The Asia Chessboard

This week, Mike is joined by Tom Wright, director of the Center on the United States and Europe and a senior fellow in the Project on International Order and Strategy at the Brookings Institution, to discuss how domestic politics impacts U.S. grand strategy. The two go into detail about how both Democrats and Republicans currently view U.S. strategy in Asia, and where both parties converge and div...

This week, Mike is joined by his CSIS colleagues Jude Blanchette, Bonnie Glaser, and Scott Kennedy, to discuss their recently-launched project, “Mapping the Future of U.S. China Policy.” For this project, CSIS surveyed the American public and thought leaders in the United States, Asia, and Europe to map perspectives on China policy. The discussion centers around the project’s five main takeaways o...

This week, Mike is joined by Chris Capozzola, Professor of History at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, to discuss his new book on the history of U.S.-Philippines relations, Bound by War. The two discuss the importance of history for informing grand strategy, and what lessons we can learn from the 1900s, which Dr. Capozzola argues is the "original" Asian century. Dr. Capozzola starts with...

This week, Mike is joined by the Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) to discuss the role of Congress in decision-making on U.S. national security policy in the Asia-Pacific. In their discussion, they look at strategic competition with China and the importance of working jointly with allies and partners, especially through exercising together. They also h...

This week, Mike is joined by two CSIS colleagues who are leading thinkers on Southeast Asia in Washington: Murray Hiebert, Senior Associate of the Southeast Asia Program, and Greg Poling, Senior Fellow of the Southeast Asia Program and Director of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative. They focus their discussion on Murray's new book, Under Beijing's Shadow: Southeast Asia's China Challenge, w...

Russian and Chinese Interference is becoming an increasingly important part of the strategic chessboard in the Asia-Pacific. This week, Mike is joined by Amy Searight, Senior Associate for Asia at CSIS, and Heather Conley, Senior Vice President for Europe at CSIS, to discuss their new report on countering Russian and Chinese influence activities. Through looking at different case studies, Amy and...

In part two of Mike's discussion with Abe Denmark and Mira Rapp-Hooper, the three take a look at the importance of alliance coordination in the Indo-Pacific, the challenges U.S. alliances currently face, and how the U.S. alliance network factors into competition with China. What are the major issue areas that U.S. and allied officials are looking at today? What are the prospects for networking Ame...

Mike is joined by Abe Denmark, Director of the Asia Program at the Wilson Center, and Mira Rapp-Hooper, Senior Fellow for Asia Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, to discuss the past, present, and future of the U.S. alliance system in the Indo-Pacific. What are the major strategic decision points facing the U.S. and its allies in the Indo-Pacific? Is present friction within the alliance n...

Mike is joined in this episode by former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy and Force Development Elbridge Colby, with a special guest appearance by CSIS U.S. Alliances Project Director Patrick Buchan. Mike, Bridge, and Pat discuss the planning process for the National Defense Strategy and its impact on force posture in the Indo-Pacific. How are the interests of allies accounted fo...

The story of grand strategy on the Asia Chessboard is a story in part about access to energy, both for consumers and producers alike. With COVID-19 delivering a major shock to the system, how are Asian producers and consumers adapting their strategies to the new reality? Has the pandemic merely exacerbated old energy-related tensions, or should observers expect new disputes to emerge? How can cons...

In a special joint-episode, Mike is joined by Representative Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, an up-and-coming voice on Asia strategy in Congress. The two discuss the role of Congress in policymaking towards the region and the domestic politics of China policy. Who are the players on the Hill? What are the issues? How do local concerns over agricultural exports and supply chains shape debates about de...

In the twentieth episode of The Asia Chessboard, Mike is joined by Georgetown Professor Diana Kim to discuss Diana's new book, Empires of Vice, a look at how colonial administrations came to ban drugs across Asian territories. How did this process affect the development of governing norms in Asia? What impacts did these models of prohibition have on contemporary illicit markets across Asia? Are no...

With the coronavirus pandemic sweeping through the Asia Chessboard economically and geopolitically, Mike is joined by Dr. Evan Medeiros of Georgetown University to discuss what the viral crisis portends for the U.S.-China relationship, America's allies in the Indo-Pacific, and the future role of Asia. Will China emerge from the crisis in a stronger position regionally and globally? How does the co...

