The regions to watch are the east and the southeast where the four biggest Asian elections are set to take place.

In 2016, several elections brought seismic change to Asia. Tsai Ing-wen became Taiwan’s first female president-elect in January—a win for gender equality but a big loss for China at a time when relations between the two countries were improving. (Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Party supports independence from Beijing.) A month after Tsai’s win, Myanmar celebrated its own…