Tuesday 15th November 2016, 6.45 - 8.15pm; Hong Kong Theatre, Clement House
Speaker: Dr Evan Medeiros; Chair: Dr Jürgen Haacke
Southeast Asia is rising in strategic importance to the United States, to the major powers in East Asia and to overall regional stability and prosperity. Southeast Asian economies are now some of the fast growing in the world and the fastest in the region, including now outpacing China. This sub-region is also the center of major security challenges such as the South China Sea issue, which will have a heavy hand in shaping strategic competition between the US and China.
The US has recognized and embraced these trends under President Obama. One of the signature aspects of the Asia Pivot has been the US’s focus on Southeast Asia which has led to a renovation in several key relationships such as Vietnam and Malaysia. All of this has occurred as Southeast Asia is digesting China’s slowdown, economic rebalancing and multiple maritime assertions. Looking forward, the key question is whether the next US president will make Asia a priority and how the region will react to it. This lecture will discuss this and other issues at a critical time for the Asia-Pacific.
Speaker
Evan Medeiros is Managing Director and Practice Head for Asia at Eurasia Group. He is former senior director for Asian affairs at the White House’s National Security Council, where he served as Obama’s top advisor on the Asia-Pacific.
Chair
Jürgen Haacke is Director of the Saw Swee Hock Southeast Asia Centre and Associate Professor of International Relations at LSE.