With climate change creating new sea routes through the Arctic circle, China is making moves to assert navigation and scientific rights in the region. Mike is joined by CSIS Senior Vice President for Europe Heather Conley to discuss China’s role in this emerging region of the Asia Chessboard. Do Russian moves in the Arctic make it more of a factor on the Asia chessboard? How do Russian and Chinese...

Lynchpin of ASEAN and sitting astride some of the globe’s most important sea lines of communications, Indonesia is a critical part of the Asia Chessboard. Mike is joined by former Indonesian ambassador to the U.S. Dr. Dino Djalal to discuss Indonesia’s strategic culture and relationship with the U.S. How is Indonesia managing U.S.-China strategic competition? How does the next generation of Indone...

As strategic competition between the U.S. and China heats up, old Cold War-era questions on the importance of values are being asked anew: to what extent does ideology, democracy in particular, factor into U.S. foreign policy in Asia? Mike is joined by Ambassador Derek Mitchell of the National Democratic Institute and Dr. Dan Twining of the International Republican Institute to dive into the past,...

Mike sits down with Keio University professor Yuichi Hosoya to discuss one of the longest-tenured players on the Asia chessboard, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Mike and Yuichi kick off the episode by discussing Yuichi’s role as both an academic and an informal adviser to the Abe government on foreign policy. The two then turn to discussing how history and foreign policy are taught in Japanes...

In the first episode of 2020, Mike is joined by Tom Karako, Senior Fellow with the CSIS International Security Program and Director of the Missile Defense Project. Mike and Tom tackle the new hard power reality facing the Asia chessboard. What will the Indo-Pacific region look like now that the U.S. is no longer bound by the INF treaty? Mike and Tom also examine the doctrinal, strategic, and polit...

Mike is joined in this episode by Patrick Buchan, director of the U.S. Alliances Project and Fellow for Indo-Pacific security at CSIS. Buchan is also a former official with the Australian Department of Defense, Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, and the U.S. Office of the Secretary of Defense. After discussing Pat’s unique background as an Australian seconded to the U.S. government, Mike an...

Amid the on-again, off-again trade deal with China and roiling protests in Hong Kong, Mike is joined by Ambassador Kurt Tong, partner at The Asia Group, former Consul General in Hong Kong and Macau, and former State Department Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic and Business Affairs. Mike and Kurt kick off the discussion with a look at Kurt's background. They also discuss how U.S. ec...

On July 16, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed an indictment charging Sue Mi Terry with violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act. The indictment alleges activities that took place, in part, during a period in which Ms. Terry was employed by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. CSIS is not a party to this litigation and takes the allegations seriously. CSIS mainta...

Mike is joined by Dr. Kath Hicks, Henry Kissinger Chair, Senior Vice President, and Director of the International Security Program at CSIS, for a discussion of how "gray zone" tactics factor into grand strategy in Asia. In unpacking the effect of gray zone tactics on strategy, Mike and Kath define the parameters of gray zone tactics and the domains in which they are most effective. With these assu...

In this episode, Mike interviews Steve Hadley, former national security advisor and a principal of RiceHadleyGates, a strategic consulting firm. Steve shares his journey from starting out as a young lawyer with an interest in history and strategy to the senior national security position in the White House. Mike and Steve then dive deep into the debate on U.S.-China competition. Is the Washington p...

In this episode, Mike sits down with Eric Sayers, adjunct senior fellow for the Asia-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a New American Security, and Zack Cooper, research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, two rising conservative Asia strategic thinkers. Building on the previous episodes on the Democrats’ Asia strategy, the three discuss the nature of the U.S. strategic competiti...

In part two of host Mike Green's conversation with Kelly Magsamen and Mira Rapp-Hooper, the three focus on the likely approaches a future Democratic administration would take on trade issues, defense policy, and democratic values. What elements of the Trump-era National Defense Strategy, if any, might a future Democratic president continue in their own Asia grand strategy? The group also discusses...