As we enter the middle of 2025, the convergence of humanitarian crises, technological transformation, and persistent conflicts has created a complex landscape where traditional security paradigms are being tested and redefined. This issue of The Peace & Security Monitor examines seven critical dimensions of these evolving challenges.
The humanitarian crisis facing Rohingya refugees and Afghan returnees has reached a critical juncture, with American aid cuts creating unprecedented pressure on vulnerable populations dependent on international assistance.
Meanwhile, long-simmering insurgencies continue to extract a devastating toll; from Pakistan’s Balochistan resistance movement to Thailand’s escalating southern violence.
The fragility of regional peace was starkly demonstrated by the April 2025 Kashmir attack, which reignited India-Pakistan tensions and threatened years of diplomatic progress.
The broader security architecture is undergoing fundamental transformation as nations recalibrate strategic partnerships and defence postures. Shifting alliances and increasing militarisation reflect both responses to perceived threats and the pursuit of new influence, reshaping traditional balance-of-power calculations across South and Southeast Asia.
China’s technological ascendancy, epitomised by developments like DeepSeek AI, is reshaping regional data governance and surveillance capabilities, creating new frontiers where privacy rights, state security, and economic innovation intersect.
Natural disasters continue to expose institutional fragility, as Myanmar’s devastating earthquake revealed how disaster response has become another battlefield in the country’s ongoing conflict.
Each crisis feeds into others, creating cascading effects that require coordinated regional and international attention. As the Indo-Pacific becomes increasingly central to global calculations, understanding these security challenges becomes essential for policymakers, researchers, and advocates working toward sustainable peace.
The authors in this issue provide essential analysis and policy recommendations that acknowledge both the urgency of current crises and the need for long-term approaches.
- Esm’eralda Marion
- Phoo Wai Yan Myint
