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Free 13 November Zoom Webinar On Poverty in Indonesia

Thammasat University students interested in ASEAN studies, Indonesia, economics, business,  law, development studies, human rights, history, political science, soft power, and related subjects may find it useful to participate in a free 13 November Zoom webinar on Navigating the Shrinking Middle Class, Lasting Poverty and Vulnerability.

The TU Library collection includes books on diverse aspects of wealth in Indonesia.

The event, on Friday, 13 November 2026 at 12:30pm Bangkok time, is presented by the Australian National University (ANU) Crawford School of Public Policy.

Students are invited to register for the event at this link.

Crawford School of Public Policy is a research-intensive policy school within the ANU College of Law, Governance and Policy at The Australian National University which focuses on Australia and the Asia-Pacific region.

The Crawford School has disciplinary and interdisciplinary expertise in public policy, economics, political science, national security, aid, development, and environmental management.

Its website notes:

The Crawford School of Public Policy at the Australian National University is Asia and the Pacific’s leading graduate public policy school and a world leader in shaping public policy. Through research, education, and policy engagement, staff and students at the Crawford School play a vital role in influencing public policy.

The School is home to some of the region’s most influential researchers, with many staff actively participating in government committees and holding key advisory roles across government, business, and civil society.

We also offer graduate study programs and executive education in a range of fields, including public policy, applied economics, public administration, environmental management, climate change, and national security policy.

The event website explains:

The 10th Annual Mubyarto Public Policy Forum explores Indonesia’s shrinking middle class, lasting poverty, and vulnerability, featuring a keynote by Professor Sharon Bessell on child poverty.

About the 2026 Keynote Lecture: Rethinking Poverty to Ensure All Indonesian Children Thrive, with keynote speaker: Professor Sharon Bessell, The Australian National University (ANU)

Indonesia has achieved remarkable progress in reducing poverty, improving the lives and opportunities for millions of people.

Yet major challenges remain and gains in poverty reduction appear precarious.

Indonesia now faces a ‘middle class squeeze’, while almost a quarter of the population are identified as vulnerable to poverty.

Moreover, rates of child malnutrition, particularly stunting and anaemia, remain very high.

Achievements in reducing rates of poverty at the population level, together with ongoing and emerging challenges, provide a foundation for a new vision with greater ambition: asking not only how poverty rates can be held steady or further reduced, but what is required for every child to live free from multidimensional poverty.

Professor Mubyarto’s vision of development placed people, social justice, and shared prosperity at the centre of economic and public policy.

This lecture takes inspiration from that vision to consider what a similarly ambitious, people-centred approach to poverty requires when we begin from the experience of children themselves.

Based on research with children, families and communities in Indonesia through the Suara Anak project, and drawing on research from Australia, this lecture introduces the Material-Opportunity-Relational (MOR) Framework.

The MOR Framework recognises the fundamental importance of material resources, while showing how poverty also constrains children’s opportunities now and into the future and places foundational relationships under pressure.

Indonesia’s achievements in poverty reduction create the possibility of raising the bar while current challenges require new ways of thinking.

This lecture explores the need to move beyond minimum thresholds towards a child-centred, multi-dimensional understanding of poverty that is grounded in children’s own experiences, and centring what they need to develop, learn, participate and thrive.

Discussants

Ririn Salwa Purnamasari

A Senior Economist at the World Bank, working on key development challenges in Indonesia, including poverty reduction, inequality, employment and gender disparities.

Ni Luh Agastya

The Director of the Center on Child Protection and Wellbeing at Universitas Indonesia (PUSKAPA UI), and a lecturer and researcher at the UI Department of Social Welfare.

Wisnu Setiadi Nugroho

An economist and researcher at the Department of Economics, FEB UGM, specialising in poverty, economic inequality and development economics.

Moderator

Qisha Quarina

An academic and researcher at the Department of Economics, FEB UGM, specialising in labour economics, education economics and social protection within the broader field of development economics.

