• Bangladesh ■ 2001–2008: intense party rivalry, caretaker government crisis, military-backed interim rule; 2009–2018: Awami League consolidation under Sheikh Hasina.
• India ■ 2001–2018: Gujarat earthquake/riots shaped national politics; Congress-led UPA era from 2004; BJP/Narendra Modi era from 2014; major debates on nationalism, secularism, caste, gender and development.
• Indonesia ■ 2001–2018: post-Suharto democratic transition; 2004 first direct presidential election; Aceh peace agreement 2005; decentralisation and resource politics.
• Japan ■ 2001–2018: Koizumi reforms; 2011 Tōhoku earthquake/Fukushima transformed energy politics; Abe era after 2012, security-law reform and nationalism debates.
• Mongolia ■ 2000–2018: mining boom, democratic-party alternation, resource nationalism, air pollution politics in Ulaanbaatar.
• Nepal ■ 2001–2018: royal massacre 2001; civil war ended 2006; monarchy abolished 2008; constitution adopted 2015; federal republic consolidated.
• Pakistan ■ 2001–2018: post-9/11 security state; Musharraf rule; Benazir Bhutto assassinated 2007; democratic transfers 2013, 2018; Malala attack 2012 and education-rights mobilisation.
• Philippines ■ 2001–2018: Arroyo presidency after People Power II; Aquino governance reforms; Duterte elected 2016, drug war, Mindanao martial law 2017.
• South Korea ■ 2000–2018: Sunshine Policy and North–South summits; Roh Moo-hyun reforms; Park Geun-hye impeachment 2016–2017; Candlelight movement; Moon Jae-in elected 2017.
• Taiwan ■ 2000–2018: first DPP presidency 2000; democratic consolidation; Sunflower Movement 2014; Tsai Ing-wen elected 2016, first woman president.

• Bangladesh ■ 2007: Cyclone Sidr; climate adaptation and delta vulnerability became central national issues.
• India ■ 2001, 2004, 2013, 2018: Gujarat earthquake; Indian Ocean tsunami; Uttarakhand floods; Kerala floods; major climate-disaster governance debates.
• Indonesia ■ 2004, 2015, 2018: Aceh tsunami; haze/forest fires; Lombok and Sulawesi earthquake-tsunami disasters.
• Japan ■ 2011: Tōhoku earthquake, tsunami and Fukushima nuclear disaster reshaped global nuclear safety politics.
• Mongolia ■ 2000s–2010s: desertification, dzud winters, mining-related water stress, urban air pollution.
• Nepal ■ 2015: earthquake; Himalayan glacier, landslide and water-security concerns intensified.
• Pakistan ■ 2010: catastrophic floods; climate justice and disaster displacement became major issues.
• Philippines ■ 2013: Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda became a global climate-loss-and-damage symbol.
• South Korea ■ 2000s–2018: air pollution, nuclear safety, green-growth policy and energy-transition debates.
• Taiwan ■ 2009: Typhoon Morakot caused major landslides and Indigenous village displacement.

Asia had the highest number of disasters globally between 2000–2019, with major impacts concentrated in countries including India, Indonesia and the Philippines. 

• Bangladesh: Jumma/Chittagong Hill Tracts peoples continued struggles over land, militarisation, identity and implementation of the 1997 Peace Accord.
• India: Adivasi communities faced displacement from mining, dams, forests and conservation; Forest Rights Act implementation after 2006 became central.
• Indonesia: Indigenous peoples/adat communities advanced land-rights claims; forests, palm oil, mining and REDD+ debates intensified.
• Japan: Ainu recognition advanced; in 2008, Japan formally recognised the Ainu as Indigenous people.
• Mongolia: pastoralist and herder communities faced mining expansion, land degradation and climate stress.
• Nepal: Janajati/Adivasi movements pushed for federalism, recognition, language rights and constitutional inclusion.
• Pakistan: Indigenous/minority ethnic communities, including in Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan and Sindh, faced land, resource and militarisation pressures.
• Philippines: Lumad, Igorot, Moro and other Indigenous peoples faced militarisation, mining, ancestral-domain struggles and school closures.
• South Korea: Jeju islanders’ land, memory and militarisation struggles became visible through resistance to the Jeju naval base.
• Taiwan: Indigenous rights advanced symbolically when President Tsai Ing-wen issued a formal apology in 2016 and established a transitional justice process. 

• Gender and democracy: women leaders rose in Bangladesh, India, South Korea and Taiwan; women’s movements challenged violence, corruption and authoritarianism.
• Migration and labour: South Asia and Southeast Asia saw large-scale labour migration, remittances and exploitation concerns.
• Militarisation and security: post-9/11 securitisation affected Pakistan, India, Indonesia and the Philippines.
• Nuclear politics: India–Pakistan tensions, North Korea’s nuclear programme, Fukushima and Japan’s energy politics shaped regional security.
• Youth movements: Malala’s education advocacy, Taiwan’s Sunflower Movement, South Korea’s Candlelight protests, and student movements in India and Bangladesh.
• Development vs rights: mining, dams, plantations, special economic zones and infrastructure projects created conflict with Indigenous land and environmental justice.