Jack Brook

Jack Brook

Jack Brook grew up in California and came to Cambodia in 2020 as a Henry Luce Scholar. His writing has been published in The Christian Science Monitor, The Jerusalem Post, The Miami Herald, The Marshall Project and other outlets.

EMAIL j.brook@globemediaasia.com TWITTER @jack_brook96

Articles by Jack Brook

Nov 25, 2022 • 10 min read
Electric vehicles

Electric vehicle supply chain eyes West Papuan paradise

Communities in the biodiverse Raja Ampat islands embrace ecotourism, but the expansion of the electric vehicle supply chain threatens conservation
By Jack Brook - Nov 25, 2022

Sep 23, 2022 • 7 min read
Khmer Rouge

Khmer Rouge Tribunal comes to a sombre end 

The international tribunal upheld the conviction of Khieu Samphan, bringing 19 years of court proceedings against leaders of genocide to a close, leaving a mixed legacy.
By Jack Brook - Sep 23, 2022

Sep 17, 2022 • 3 min read
Editorial

UNESCO, LGBTQ+, EV supply chains

Cambodian conservation sites seek UNESCO status, Singapore allows gay sex but not marriage, Indonesia's coal-fired electric vehicle manufacturing.
By Jack Brook - Sep 17, 2022

Sep 06, 2022 • 9 min read
Bloody Paniai

No justice for Papuan community, years after a massacre

President Joko Widodo promised to investigate killings by security forces in Paniai, but Indonesia's human rights bureaucracy ‘lacks political will.’
By Jack Brook - Sep 06, 2022

Aug 27, 2022 • 2 min read
Editorial

Tim Page, refugee abuse, Papua’s plight

A legendary Vietnam war photographer dies, Thailand's abusive migrant detention centres, fears of violence against Papuans mount.
By Jack Brook - Aug 27, 2022

Aug 03, 2022 • 9 min read
Lawsuits

Cambodians face sugar giant in Thai court

Groundbreaking legal action by displaced villagers crosses the border into Thailand to seek recompense and set a human rights precedent
By Jack Brook - Aug 03, 2022

Jul 11, 2022 • 9 min read
Microfinance

Report details abuses in Cambodian microfinance

German study is the first by an institutional investor to document thousands of land sales in the Kingdom fueled by debt
By Jack Brook - Jul 11, 2022

Jun 13, 2022 • 9 min read
Diplomacy

America steps up engagement with ASEAN

The nomination of Yohannes Abraham as the first U.S. ambassador to the association in five years signals a renewed agenda and interest in Southeast Asia.
By Jack Brook - Jun 13, 2022

May 17, 2022 • 10 min read
Agriculture

Cambodian agriculture holds the seeds for success

Even amidst stagnant growth, improved tactics and policies could bring more economic opportunities and profits to farmers and agribusiness
By Jack Brook - May 17, 2022

May 07, 2022 • 2 min read
Editorial

Cable cars, microfinance and metaverses

Vietnam's cable cars carry environmental concerns, Cambodian microfinance illegally profits from indigenous lands and underregulated Southeast Asian metaverses boom
By Jack Brook - May 07, 2022

Apr 30, 2022 • 2 min read
Editorial

Demining Cambodia, real estate megaprojects and a baby elephant

Cambodian farmers struggle as their properties are cleared of buried explosives, dubious megaprojects proliferate in Cambodia and a baby elephant’s birth signals the need for further conservation
By Jack Brook - Apr 30, 2022

Apr 23, 2022 • 2 min read
Editorial

Nuclear energy, Cambodia’s opposition, illegal cash flow

Vietnam explores nuclear energy to lower fuel costs, Cambodia's Candlelight opposition party faces tough political prospects and money laundering remains a rampant problem
By Jack Brook - Apr 23, 2022

Apr 16, 2022 • 2 min read
Editorial

New year festivities, sex education and better pay

Southeast Asia celebrates the solar new year, a growing sex toy industry brings empowerment and Malaysia's emerging labour movement demands fair wages
By Jack Brook - Apr 16, 2022

Apr 09, 2022 • 2 min read
Editorial

Youth engagement with news, deadly commutes, political disinformation

Digital-native ASEAN youth say social media makes them more politically active about the war in Ukraine. Cambodia's garment workers face risky commutes leading to numerous deaths. Filipinos prepare to vote in an upcoming presidential election as online disinformation abounds
By Jack Brook - Apr 09, 2022