About the Mubyarto Public Policy Forum

The ANU Indonesia Project, in collaboration with the Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Gadjah Mada (FEB UGM), is pleased to present the 2026 Mubyarto Public Policy Forum. 

This series is named in honour of Professor Mubyarto, a prominent economist at Gadjah Mada University, who was one of Indonesia’s most influential intellectuals.

It aims to stimulate debate on development policy issues in Indonesia. 

Mubyarto Public Policy Forum 2026 is open to students, academics, researchers, policymakers, and the general public!

Mubyarto was an Indonesian economist.

He was born in Sleman, in Yogyakarta, and became a professor of economics at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta specialising in agricultural economics.

He frequently wrote and spoke about challenges of agricultural development in Indonesia.

Later in his career he became known for his interest in Pancasila economics and ekonomi rakyat (people’s economics).

Early career

Mubyarto grew up in the town of Yogyakarta.

He first studied economics as a student in the Economics Faculty (Fakultas Ekonomi) at Gadjah Mada University and he was appointed as a junior lecturer on graduation in 1959.

Mubyarto pursued his graduate work in the United States, first earning a Master of Arts degree from Vanderbilt University in 1962.

His interest in rural development gained rigour throughout his PhD program at Iowa State University where his doctoral dissertation was a study of the issue of The Elasticity of the Marketable Surplus of Rice in Indonesia.

Work in Indonesia

Upon completing his PhD in the United States in 1965, Mubyarto returned to take up a post at Gadjah Mada University.

At the time, economic conditions in Indonesia were very difficult and the province of Yogyakarta (the Special Region of Yogyakarta, or Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta) was one of the poorest areas of Indonesia.

Through most of his career he regularly pointed out the issue of poverty.

Related to the concern about poverty was the price of rice and its effect upon the community.

Later in his career at Gadjah Mada University, he attained the status of professor.

Pancasila economics, also known as Indonesian populist economics, is an economic system which aims to reflect the five principles of Pancasila.

Pancasila is the official, foundational philosophical theory and state ideology of Indonesia.

It is composed of five principles:

  • Belief in the One and Only God
  • Just and Civilized Humanity
  • The Unity of Indonesia
  • Democratic Life Led by Wisdom of Thoughts in Deliberations Amongst Representatives of the
  • Social Justice for All the People of Indonesia

Mubyarto was one of the staunchest of the Pancasila economic theorists.

Mubyarto and Boediono developed it the most.

In essence, a Pancasila economy is a system that tries to avoid pendulum-like swings from one extreme (a free market economy, known in Indonesia as free fight liberalism) to the other (state socialism, especially of the Soviet kind).

In simple terms, a Pancasila economy can be described as a market economic system with government control or a controlled market economy.

A Pancasila economy can be considered an example of a mixed economy or a third way economic system.

A Pancasila economy is seen as a counterbalance to a neoclassical approach promoting individualism and free markets that is adapted the values of Indonesian society, including religious values, culture, customs and norms.

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Free 11 November Zoom Webinar On US Tariffs

Thammasat University students interested in business, economics, international relations, political science, diplomacy, soft power, American studies, and related subjects may find it useful to participate in a free 11 November Zoom webinar on What are the Lessons from Trump’s Tariffs?

The event, on Wednesday, 11 November 2026 at noon Bangkok time, is presented by Tokyo College, The University of Tokyo, Japan.

The TU Library collection includes books on diverse aspects of tariffs.

Students are invited to register for the event at this link.

The event website explains:

Abstract

The 2025-2026 U.S. tariffs have been pursued in part to raise revenue, but also in an attempt to address international imbalances and alter the structure of the U.S. economy.

Yet early evidence suggests that they have failed on all counts, creating inefficiency, disruption, and regressive tax burdens while also harming US partners.

This lecture evaluates the successes and limitations of Trump’s tariff policies and explores their implications for future economic policy.

