Engaging the Eagle - Exploring U.S. Foreign Policy in Southeast Asia USP-RSIS

From Europe to the Middle East, numerous crises have emerged during the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden. This has fuelled debates over whether the U.S. has the capacity to address all of them at once – or, as some have argued, whether the U.S. should prioritise its interests and pick its fights more carefully. Join us as we speak with Stephen Wertheim, Senior Fellow in the American Statecraft Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, on this important strategic issue.

The April 2024 trilateral summit between the U.S., Japan and the Philippines was closely watched by regional observers. The Philippines, which has weathered increasing assertiveness from China, signed an agreement to maintain security and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea. The U.S., meanwhile, is moving to integrate its defence industrial base with that of Japan, with a plan to use Japanese shipyards to repair U.S. warships. What do these developments mean for maritime security in the region? Tune in to hear Dr. Collin Koh, Senior Fellow at RSIS, share his views.

As Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell recently described, the U.S. alliance with Japan is the “cornerstone of [U.S.] engagement in the Indo-Pacific.” This statement was underscored by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s state visit to Washington in April 2024, outlining 70 agreements in areas ranging from defence to space and even culture at a press conference with U.S. President Joe Biden. How significant was this visit, and what are the limits of the U.S.-Japan relationship? Tune in to hear Associate Professor Bhubhindar Singh from RSIS offer his views on this important topic. 

Here at the U.S. Programme in IDSS, RSIS, we monitor topics ranging from tech to U.S. economic policy. We also write about it too, with Adrian Ang (Coordinator, USP) and Kevin Chen (Associate Research Fellow, USP) recently writing Op-Eds on the TikTok bill and U.S. economic policy in Southeast Asia respectively. Tune in to hear them give a quick rundown on their Op-Eds.



Adrian's Op-Ed: https://www.rsis.edu.sg/rsis-publication/idss/ip24033-the-us-tiktok-ban-larger-yards-and-higher-fences/

Kevin's Op-Ed: https://www.rsis.edu.sg/rsis-publication/idss/ip24035-exploring-waning-us-economic-influence-in-asean-despite-high-levels-of-fdi/

Based on data from numerous news and polling agencies, all signs point to Prabowo Subianto being the likely winner of Indonesia’s 2024 Presidential election. Amid questions about the composition of his government and the policies he will prioritise while in office, an important consideration is what he will bring to the foreign policy table.  

Prabowo’s election manifesto underlined climate change, the conflicts in Ukraine and Palestine, and potential armed conflicts with China in the South China Sea as some of the key strategic challenges facing Indonesia. He is expected to be more engaged in foreign policy as compared to his predecessor, Joko Widodo, though he claims to share his predecessor’s goal of eradicating poverty. It will be interesting to see how he will influence Indonesia’s responses to the AUKUS pact, Indonesia’s recently-signed Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with the U.S., and Indonesia’s path amid geopolitical competition between the U.S. and China.

On 13 January 2024, Taiwan voters elected Lai Ching-te as their president, keeping the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in power for a third straight term. The election had been deemed as a crucial signal for Cross-Strait Relations for the next four years, with Beijing ominously framing it as a choice between “peace and war, prosperity and decline.” 



There are concerns about how Beijing will respond to Lai’s victory, given how they repeatedly labeled him as a “stubborn worker for Taiwan independence”. On the other hand, Washington was quick to congratulate Lai, though President Joe Biden took pains to highlight that the US does not support Taiwan’s independence. 



It will be important to see what the results of this election mean for Cross-Strait Relations and the fragile détente between Washington and Beijing. Given Southeast Asia’s proximity and economic ties to both sides of the Strait, it will also be important to gauge their response to these developments.