World Briefing Plus: From Manila to Munich: Development, Diplomacy and a Region on the Move
On the ground in the Philippines - progress and persistent problems - as Ukraine’s war hardens, love fills the streets, and Asia prepares for its biggest travel surge in history.
This week, I’m coming to you from the Philippines - a country I first covered in the 1990s for the South China Morning Post - and the transformation is undeniable.
Skylines have risen. Infrastructure has expanded. Consumer power has surged. There is dynamism everywhere.
And yet - corruption scandals persist. Flood mitigation remains painfully inadequate. Poverty reduction is uneven. And the strategic pressure from China in the West Philippine Sea continues to test Manila’s resolve.
I give you my candid, on-the-ground assessment: why I remain broadly optimistic — but not naïve.
Meanwhile, at the Munich Security Conference, the diplomatic choreography continues around Ukraine. Russia’s demand for territorial concessions is colliding directly with Kyiv’s insistence on real security guarantees first. Without credible, enforceable security guarantees for Kyiv, any ceasefire risks becoming merely an operational pause for Moscow. My assessment? The war is unlikely to end soon.
And then there’s the International Olympic Committee. The IOC disqualified Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych for wearing a helmet commemorating Ukrainian athletes killed by Russian aggression - while allowing several Russian competitors to compete as so-called “Individual Neutral Athletes,” despite reported links to the war effort. Sport, we’re told, should remain neutral. But neutrality without moral clarity is not neutrality at all. It is selective enforcement.
Back to Asia, it is one of the busiest and festive times of the year:
Valentine’s Day - almost on par with Christmas in the Philippines
Nearly 10 billion trips forecast across the region for Lunar New Year - a staggering post-COVID recovery
Ash Wednesday next week in one of the world’s largest Catholic nations
And on February 26, a major Year Ahead power panel at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand - where we will take stock of a volatile global order (co-organized by the FCCT, The Media Connector/World Briefing).
It’s a region in motion. And the world is not standing still.
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