Program

Lecturer

Kimberly CLAUSING (Professor, University of California, Los Angeles)

Commentator

SUZUKI Kazuto (Professor, Graduate School of Public Policy, The University of Tokyo)

Moderator

Takeo HOSHI (Director, Tokyo College)

Last month, The Nation reported:

Thailand-US trade surges as both sides move closer to tariff deal

Thailand-US trade has surged over three years, with technology exports and US energy imports rising as both sides move towards a final reciprocal trade agreement.

Thailand-US trade has expanded sharply over the past three years, with Thai technology exports and imports of US energy products accelerating as the two countries move towards completing negotiations on an Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART).

The latest push follows a letter from US President Donald Trump to Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, expressing hope that the tariff and trade agreement could be concluded soon and, if possible, signed during Trump’s planned visit to Asia in November.

Anutin has assigned Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Suphajee Suthumpun to lead the remaining negotiations, which the government says have entered their final stage.

A possible signing could coincide with the ASEAN Summit in the Philippines on November 16–18 or the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings in China on November 18–19, although Trump’s attendance has yet to be confirmed.

Trade agreement enters final technical stage

The Commerce Ministry says Thailand and the United States have already agreed on the main substance and principles of the ART, leaving technical teams to settle remaining details and legal wording.

Suphajee said after talks in Washington in September that the two sides had reached agreement on the core issues and were working to conclude outstanding technical matters as quickly as possible.

Thailand initially faced a proposed US reciprocal tariff of 36% in 2025 before the rate was reduced to 19%.

Under the framework announced by Thailand and the United States on October 26, 2025, Thailand agreed to eliminate tariffs on around 99% of US goods, while Washington proposed maintaining a 19% reciprocal tariff on originating Thai goods and granting a zero rate to selected products.

That framework was not the final ART. US tariff policy has since changed, while Thailand is also subject to US Section 301 processes.

The Commerce Ministry said in September that Thai goods were currently subject to a 12.5% Section 301 tariff related to forced-labour measures, while a separate US investigation into structural excess capacity remained pending.

Thailand’s negotiating objective is to keep the eventual overall tariff burden around the previous 19% benchmark, or at least no higher than that faced by regional competitors.

Earlier this year, an article posted online suggested:

New US Tariffs on Thailand: The Need for Market Diversification

The US’ latest series of tariffs is seeking to compel Thailand and other countries to import less from China.

There is a need for long-term market diversification.

Using Section 301 of the US Trade Act, the US Trade Representative (USTR) investigated Thailand and several other countries over concerns related to prohibitions on the importation of goods produced with forced labour.

The latest set of tariffs seeks to compel Thailand and other US trading partners to import less from China.

The investigation was initiated on 11 March 2026, and the findings were reached on 5 June. It concluded that Thailand and another 53 countries failed to impose a legal prohibition on the importation of goods produced wholly or in part with forced labour.

In response, the USTR sought to enforce such a prohibition. Six out of 60 countries investigated complied in part with the request to fight the use of forced workers: Canada, Ecuador, the EU, Indonesia, Mexico and Pakistan.

For them, the additional tariff rate is 10 per cent. For the other 54 countries, including Thailand, additional tariffs of 12.5 per cent are expected to be imposed.

The additional tariff should have only a moderate effect on Thai exports to the US.

First, the 12.5 per cent rate lies between the 10 per cent tariff imposed (under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974) from March to August 2026 and the 19 per cent reciprocal tariff imposed from August 2025 to February 2026.

Second, and more importantly, the additional tariff is imposed on imports from 60 US trading partners, which accounted for 99.4 per cent of the US’ total imports.

Given the narrow tariff differences, it is unlikely to result in trade diversion from countries with higher US import tariffs to those with lower tariffs.

This is especially true for Southeast Asian economies, which serve as global production bases that complement one another.

It appears that the actual objective of the latest levy is to serve as a substitute for the original sweeping reciprocal tariff, which was declared void by the Supreme Court.

Thirdly, the impact of the new tariff is also limited by exemptions set out in Annex A, which are justified on the grounds of domestic production constraints and supply shortages.

These exemptions overlapped with those applied under the earlier US reciprocal tariff pursuant the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).

The exempted items account for nearly 60 per cent of Thailand’s total exports to the US in 2025.

Additional exemptions are also being prepared for textiles and apparel exports to the US.

Hence, it is estimated that around 40 per cent of Thailand’s total exports to the US would be subject to the additional tariff […]

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Free 10 November Zoom Webinar On Extinction Risk

Thammasat University students interested in ecology, environmental studies, futurology, geology, climate change, global warming, biology, and related subjects may find it useful to participate in a free 10 November Zoom webinar on Empirical Extinction Risk.

The TU Library collection includes books on diverse aspects of extinction risk.

The event, on Tuesday, 10 November 2026 at 2pm Bangkok time, is presented by the Australian National University (ANU) Crawford School of Public Policy.

Students are invited to register for the event at this link.

Crawford School of Public Policy is a research-intensive policy school within the ANU College of Law, Governance and Policy at The Australian National University which focuses on Australia and the Asia-Pacific region.

The Crawford School has disciplinary and interdisciplinary expertise in public policy, economics, political science, national security, aid, development, and environmental management.

Its website notes:

The Crawford School of Public Policy at the Australian National University is Asia and the Pacific’s leading graduate public policy school and a world leader in shaping public policy.

Through research, education, and policy engagement, staff and students at the Crawford School play a vital role in influencing public policy.

The School is home to some of the region’s most influential researchers, with many staff actively participating in government committees and holding key advisory roles across government, business, and civil society.

We also offer graduate study programs and executive education in a range of fields, including public policy, applied economics, public administration, environmental management, climate change, and national security policy.

The event website explains:

Professor Ben Groom will present new research on empirical approaches to estimating species extinction risk.

How do we measure the risk of species extinction, and how can this information guide environmental policy and investment decisions?

For over four decades, the IUCN has assessed the conservation status of thousands of species, categorising them from Least Concern to Critically Endangered and Extinct. In this lecture, Professor Ben Groom will present new research that estimates the likelihood of species moving between conservation categories and ultimately becoming extinct.

Drawing on more than four decades of IUCN conservation assessments, the research develops a Markov switching model to estimate extinction probabilities over different time horizons and examine how these risks vary across species groups and habitats.

The study also explores how land-use change affects future biodiversity outcomes and introduces the concept of the “value of a statistical species” to help identify conservation priorities and assess the biodiversity impacts of development decisions.

Professor Groom is the Dragon Capital Chair in Biodiversity Economics at the University of Exeter and a member of the UK HM Treasury Biodiversity Working Group.

His research has informed policy discussions on biodiversity conservation, climate change, environmental investment, and long-term decision-making.

This lecture will be of interest to researchers, policymakers, students, and practitioners working in biodiversity conservation, environmental economics, climate policy, and sustainable development.

Event Speaker

Professor Ben Groom is the Dragon Capital Chair in Biodiversity Economics at the University of Exeter and a member of the UK HM Treasury Biodiversity Working Group.

Thailand faces a growing biodiversity and extinction risk, with over 1,024 threatened species recorded across its diverse ecosystems.

Key Statistics on Extinction Risks

  • Threatened Species:

Recent national biodiversity reports and assessments show roughly 999 to 1,024 plant and animal species under varying degrees of threat.

  • Fauna Under Threat:

This includes 122 mammal species, 189 bird species, 51 reptile species, 19 amphibians, and 290 fish species.

  • Projected Impacts:

Climate change and habitat fragmentation (modeled up to 2070 under high-emission scenarios) threaten over half of studied species in protected areas, with several projected to face national extinction.

Primary Drivers of Extinction

  • Habitat Loss & Deforestation:

Rapid agricultural expansion (such as mono-cropping), illegal logging, forest fires, and the unpermitted construction of luxury resorts in protected zones like the Western Forest Complex and Khao Sok.

  • Climate Change:

Rising temperatures, sea-level rise, and shifting weather patterns threaten fragile ecosystems.

  • Poaching & Wildlife Trade:

Illegal hunting for medicinal markets, wildlife trafficking, and unregulated tourism place heavy stress on iconic species.

  • Marine Degradation:

Marine and coastal populations—such as the critically declining dugong population (down to roughly 240 individuals) and local sea turtle breeding colonies—suffer from plastic pollution, seagrass loss, and accidental bycatch.

Flagship Species at Risk

  • Asian Elephant (Elephas maximus) and Indochinese/Sumatran Tigers (Panthera tigris): Threatened heavily by habitat fragmentation and human-wildlife conflict.
  • Dugong (Dugong dugon):

Facing severe population drops in Thai waters, particularly around the Gulf of Thailand and Andaman coast.

  • Rafflesia:

Multiple species of the world’s largest parasitic flower face high extinction risks due to forest disturbance.

  • Giant Pitta:

A rare rainforest bird previously thought to be extinct that remains vulnerable to southern deforestation.

An article posted on the website of the Bangkok Tribune noted:

The National Committee on Conservation and Utilisation of Biodiversity has endorsed the latest update report on the country’s status of biodiversity, which has found a number of plants and animals over the past year were increasingly under threat; from habitat loss to climate change.

The committee, which met on Friday for the second time this year to endorse the report prepared by the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning and the Thai Environment Institute Foundation (TEI), has learned that almost all of the country’s seven sub-ecosystems over the past year faced increasing challenges in various forms.

The seven ecosystems include forest, mountain, semi-humid arid, water resources, agriculture, island, and marine and coastal ecosystems.

Agriculture and forest ecosystems are the most dominant, being around 55.7 and 31.2 per cent of the country’s territory.

The study shows that last year the forest landscape was “relatively stable” or remained much unchanged, but the coastal ecosystem continued to face erosion.

The number of beach forests decreased, while degradation occurred in notable sites such as Songkhla Lake.

On several islands, there was no systematic management of tourist attractions as supposed to, the report notes.

The mountain ecosystem, meanwhile, lacked a large extent of knowledge to help manage it, the report further notes.

It also faced a major threat caused by changes in land use, farm chemical use, inefficient waste management, alien species, and disaster-related incidents including climate change.

Wild elephants roam along with guars in Kuiburi National Park. Wild animals are protected in protected areas but they are also facing various threats brought from outside. Credit: DNP

Updated statuses

According to the report, up to 999 plant species were under threat, although over the course of the years from 2014 to 2020, up to 239 new plant species were discovered. Among those, three have gone extinct in the wild.

A major threat against these plants was brought by farm area expansion and industrial development, destruction and disturbance of high biodiversity areas, biopiracy, and mono-cropping.

For wild animals or Fauna, the report has found that up to 122 mammals were under threat, along with 189 bird species, 51 reptile species, 19 amphibians and 290 fish species, or 671 of them altogether.

Their statuses were in contrast to another 25 vertebrate species, which were discovered during the course of the years between 2011 to 2020.

A major threat against these animals was primarily brought by an increase in human population, wildlife trade and imports of alien species, forest encroachment and habitat loss due to rapid infrastructure and urban development, pollution problems, as well as impacts of climate change […]

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Free 9 November Zoom Webinar and Open Access Book On US Soldiers in China

Thammasat University students interested in the China, history, conflict studies, international relations, diplomacy, soft power, sociology, anthropology, and related subjects may find it useful to participate in a free 9 November Zoom webinar on Everyday Occupation: American Soldiers and Chinese Civilians after World War II.

The event, on Monday, 9 November 2026 at 9:30pm Bangkok time, is presented by The Harvard University Asia Center, Cambridge, Massachusetts, the United States of America.

The TU Library collection includes books about diverse aspects of the United States military occupation of China.

Students are invited to register for the event at this link.

The United States military presence in China most notably took the form of Operation Beleaguer, a post-World War II military occupation and deployment from August 1945 to December 1949.

Key Details of the U.S. Occupation (Operation Beleaguer)

  • Purpose:

U.S. Marines were sent to northern China (primarily Hebei and Shandong provinces, including Qingdao, Tianjin, and Beiping/Beijing) to accept the surrender of Japanese forces, repatriate over 600,000 Japanese and Korean nationals, and stabilize the region.

