstrating, Director of @latrobeasia & Professor of International Relations at @latrobe, will join the speaker lineup for the 2026 ASPI Defence Conference.
🎟️ Early bird tickets are now on sale: bit.ly/4b4EHbo
4
13
1,044
Bec Strating retweeted
🇦🇺 and 🇲🇾 are co-Chairs for the #ARF Experts & Eminent Persons meeting for 2026. Welcome to @Rory_Medcalf, @le2huong and @becstrating who joined @ISIS_MY’s @Professor_Faiz to facilitate a conversation about conflict prevention in the Indo-Pacific and around the world.
#ASEAN
2
7
614
Bec Strating retweeted
This isn't even the half of it. Now do the hard policy tradeoffs and fiscal constraints that will ensue, especially for Asian economies.
Just take Indonesia, where Prabowo has had a lot riding on the fuel subsidy, a free nutritious meals program, and so on. And let's imagine a world of budget constraints where leaders like him may have to start curtailing signature programs that, in turn, undermine welfare gains, or else blow through fiscal constraints and run fresh budget deficits. In Indonesia's case, for example, that isn't even permitted since there is statutory requirement to hold the deficit to 3% of GDP.
We've got reports this morning of three Korean airlines in emergency management. And so much more around the region ...
Meanwhile, there seems to be a parallel debate in Washington, where there is so much self-satisfied talk in Washington about "back footing China" by "picking of its allies like Iran." But isn't it fantastical to think that a double whammy of a year of (1) American trade policy and tariffs that have undermined many of the prevailing developmental assumptions in Asia and (2) American Middle East policy that both wrecks Asian energy security and forces these kinds of fiscal and programmatic choices will have zero effect on U.S. posture in the region?
Whose debate are we having here in DC?
I used to write a column for India's financial newspaper @bsindia called "DC Diary." Am thinking of starting a new column called "DC Delusions," in which other people's realities are extrapolated away while Washington projects its strategic debating about "competing with China" onto everyone and everything.
Bottom line: think there are some tough choices ahead for Asian governments.
It’s only week five this is the global picture as of today.
🇧🇩 Bangladesh - Fuel rationing active. Universities closed. Military deployed in oil depots.
🇱🇰 Sri Lanka - Fuel rationing active. 15 litre per week cap for private motorists. Four day school week. Scaled back public sector operations.
🇸🇮 Slovenia - 50 litre per day cap on fuel for private drivers. 200 litres for businesses and farmers. Indefinite.
🇵🇭 Philippines - National energy emergency declared. Four day working week in place.
🇵🇰 Pakistan - Four day work weeks and school closures still in effect.
🇲🇲 Myanmar - Alternating driving days imposed.
🇹🇭 Thailand - Diesel price cap imposed. Government officials told to work from home and limit travel. Fuel exports banned except to Cambodia and Laos.
🇻🇳 Vietnam - Tapping fuel price stabilisation fund. Officials encouraged to work from home and limit travel.
🇰🇪 Kenya - Rationing by major fuel suppliers ongoing. Rural areas already running out.
🇪🇬 Egypt - Fuel and electricity rationing active. Malls, restaurants and retailers shutting at 9pm. Illuminated billboards switched off. Government buildings closing at 6pm.
🇮🇳 India - Government phasing out LPG cylinders for households with access to piped gas to prioritise supply.
🇨🇳 China - Export ban on diesel, gasoline and aviation fuel until at least end of March.
🇰🇷 South Korea - Fuel price cap imposed. First in 30 years. Voluntary fuel conservation measures in place.
🇯🇵 Japan - Refiners requesting government release of stockpiled oil. 95% of crude imported from Gulf states.
🇪🇸 Spain - €5 billion emergency package. Tax reductions on electricity and gas. Subsidies for transport operators and farmers.
🇩🇪 Germany - BASF raising prices on goods by up to 30%.
What could be coming
🇬🇧 UK - Ministers could activate contingency powers to introduce fuel rationing at petrol stations. 80% of UK goods travel by road. IEA has advised considering carpooling and working from home to save fuel.
🇪🇺 EU - Emergency measures under discussion. Storage across many member states below 30%.
Shell's CEO warned Europe could face fuel rationing starting in April if the Strait stays closed.
G7 finance ministers, energy ministers and central bank governors met in Paris today and issued a joint statement saying they stand ready to take "all necessary measures" to preserve stability in energy markets.
None of these restrictions have been easing. In several countries they are only getting worse.
8
56
170
38,719