In June 2021, on a street in Mandalay, a group of ASEAN citizens was burning the ASEAN flag. After the Coup earlier that year, the people in Myanmar had been storming the streets, demanding to take their power back while Tatmadaw was taking their lives, one by one.
Was my initial thought when I decided to write this essay. So many topics I could dig into, explain, argue, describe, there was just so much that was open to be said.
As we move deeper into the 21st century, the utility of constructed national and regional boundaries is increasingly being challenged by globalization and anthropogenic crises, such as climate change.
As I struggled to get back up after a less-than-perfect knee thrust to my muay thai coach in one of our noontime sparring sessions, I hear a song playing on the television overhead.
In the midst of a world and ASEAN grappling with the onslaught of COVID-19 and transformative shifts in global geopolitics, a kaleidoscope of changes has emerged.