By Murray Hiebert — Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak’s visit to the White House on September 12 has injected new energy into a bilateral relationship that had slipped into a funk during the last two years of the previous U.S.…
By Sarah Watson — On August 21, following a protracted internal debate, President Trump announced his strategy for Afghanistan and South Asia as a whole. The speech included both strong language on Pakistan and a promise that U.S. involvement in…
By Nicholas Szechenyi — Today Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary James Mattis are hosting Foreign Minister Taro Kono and Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera of Japan for a bilateral Security Consultative Committee (SCC) or “2+2” meeting to coordinate…
By Murray Hiebert — For the first few months of the Donald Trump administration, Southeast Asia wondered where it would fit in the new president’s global calculus. Trump had given few clues during the election campaign about engaging this dynamic…
By Geoffrey Hartman — The foreign ministers of all 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will travel to Washington for a joint May 4 meeting with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Coordinating the travel of all…
By Murray Hiebert — Much of Vice President Mike Pence’s trip to northeast Asia has focused on containing North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, but when he lands in Indonesia on April 20 his attention will pivot to reassuring the rest…
By Murray Hiebert — The election of Donald Trump, who has moved slowly to fill many key foreign policy posts and spell out his policies toward Southeast Asia, created some uncertainty and heartburn in Hanoi. “Some countries think there’s a…
By Victor Cha, Bonnie Glaser, Matthew P. Goodman, Michael J. Green, Christopher K. Johnson, & Scott Kennedy — Background President Donald Trump will host President Xi Jinping of China at Mar-a-Lago on April 6–7. This will be the first opportunity…
By Shannon Hayden — The year 2017 is a milestone for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). During this 50th anniversary of the 10-nation bloc, ASEAN finds itself representing a region that is prospering and peaceful overall, having successfully…
