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

The United States and Indonesia signed a Major Defence Cooperation Partnership (MDCP) on April 13, signifying a new stage in bilateral defence cooperation. The MDCP’s three pillars concern military modernisation and capacity building; training and professional military education; and exercises and operational cooperation, all of which are ostensibly aimed at building Indonesia’s military capacity...

This episode examines how ongoing conflicts in the Middle East are reshaping maritime security dynamics and strategic calculations across Asia’s critical sea lanes. It explores the extent to which disruptions at key chokepoints, such as the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea, affect energy flows, trade routes, and naval operations in the Indo-Pacific. The episode is based off a webinar that was co-h...

Since the start of March, Southeast Asian economies have been met with bad news from outside the region. For one, the US war on Iran has created economic ripple effects that reverberated beyond the Middle East. Then, on March 11, the US Trade Representative’s office opened not one, but two Section 301 investigations into countries allegedly abusing excess industrial capacity and forced labour to t...

For years, successive US governments have expressed a desire to make Asia their primary strategic interest – but that push for a pivot to Asia seems to have faded. The most recent National Security Strategy and National Defense Strategymake it clear that America’s strategic priority is the Western Hemisphere, explicitly narrowing US security objectives in Asia to protecting the first island chain....

Barely 50 days into 2026, it feels like an eternity has passed in the realm of US foreign policy. From Operation Absolute Resolve in Venezuela on January 3, to the standoff over Greenland, to the announcement of the Board of Peace, there is a long list of noteworthy developments. The big question is what these developments mean for Southeast Asia, and what we should look out for next. Join Adrian...

Over the first year of his second term, US President Donald Trump expressed territorial ambitions for places such as Canada and Panama – but his consistent statements about wanting to take control of Greenland have come back into thelimelight after the recent US operation in Venezuela. Why does Mr Trump want Greenland so badly? How far will he go to realise his desire?   Tune in to hear Assistant...

How have Trump administration policies affected the reach of US influence, especially in Southeast Asia and BRICS countries? Tune in to hear Gregory Poling, Director of the Southeast Asia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, D.C., present the findings of the new CSIS Global Alignment Index, which measures support for US, Chinese and Russian leadership...

It’s been ten months since United States President Donald Trump began his second term in office. Some of the uncertainty that dominated those first few months has given way to an understanding of how his administration functions. Yet, plenty of questions remain. What are the different “tribes” within his administration? What might come next for US policy on China, now that a deal has been secured?...

Government shutdowns are nothing new to American politics, with the government shutting down some 20 times since 1975 over funding disagreements. The duration of these shutdowns, however, has generally been increasing, with the last shutdown in December 2018 lasting 34 days. Adding to the uncertainty, United States President Donald Trump has threatened a mass layoff of federal workers to pressure...

As compared to his first term, US President Donald Trump’s approach to the Indo-Pacific appears to be undergoing a significant transformation. He has disrupted relationships with allies and partners with his tariff regime, while there are open questions about his commitment to groupings such as the Quad and AUKUS. Where will his strategy towards the region go from here, and what implications will...

Barely two weeks after South Korean President Lee Jae Myung’s successful meeting with United States President Donald Trump in the White House, the US-South Korea relationship was once again disrupted by a record-breaking ICE raid on a Hyundai-LG plant in Georgia, which saw the arrest of over 300 South Korean workers on visa charges. As the dust slowly settles from these episodes, whatcan we make o...

What is the current state of American strategy in the Indo-Pacific? While he shuns multilateral groupings and institutions, US President Donald Trump is not an isolationist, and ostensibly has a vision of how he wants to engage the Indo-Pacific. But is there a coherent strategy at play? What can we surmise from the first six months of his second term, and what can we expect from US strategy in thi...

US President Donald Trump’s tariffs have captured the public imagination in much of Asia – yet it is important to look past the specific tariff rates that he has threatened or assigned to each country. How have Trump’s tariffs impacted US engagement with Asian economies, particularly Japan? How is the Japanese government responding to his demands, and what can we expect going forward?  Join us for...

It is often said that Southeast Asian countries reject a zero-sum choice between aligning with either Washington or Beijing, preferring to engage both parties in the pursuit of their national interests. Yet a recent study has shown that despite the intentional preferences of these Southeast Asian governments, their policies point towards a drift towards China. What could this mean for the region,...

Can the US still fight a major war? Does it still possess the industrial base to fuel a prolonged war effort, the political will to put aside partisan differences, and a myriad other factors that need to come together to allow it to prevail? How does this tie into United States Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue? In this episode of Engaging the Eagle, Dr. Steven Met...

It has been four months since United States President Donald Trump returned to the White House. There is little doubt that he is the most influential President that the world has seen in decades, but what really stands out? How have his policies affected Southeast Asia? And following up on our previous episode, what’s going on with the trade situation between the US and China? Join us as we delve...

United States President Donald Trump is a vocal proponent of tariffs. Yet his dramatic tariff announcement on April 2, along with the tumultuous cycles of raising and lifting tariffs that followed, left many observers surprised. As the situation continues to unfold, what can we make of his tariff policy? What are his goals, and where could this end up? How are Southeast Asian countries responding...

With his cabinet staffed in large part by China hawks, many observers had surmised that US President Donald Trump would pursue a confrontational policy against China. Yet, from holding back on his initial threat to impose 60% tariffs on Chinese imports to seeking a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, there are signs that he is seeking to strike a deal with Beijing. What should we make of th...

Join us for part two of this two-part episode, as we sit down with Dr Evan Laksmana, Shangri-La Dialogue Senior Fellow for Southeast Asian Security and Defence, and Editor of theAsia-Pacific Regional Security Assessment at IISS, to discuss the trajectory of US-Indonesia relations under Trump 2.0. Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto was one of the first foreign leaders to publicly congratulate Do...

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto was one of the first foreign leaders to publicly congratulate Donald Trump on his electoral victory in November 2024. There are hopes that the two leaders might build a close personal relationship – yet, there are also sources of friction and challenges. Prabowo is a leader who wishes to build the capacity of his country to exert more power on the internationa...

Donald Trump’s electoral victory in November 2024 was not only a watershed in American domestic politics, but also signalled a fundamental shift in the post-Cold War international order. Given that Trump’s administration and inner circle is populated with China hawks, there are concerns about how he will conduct his relations with Chinese leaders.  Yet, there is a structural explanation for the de...

Following Donald Trump’s victory in the November 2024 election, Philippine leaders expressed optimism about the future of the bilateral relationship. Security ties between the two allies remain strong, and there is bipartisan recognition and support for expanded strategic cooperation in the US. But there are also concerns about how Washington will cultivate the economic side of the relationship un...

Asian governments are already positioning themselves to engage with the second Trump administration, due to take office in January 2025. How will the U.S. election results influence Japan’s security calculations? Will Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba be able to bond with Trump to the same degree that the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe did? And how will this election outcome affect regional stability...

As the dust settles from the U.S. Presidential election, businesses in Southeast Asia are reckoning with the implications of a second Trump administration. How are they preparing for trade instability, especially if the new administration follows through on its threat of 20% universal tariffs? Are there ways for Southeast Asian economies to leverage these disruptions to their benefit, as they did...

With the dust settling from the 2024 election, it’s time to ask some crucial questions: How did Donald Trump win not just the Presidency, but the popular vote? What does this result and those of the state-level elections show about the Democrat Party’s strategy in this election? Where did it go wrong, and what myths were overturned in the process? Tune into this special episode to find out more.