Feb 14, 2022 • 9 min read
Social enterprise

Putting Cambodians in charge saved a NGO

A Siem Reap organisation survived by overhauling the expat leadership and rebranding but remaining committed to youth job training
By Jack Brook - Feb 14, 2022

Jan 22, 2022 • 2 min read
Editorial

Whistleblowers, rhino horns, lab-grown meat and human trafficking

Whistleblowers stay silenced in Cambodia, Vietnamese authorities take sporadic actions on rhino horn and wild animal product sales, Singapore embraces lab-grown meat, why Southeast Asia can improve its anti-human trafficking actions and how regional governments are struggling to find the right balance of freedom and oversight online
By Jack Brook - Jan 22, 2022

Nov 20, 2021 • 4 min read
Editorial

Cambodia reopens, Covid still strikes

Even as Cambodia waives quarantine requirements for vaccinated visitors, Covid-19 continues to plague the Kingdom and its pandemic-weary populace
By Jack Brook - Nov 20, 2021

Nov 04, 2021 • 7 min read
Green Economy

Capitalism in a nutshell, the growth of cashews in Cambodia

There were few cashew trees in northeast Cambodia 30 years ago, but now the burgeoning nut industry is part of the region’s link to the global economy
By Jack Brook and Borin Sopheavuthtey - Nov 04, 2021

Oct 23, 2021 • 4 min read
Editorial

Cambodia marks 30 years since Paris Peace Agreements

Peace has brought globalism, comfortable coffee chains and Michael Learns to Rock. This doesn’t necessarily signal democracy and respect for human rights
By Jack Brook - Oct 23, 2021

Oct 16, 2021 • 4 min read
Editorial

Capitalism and the cashew

Cashew crops clustering the hills of Ratanakiri are a sign of the ongoing transition to capitalism in northeast Cambodia
By Jack Brook - Oct 16, 2021

Oct 15, 2021 • 8 min read
Migration

Death in a greenhouse

After a Cambodian labourer died on a South Korean farm, migrant worker policies came under renewed scrutiny, propelling reform efforts and inspiring migrants to fight for their rights
By Jack Brook and Samphors Sao - Oct 15, 2021

Oct 09, 2021 • 4 min read
Editorial

False claim of Hun Sen’s dual citizenship may change Cambodia’s constitution

The UK-based Guardian newspaper retracted a claim stating Hun Sen had purchased Cypriot citizenship, but the Cambodian prime minister remains on the defensive and is calling for a Constitutional amendment to bar anyone with dual citizenship from holding high political office
By Jack Brook - Oct 09, 2021

Sep 11, 2021 • 3 min read
Editorial

Myanmar’s shadow government calls for uprising

The National Unity Government urged citizens to engage in a “defensive war” against the military junta, targeting personnel and assets. The international community condemned the calls for violence, pushing instead for peace.
By Jack Brook - Sep 11, 2021

Sep 02, 2021 • 8 min read
Film

Camera in hand, Cambodia’s indigenous youth record cultures under threat

In the Kingdom, most stories are told in Khmer. But the Bophana Centre’s filmmaking programme is training indigenous youth in northeastern Cambodia to document their communities and languages that risk being subsumed by the dominant national culture
By Jack Brook - Sep 02, 2021

Aug 28, 2021 • 4 min read
Editorial

Kamala Harris visits Vietnam, Singapore, seeking regional allies

This week, we also took a look at why Malaysia’s contract doctors are on strike amidst a surging pandemic, what a sinister enemies list reveals about Thai government paranoia, and how Cambodia could become the centre of the Mekong’s drug trafficking
By Jack Brook - Aug 28, 2021

Aug 21, 2021 • 5 min read
Editorial

Afghanistan recalls the horrors of conflict in 1970s Southeast Asia

This week, we’ve also got a fantastic lead story exploring Vietnam’s conflicted views on abortion, a report on the difficult circumstances of garment workers in Myanmar and the finale of the Anakut podcast on the future of Phnom Penh
By Jack Brook - Aug 21, 2021

Aug 14, 2021 • 4 min read
Editorial

The future of Cambodia’s energy

This week, the Anakut podcast discusses the implications of Cambodia’s increasingly coal-oriented energy policy, while two of our reporters call attention to the dire situation of Cambodian migrant workers in Thailand. We’ve also got updates on ASEAN’s new special envoy to Myanmar, a look back at the ethnic riots in Singapore in the 60s and finally a report on the protests and activists pushing for American sanctions against the Tatmadaw
By Jack Brook - Aug 14, 2021