Yesterday, Singapore’s ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute published its State of Southeast Asia survey report for 2024, the release of which has become an annual gauge of elite opinion on key issues of regional and global import. This year’s survey, based on interviews with 1,994 policymakers, journalists, businesspeople, and pundits from the 10 countries of the Association … Read more
Advertisement If one were to assess the United States’ change in approach toward Southeast Asia over the past decades, it might be worth examining two movies on the Vietnam War, made more than 30 years apart. In an iconic scene in the 1979 Francis Ford Coppola classic “Apocalypse Now,” a surf-loving fanatic colonel leads his … Read more
Advertisement “The only thing more wide-ranging than the conference agenda is the breakfast buffet,” declared Lloyd Austin in his address to the Asian defense summit known as the Shangri-La Dialogue. The U.S. defense secretary’s nod to culinary diversity at the event in June drew appreciative murmurs from the audience. The multi-cuisine cooking stations at the conference venue are … Read more
Trans-Pacific View | Diplomacy | Southeast Asia The president attended the past two ASEAN-U.S. and East Asia summits, but will be represented by Vice President Kamala Harris at next month’s meetings in Jakarta. U.S. President Joe Biden poses with leaders from the ASEAN member states at the U.S.-ASEAN Special Summit, May 12, 2022. Credit: Official White House Photo Advertisement … Read more
Advertisement Dear President Biden, I am Edmund, a citizen of Singapore, a country in Southeast Asia. I fondly recall your visit to my nation in 2013. As vice president in the Obama administration, you strengthened the U.S.’ good relations with Singapore and Asia. During your trip to Singapore, you also visited one of my favorite … Read more