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2023 Pacific Security Forum
NBR hosted its inaugural Pacific Security Forum on October 31, 2023, in Seattle, Washington. This new initiative brought together top experts from government, academia, and the private sector to address issues of strategic and security importance to U.S. interests in Asia. Leveraging NBR’s Seattle home and unique ability to connect policy to practice, the Pacific Security Forum featured discussions with senior scholars from NBR’s network and remarks from current and former U.S. government officials, members of Congress, and political and security leaders from allied and partner governments. The Pacific Security Forum seeks to advance the interests of the United States and its allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific and demonstrate the importance of the Pacific Northwest in accomplishing U.S. national security interests.
Agenda
Photos
Keynote Addresses
Keynote address delivered by Congressman Adam Smith, Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Committee, U.S. House of Representatives
Keynote address delivered by Lieutenant General Xavier T. Brunson, Commanding General, I Corps and Joint Base Lewis-McChord
Sessions
Session I: Evolving Security Challenges in the Indo-Pacific
Session II: Navigating Shifts in the Indo-Pacific Geoeconomic Order
Session III: Regional Perceptions of Escalating U.S.-China Competition
Session IV: Multilateralism and the Indo-Pacific Security Environment
Remarks
Remarks by Roy Kamphausen, President, The National Bureau of Asian Research, and Jonathan Roberts, Founder and Partner, Ignition Partners, and Member of the Board of Directors, The National Bureau of Asian Research
As the world’s geopolitical center shifts toward the Indo-Pacific, the United States faces several opportunities—and challenges—that require nuanced understanding and whole-of-society involvement. Evolving and intensifying competition with China will influence every sector and community—ranging from industry to nonprofits to academia to government. The Pacific Northwest is the country’s gateway to the Indo-Pacific and is home to several key industries, military bases, and Indo-Pacific leaders, making it a critical nexus in achieving security objectives related to U.S. interests in Asia.
Forum Session Overview
Session I: Evolving Security Challenges in the Indo-Pacific
The Indo-Pacific security environment has evolved significantly in the last two decades, posing major security challenges to the United States and its allies and partners. The strengthening of the “no limits” partnership between Russia and China, coupled with North Korea’s continued enhancement of its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, underscores the increasingly sophisticated and multidimensional range of issues facing the region. This session examined the challenges and threats to regional stability and consider various policy options to advance U.S. and allied interests.
Session II: Navigating Shifts in the Indo-Pacific Geoeconomic Order
Given the deep degree of economic interdependence that the United States and its allies and partners share with China, how desirable and realistic is “decoupling” or “de-risking” from the Chinese economy? This session examined regional decision-making about decoupling and de-risking from China and assess potential consequences for the Indo-Pacific’s geoeconomic environment and balance of power.
Session III: Regional Perceptions of Escalating U.S.-China Competition
As strategic competition between the United States and China continues to intensify, governments in the Indo-Pacific are adopting a range of strategies to advance their national interests while imploring both Washington and Beijing to ensure that competition does not veer into conflict. This session brought together representatives from Indo-Pacific governments to articulate how their countries are navigating this strategic competition and how they can contribute to the preservation of a free and open regional order.
Session IV: Multilateralism and the Indo-Pacific Security Environment
The growth of multilateral and minilateral security groupings in the Indo-Pacific—including the AUKUS trilateral security partnership between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States; the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue consisting of Australia, Japan, India, and the United States; and trilateral cooperation between the United States, the Republic of Korea, and Japan—has offered an opportunity to enhance alliance interoperability and networking while advancing mutual interests and addressing common challenges. This session explored the potential of these groupings in the Indo-Pacific, the obstacles they face, and how successful management of these groupings will shape the future of the security environment.
The Pacific Security Forum was made possible by the generous support of the Long and Kimmy Nguyen Family Foundation.