  • Scale:

American forces in China peaked at over 100,000 personnel after World War II before gradually winding down.

  • Chinese Civil War:

While officially neutral, the U.S. military logistics and support leaned toward Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist government against Mao Zedong’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

This led to armed skirmishes, ambushes, and railway sabotage by Communist forces.

  • Withdrawal:

Following the failure of mediation efforts (such as the Marshall Mission) and the advance of Communist victories, U.S. forces evacuated the last positions, with the final group departing Qingdao in late May and December 1949.

The event website explains:

Abstract:

In this rich history of everyday encounters between US soldiers and Chinese civilians, Chunmei Du explores their entangled relations from the end of World War II to the founding of the People’s Republic of China.

Drawing upon official, popular and personal accounts from both countries, Du examines the sensorial, material, and symbolic exchanges that took place between GIs and ordinary Chinese people-stall vendors, pedestrians, rickshaw pullers, “Jeep girls,” and suspected thieves […]

Du shows how mundane struggles made imperialism and sovereignty tangible, fueling anti-American sentiment. Meanwhile, these encounters fostered informal diplomacy, shaping identities and forging new bonds that left a lasting imprint on both countries.

Speaker: Chunmei Du, Professor, Department of History, Lingnan University, Hong Kong; Associate, Harvard University Asia Center

Moderator: Erez Manela, Francis Lee Higginson Professor of History, Harvard University

Professor Du’s talk will be based on her book Everyday Occupation: American Soldiers and Chinese Civilians after World War II, published by Cambridge University Press (2026). This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

The book observes:

Everyday Occupation provides a microhistory of the quotidian encounters between American soldiers and Chinese civilians and their entangled relations from the end of WWII to the founding of the People’s Republic of China.

Drawing upon official, popular, and personal accounts from both countries, it focuses on the sensorial, material, and symbolic exchanges between GIs and ordinary Chinese people – pedestrians, rickshaw pullers, suspected thieves, stall vendors, and the “Jeep girls” (jipu nülang) who were seen as fraternizing with US soldiers.

Through the microlens of the everyday, this book reveals how grassroots interactions affected larger political dynamics during a critical era in Sino-American relations […]

Meanwhile, American servicemen and Chinese civilians engaged in a form of informal diplomacy, developing new tastes, languages, consumption habits, and identities, as well as individual and institutional bonds, all of which left a lasting imprint on both countries […]

In hindsight, it is tempting to see this historic encounter between US servicemen and Chinese civilians as a doomed failure.

The late 1940s marked a turning point in Chinese perceptions of America: deep appreciation and gratitude turned into grievances and animosity, and public sentiment shifted from pro-America (qin Mei) to anti-America (fan Mei).

According to a Time magazine report, American imperialism had replaced both Japanese imperialism and British imperialism “in the average Chinese intellectual’s dictionary of opprobrium,” and street urchins in Shanghai’s alleys sang the little rhyme of “Mei kuo lao, Chen pu hao” (American fellows are really no good)!

While previous research has demonstrated the significant impact of US imperialism and Communist propaganda on this transition, viewing these unprecedented grassroots exchanges only through the prism of political domination and manipulation risks overlooking individual agency and historical contingencies.

We also miss the opportunity to investigate how these two large political forces worked in relation to the messy world of mundane struggles.

For example, how did the US system of law and justice fail in China despite its ideals of liberalism and realpolitik in the early Cold War environment?

How did the Communist anti-American campaign manage to attract such a broad spectrum of supporters, ranging from outspoken leftists and liberal intellectuals to students, businessmen, and the urban poor?

Moreover, what kinds of roles did Chinese individuals and American servicemen play in the nexus of Sino-US relations and everyday frictions?

Answering these questions is crucial for understanding the postwar US global empire, the rise of Chinese anti-American nationalism, and the making and unmaking of Sino-US relations during a watershed moment in history.

