Views from Down Underer
Analysis, news commentary, and opinions on the international relations of the Indo-Pacific and beyond as seen from the region by people from the region. An initiative of the Institute for Indo-Pacific Affairs (www.indopac.nz) in Christchurch, New Zealand, the podcast is hosted by Professor Alex Tan of the University of Canterbury (Christchurch, New Zealand) with panelists Dr Juhn Chris Espia of the University of the Philippines Visayas, Associate Professor Nick Khoo of the University of Otago (Dunedin, New Zealand), Dr Orson Tan and Neel Vanvari of the Institute for Indo-Pacific Affairs.
Listen on:
Episodes
14 hours ago
14 hours ago
US announced tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China. Canada considers this an aggressive action by the US that seeks to weaken Canada. The fallout of the Oval Office shakedown continues as US freezes support to Ukraine. What is happening here? What is the implications to international politics?
Monday Mar 03, 2025
Monday Mar 03, 2025
The 2025 German Federal election results are out: governing SPD is third, CDU/CSU is tops, the far right AfD came in a strong second. What is the new picture of vote distribution across Germany? What does it mean for coalition and future governance? What does it mean for its foreign policy? Ukraine's president Zelensky went to the Oval Office expecting to discuss and then sign the US-Ukraine mineral deal, instead he got a 'shakedown' by US President Trump and VP Vance all caught on live TV. He was asked to leave the White House not even able to enjoy a meal. What happened? What are the implications and fall out of this very undiplomatic live TV show straight from the White House?
Monday Feb 24, 2025
Monday Feb 24, 2025
US and Russia met in Saudi Arabia to discuss ground rules for negotiations to end the Ukraine war although no Ukrainians and Europeans attended. What does it mean? What are the implications? PLA Navy task force is spotted in international waters near Australia and NZ and disrupted commercial air traffic by having live fire exercises. Why? What is the point of Chinese navy presence? And a quick update on the continuing saga of the Cook Island and China agreement.
Monday Feb 17, 2025
Monday Feb 17, 2025
Is this now an era of stick power in international relations? An era of my way or the highway? US VP Vance spoke at the Munich Security Conference and lectured (or read the riot act) his European audience. NZ and Cook Islands are having an uncomfortable moment in their relationship when Cook Islands signed an agreement with China without prior alert to NZ.
Sunday Feb 09, 2025
Sunday Feb 09, 2025
Busy two weeks of Trump's administration and foreign policy is no exception -- Gaza proposal, hard talk about Panama Canal, turning El Salvador as a penal colony. Malaysia's chairing of ASEAN has been quiet and unambitious thus far, why?
Tuesday Jan 28, 2025
Tuesday Jan 28, 2025
US president Donald Trump has been busy since his inauguration one week ago. We chat about his inauguration speech and other things in President Trump's eventful week one on the first week of his 2nd term as US president.
Tuesday Jan 21, 2025
Tuesday Jan 21, 2025
Biden bows out of politics with his farewell address. Trump claims he has a hand in the Gaza ceasefire. India seems to be acknowledging an assassination plot on a US citizen. Landmines was stored wrongly in IKEA and a Polish general responsible for logistics was fired. After years of National Geographic's Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego program, the defense secretary nominee cannot identify a member of ASEAN.
Monday Jan 13, 2025
Monday Jan 13, 2025
Trump threatens to take Greenland from Denmark and does not rule out the use of force. Indonesia has joined BRICS as a full member.
Wednesday Jan 08, 2025
Wednesday Jan 08, 2025
Elon Musk is on the news about supporting the UK Reform Party and him dabbling into UK politics. Canadian PM Justin Trudeau calling it quits. Lastly, news about China paying off Houthis for safe passage in the Red Sea.
Monday Dec 30, 2024
Monday Dec 30, 2024
Studies about democracies in the last eight years or so have focused on democratic recession or backsliding. Yet, there are democracies that do not regress but instead stagnate. We discuss an academic article that suggest that some democracies hit their ceilings and do not progress further because of the legacy of nationalist polarization that persist.
Reference:
Aram Hur and Andrew Yeo. 2024. Democratic Ceilings: The Long Shadow of Nationalist Polarization in East Asia. Comparative Political Studies 57(4): 584-612.
Views from Down Underer
Kwentuhan/Talakayan -- Tagalog words for 'telling a story' and 'discussion' -- describe what our podcast is all about. We are a barkada (group) of political science and international relations geeks based in New Zealand that analyses, comments, and discusses global and regional affairs. As scholars, we bring our academic expertise to help listeners make sense of the news we all watch, read, and listen. Being born and raised in the region, we bring our unique backgrounds to bear to provide perspectives of and from down underer (P.S. It is not a typo. New Zealand is further south of Australia -- the land down under).
About Us
Alex Tan (host) is professor of political science and international relations at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand, honorary professor of the NZDF Command and Staff College, university chair professor of political science at National Chengchi University in Taipei, Taiwan. He holds a PhD in political science from Texas A&M University.
Nick Khoo (panelist) is associate professor of international relations at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand and received his PhD in political science from Columbia University.
Juhn Chris Espia (panelist) is assistant professor of political science at the University of the Philippines at Visayas. He holds a PhD in political science and international relations from the University of Canterbury.
Orson Tan (panelist) is senior research fellow at the Institute for Indo-Pacific Affairs. He holds a PhD in political science and international relations from the University of Canterbury.
Neel Vanvari (panelist) is research fellow at the Institute for Indo-Pacific Affairs. He is a PhD candidate in political science from the University of Canterbury.