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The Diplomat  |  Author

Sebastian Strangio

Sebastian Strangio

Sebastian Strangio is Southeast Asia editor at The Diplomat. 

In 2008, he began his career as a reporter at The Phnom Penh Post in Cambodia, and has since traveled and reported extensively across the 10 nations of ASEAN. Sebastian’s writing has appeared in leading publications including Foreign Affairs, the Los Angeles Review of Books, and The New York Times, The Diplomat, and Nikkei Asian Review, among many others. He is the author of “Hun Sen’s Cambodia” (Yale, 2014), a path-breaking examination of Cambodia since the fall of the Khmer Rouge, and “In the Dragon’s Shadow: Southeast Asia in the Chinese Century (Yale, 2020). 

Alongside his journalistic work, Sebastian has also consulted for a wide variety of economic risk firms and non-government organizations, and is quoted frequently in the international media on political developments in Southeast Asia. Sebastian holds a B.A. and Master’s degree in international politics from The University of Melbourne. He currently lives in Adelaide.

You can get in touch with Sebastian via Twitter, Facebook, or email.

Posts by Sebastian Strangio
June 27, 2023

US Aircraft Carrier Arrives in Vietnam For Six-Day Friendship Visit

By Sebastian Strangio
The visit of the USS Ronald Reagan came as Vietnam's Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh embarked on his first visit to Beijing since his appointment in 2021.

June 27, 2023

Military-Aligned Border Guard Forces Defect in Southeastern Myanmar

By Sebastian Strangio
Local media reported that two Border Guard Forces, formed by the military in 2009, had joined resistance attacks on junta outposts in Kayah State.
June 26, 2023

Malaysia Sues Meta Over ‘Undesirable’ Content on Facebook

By Sebastian Strangio
The decision comes amid a rise in racial and religious online rhetoric as the country moves toward important state elections.

June 26, 2023

Cambodia Amends Election Law, Disqualifying Non-Voting Candidates

By Sebastian Strangio
The amendment is intended to prevent a boycott of the July 23 election, which could undermine the planned handover of power from Prime Minister Hun Sen to his son.

June 23, 2023

US Aircraft Carrier to Visit Vietnam Amid South China Sea Tensions

By Sebastian Strangio
The six-day friendship visit by the USS Ronald Reagan comes a year after Vietnam canceled a similar planned exchange.

June 23, 2023

Malaysia Charges Four Men Over Mass Graves and Trafficking Camps

By Sebastian Strangio
The charges relate to the discovery of more than 100 bodies in mass graves in the Thailand-Malaysia border region in 2015.
June 22, 2023

US Announces Sanctions on Myanmar State Banks, Defense Ministry

By Sebastian Strangio
The targeting of the Myanma Foreign Trade Bank and Myanma Investment and Commercial Bank is designed to choke off the military's access to the U.S. dollar.

June 22, 2023

Indonesia Shifts ASEAN Military Drills Out of Disputed Waters

By Sebastian Strangio
The non-combat drills, the first to be held by the Southeast Asian bloc, will now take place near Batam island, well outside China's "nine-dash line" claim.

June 21, 2023

Thai Activists Sue Government Over Alleged Use of Pegasus Spyware

By Sebastian Strangio
Last year, cybersecurity researchers claimed to have unearthed “an extensive espionage campaign targeting Thai pro-democracy protesters."

June 20, 2023

Myanmar and Russia Sign Energy Deals, Establish Direct Flights

By Sebastian Strangio
The agreements point to the advancing strategic convergence between the two pariah states.

June 20, 2023

Thai Election Body Certifies General Election Results

By Sebastian Strangio
The announcement paves the way for parliament to convene in early July, after which it will vote to select the country's next prime minister.
June 19, 2023

Vietnam Arrests More Than 50 Over Central Highlands Attacks

By Sebastian Strangio
The motivation for the coordinated attacks on two commune offices in Dak Lak province remains unclear.

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