It also provides valuable lessons for today, when the world is once again caught in polarized ideological confrontations and nationalist conflicts […]

Contemporary Chinese critics already compared GIs in China to the occupying forces in Japan, warning that the US was treating China as a colony.

The US military’s policy perpetuated systemic racism and injustice against Chinese civilians in their policing and judicial process, and American servicemen expressed Orientalist views, held racist and sexist attitudes toward Chinese elites and commoners, and enjoyed immunity from local laws.

In his recent book The Tormented Alliance, Zach Fredman convincingly shows the prevalence of GI misconduct and the unequal relationship imposed by US imperialism on China throughout the 1940s.

However, framing grassroots interactions with the Chinese, including frictions, solely through the lens of “brutal, everyday racism of imperialism” does not adequately account for the complex nature of the US military involvement and modes of domination in postwar China.

Unlike its East Asian neighbors under US occupation and the Philippines – a former colony and later client state – China was an ally and a sovereign nation.

Officially, GIs were “invited guests” of the Nationalist Government, a status that was not in name only.

For example, despite their critical contributions to the war effort and an initial plan to send them, black troops, in deference to the Chinese government’s racist requests, were not stationed in postwar Chinese cities.

Since WWII, the American military had tried to educate its soldiers to respect the Chinese as civilized equals, while American propaganda celebrated China and its people with flattering portrayals.

In the precarious environment of the civil war between the Nationalist and Communist Parties, the American government promoted a liberal image of itself as a “benevolent leader of the world,” in contrast to the Soviet Union.

Meanwhile, it promulgated the economic agenda of a free world economy based on the open market and free trade, secured favorable terms for American businesses and investors, and enabled further domination through various instruments of influence.

In principle, the US government intended to showcase democracy and provide a blueprint for a future liberal China […]

 

(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)

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Free 6 November Zoom Webinar On Adolescent Health

Thammasat University students interested in sport, business, economics, allied health sciences, education, sociology, urban planning, sustainable development, and related subjects may find it useful to participate in a 6 November WHO Global Launch Webinar: New Global Estimates on Adolescent Physical Activity.

The event, on Friday, 6 November 2026 at 6pm Bangkok time, is hosted by Loughborough University, the United Kingdom.

The TU Library collection includes books about diverse aspects of adolescent health.

Students are invited to register at this link.

The event website explains:

How active are the world’s adolescents today, and what can we do to create healthier, more active futures for young people?

Please join us for the launch of new WHO global estimates on adolescent physical activity (to be published in The Lancet Global Health), providing the first major update since 2016.

The webinar will feature presentations by Dr. Tessa Strain and Dr. Fiona Bull on the latest global findings and their implications for policy and practice. Importantly, this event is about more than the data.

A panel discussion, moderated by Dr. Chris van Tulleken (Professor of Global Health and BBC broadcaster), will bring together perspectives from schools, sport, urban design and active mobility to explore practical solutions and examples of action that can help adolescents be more active in their everyday lives.

WHO Global Launch Webinar: New Global Estimates on Adolescent Physical Activity

Whether you work in health, education, sport, transport, urban planning, youth development, research or advocacy, we hope you can join us for this important global conversation.

More than 80% of school-going adolescents globally do not meet the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendation of at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity daily.

Key Global Statistics & Gender Gap

  • Overall Inactivity:

Approximately 81% of adolescents aged 11–17 worldwide are insufficiently active.

  • The Gender Disparity:

Girls are consistently less active than boys.

Roughly 85% of adolescent girls do not meet the daily guidelines, compared to 78% of adolescent boys.

This gender gap persists across the vast majority of countries.

  • Age Decline:

Physical activity levels tend to drop as adolescents get older.

  • Sedentary Time:

Over half of youth exceed the recommended limit of no more than 2 hours of recreational screen time per day.

WHO Guidelines & Upcoming Updates

  • The Standard:

Children and adolescents (aged 5–17) need an average of 60 minutes per day of moderate-to-vigorous aerobic physical activity, along with vigorous-intensity activities at least three days a week.

