Letter From the Editors

Welcome to the December issue of The Diplomat Magazine.

The world loves to declare winners. From actual wars to diplomatic talkfests – for example, November’s round of Asian summitry in Singapore and Papua New Guinea – nearly every event can be oversimplified into the eternal question: who won, and who lost?

But reality is seldom that simple. Even what looks to be a clear-cut victory on the battlefield can be proven hollow later, as Vietnam discovered after its invasion of Cambodia back in 1978. How much more difficult to anoint winners (and losers) in contests with no clear barometer of success, such as Asia’s varied space races. On the other hand, in two countries often given up as “lost causes” when it comes to democracy and human rights, we are seeing tantalizing signs of hope. Afghanistan’s ever-expanding youth stepped up to run and vote in recent elections, despite facing difficult odds. And Uzbekistan’s new president has introduced reforms but many with dual purpose: progress, perhaps, but power consolidation certainly. These stories serve to remind us that in the real world, there is no such thing as a final victory – for better or for worse.

In our cover story, Joan Johnson-Freese, the Charles F. Bolden, Jr. Chair of Science, Space & Technology at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, posits that there is not one but many space races going on in Asia. While the U.S.-China competition over space technology gets most of the headlines, other Asian governments – from India and Pakistan to Japan and South Korea – are also eager to reap the benefits of a thriving space program. From international prestige and economic gains to military applications, the motivations for entering this 21st century space race are varied, and the stakes are high.

Next, Kabul-based Afghan journalist Ezzatullah Mehrdad explores the landscape of young candidates in Afghanistan’s October 20 election. Although the results are still trickling in, the contours of the pool of candidates paint a surprisingly encouraging story. Afghanistan’s young professionals have stepped forward, despite huge risks, to challenge the established warlord-based power structure in the country. “The election was between two narratives,” one young candidate told Mehrdad. “The narrative of past glory of war and the new narrative of the glory of democracy.”

Then veteran Central Asia journalist Bruce Pannier assess the first two years of Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s presidency. Even before his official election, Pannier notes, Mirziyoyev did more to repair Uzbekistan’s ties with its neighbors than President Islam Karimov did in over two decades. But while many so-called reforms, especially in the economic and trade realms, have garnered international praise, it may be too early still to call this an “Uzbek Spring.” The changes, importantly, can be explained as genuine reform or necessary aspects of power consolidation via economic modernization.

In our final lead, Nayan Chanda, author of Brother Enemy: The War After the War and founding editor of YaleGlobal Online, looks back on Vietnam’s invasion of Cambodia, 40 years after the first Vietnamese troops crossed the border. Chanda, who was the first reporter to visit Phnom Penh after its fall to Vietnam in January 1979, recounts the events that led to Hanoi’s stunningly rapid victory on the battlefield – and its success was ultimately undone by a clever diplomatic campaign spearheaded by China. Today’s Cambodia is firmly in China’s pocket, one more example of a short-term gain turned into a long-term defeat.

We hope you enjoy these stories and the many more in the following pages.