The Thailand/Cambodia conflict and ASEAN

At the time of writing (December 2025), there is an ongoing conflict between Thailand and Cambodia. Have you been following the news, perhaps by reading about it in The Straits Times or listening to CNA? Even if the conflict is not of compelling interest to you, at the very least reading about it helps you to learn about politics and international relations.

In particular, both countries are members of ASEAN, as is Singapore. In the news are articles about how ASEAN has been convening various meetings to try to help in mediation efforts. In following these, you will pick up a lot of invaluable information about ASEAN, such as its fundamental principles concerning non-interference. An important aspect of General Paper is to have an awareness and understanding of regional issues (as well as local and global ones) and how these relate to Singapore.

In writing essays in GP, it is desirable to bring in different perspectives and touch upon several themes. For instance, you might be writing an essay primarily about the environment but it could be useful to refer to how regional conflicts might have an economic impact which stymie progress on climate change or frustrate scientific and technological cooperation.

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