Navigating Tumultuous Times in the Indo-Pacific

Ashley J. Tellis is a counselor at NBR. He holds the Tata Chair for Strategic Affairs and is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He has served as research director of the Strategic Asia Program at NBR and co-editor of the program’s annual volume since 2004.

Michael J. Green director of Asian studies and chair in modern and contemporary Japanese politics and foreign policy at the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and senior vice president for Asia and Japan Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Time Stamps

[3:22] Why does this year’s volume focus on the three major trends of intensifying U.S.-China strategic competition, de-globalization, and the Covid-19 pandemic, and how do they connect to the themes explored in past volumes of Strategic Asia?

[5:40] What are some of the factors that have earned the United States the title of “tempestuous hegemon,” in relation to its role in the Indo-Pacific?

[8:55] Of the three trends examined in the volume, is there one that stands out more than the others as having a major impact on the trajectory of the three Northeast Asian countries that you covered in your chapter?

[13:40] Are there any countries or regions examined in the volume that had a meaningful shift in their strategic thinking or planning due to these three trends?

[19:18] How did leaderships and governments in the region handle the legitimacy challenges of Covid-19?

[19:30] How might the effects of vaccination challenges in Northeast Asia play out for the new government in Japan and the next administration in South Korea?

[25:24] Each of the three Northeast Asian countries have responded to China’s assertive behavior and U.S.-China competition in different ways. What do you attribute some of those differences to?

[29:22] What are some of the overarching themes and trends we see from other countries examined in the volume, in response to China’s assertiveness and U.S.-China competition?

[33:40] How should the Biden administration begin to approach a more coherent strategy towards areas that the United States should compete in, versus those in which it might cooperate or at least limit its adversarial approach with respect to China?

[49:40] Do you have any concluding thoughts or any critical insights that you want listeners to take away from this newest volume?