By Aaron L. Connelly, Editor, cogitASIA

Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell spoke on U.S. engagement with Southeast Asia at CSIS last week, emphasizing that American interests in the region are driven by longstanding interests and relationships with the region itself rather than a rivalry with China. He sought to reassure the ASEAN ambassadors seated in the front row that the U.S. stands ready to cooperate with China to advance prosperity and security in the region.

He also touched upon a variety of separate functional, bilateral, and institutional issues in the region, including the American relationship with the alphabet soup of intergovernmental institutions in the region, maritime security efforts, and the administration’s strategy for engagement with Myanmar. When he came to Myanmar, Campbell looked straight at Naypyidaw’s chargé d’affairs, seated in front of him, as he articulated the United States’ disappointment with the lack of progress there.

C-SPAN, which televised the session, has kindly released their video to be embedded in our blog. You can watch the entire session, including the lively question-and-answer session that followed Campbell’s remarks, below: