Publication

This paper argues that President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration promises to be very different from its predecessor. In particular, Philippine security policy under Duterte will be more inward-looking – i.e., it will concentrate on the country’s two main insurgencies (one driven by communists, the other by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front) and pay less attention on military modernization and challenging China’s claims in the West Philippine Sea. Given this new emphasis, Australia, the US and Japan are best placed to support Duterte’s agenda.