  • New WHO Estimates:

The WHO is set to release updated global estimates published in The Lancet Global Health, providing a major update to track progress and persistent inequalities since prior baseline data.

You can follow ongoing research and global metrics through networks like the Active Healthy Kids Global Alliance.

Common Drivers of Inactivity

  • Environmental & Infrastructure Factors:

Lack of safe public spaces, parks, sports facilities, and active transport (walking or cycling infrastructure) in many communities.

  • Digital & Cultural Shifts:

Increased access to recreational screen time, smartphones, and sedentary entertainment options.

  • School & Policy Gaps:

Inconsistent implementation of quality physical education (PE) and whole-school active culture approaches

An open access article posted on the website of The Diabetes & Metabolism Journal last year discussed Exploring the Lack of Physical Activity among Adolescents Worldwide.

The article begins:

Every family hopes to achieve good health for all its members, especially parents who strive harder to ensure their children’s well-being.

One way to achieve good health is by being physically active.

The World Health Organization defines physical activity (PA) as any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that requires energy expenditure.

It includes all movement, including walking, cycling, wheeling, sports, active recreation, and play, and can be done at any level of skill.

PA has many benefits to human health […]

The lack of PA is becoming a serious public health concern worldwide.

In the Philippines, for example, The first-ever Philippine Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Adolescents reported that most Filipino youth and adolescents were among the most physically inactive globally, with only 15.4% meeting the global PA recommendation.

Around 27 million Filipinos are overweight and obese.

The prevalence rates of overweight and obesity among adolescents have more than doubled from 4.9% in 2003 to 11.6% in 2018.

It is projected that more than 30% of Filipino adolescents will be overweight and obese by 2030.

While the Philippines had the highest prevalence of insufficient activity among boys, South Korea showed the highest levels among girls.

In 2016, more than 80% of school-going adolescents aged 11 to 17 did not meet current recommendations for daily PA.

Other countries showing the most significant decreases in boys being insufficiently active were Bangladesh (from 73% to 63%), Singapore (78% to 70%), Thailand (78% to 70%), Benin (79% to 71%), Ireland (71% to 64%), and the USA (71% to 64%).

However, among girls, changes were small, ranging from a two-percentage-point decrease in Singapore (85% to 83%) to a one-percentage-point increase in Afghanistan (87% to 88%).

Many adolescents worldwide live a sedentary lifestyle that does not encourage more PA.

Sitting and playing online games for a few hours, they simultaneously consume a lot of food ordered through online fast-food chains.

Some also do this untimely and overeat, even when lying down watching TV or before sleeping […]

With this scenario, governments and other institutions must create interventions and address the lack of PA among adolescents to address the lack of PA.

In Korea, for example, to protect people from chronic diseases, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency has implemented a range of tailored policies, focusing on the unique characteristics of each chronic disease.

These policies include operating noncommunicable diseases surveillance, developing prevention and control guidelines, promoting early diagnosis and continued treatment, conducting research to generate evidence-based practices, establishing a platform on information, and training of healthcare professionals.

These policies can serve as a model for other countries like the Philippines.

In addition, every country must allocate sufficient funding to construct more public parks, playgrounds, sports sites, gymnasiums, and other venues for games and exercise.

Financial resources are always a serious challenge in the country, especially in rural areas where the local government cannot afford such constructions.

Second, even if these facilities are available, more adolescents must be willing to engage in PA.

Thus, the government must organize more sports competitions, family fun games, walk/run for a cause, and other related public gatherings.

Third, effectively promoting these PA programs and initiatives is a must.

The government can fully utilize the different forms of mass media, especially the various social media platforms, to broadcast these programs.

They can even invite famous personalities like content creators and local celebrities with a huge fanbase to make it more enticing for the public.

In the same way, the role of schools and different church groups is vital for this cause.

Aside from the physical education classes, which are part of the usual curriculum, the administration must enhance the implementation of outbound education activities that engage students outside the classroom, such as nature tripping, hiking, team-building exercises, etc […]