Against a backdrop of continuing maritime clashes in the South China Sea, China’s recent suspension of bilateral US strategic dialogue, and continued militarization of existing regional disputes, the role of ASEAN as a forum for promoting regional stability appears more crucial than ever. However, the countries of Southeast Asia and their two most consequential interlocutors, China and the United States, have distinct and at times mutually exclusive views of regional stability and how to attain it.   

Nevertheless, there is a limited set of conditions related to stability in Southeast Asia where the United States and China have compatible interests – or at least might agree that compromising on some interests is better than losing all.  

In her new APLN report, “The United States: An Increasingly Incidental Provider of Regional Stability in the Asia-Pacific?” Amb. Piper Campbell, Chair of the Department of Foreign Policy and Global Security in the School of International Studies at American University, examines these shifting regional dynamics and proposes new initiatives for the US and ASEAN toward building Asia-Pacific stability in this context. This discussion will be especially timely as the US and leading regional actors prepare to gather for the ASEAN Summit in early October.  

Amb. Campbell will be joined by Elina Noor, Senior Fellow in the Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and Prashanth Parameswaran, Founder of the ASEAN Wonk Newsletter and Fellow at the Wilson Center. The discussion will be moderated by Frank O’Donnell, Senior Research Adviser at APLN. 

Confirmed participants

Amb. Piper Campbell
Chair of the Department of Foreign Policy and Global Security, School of International Studies, American University 

Elina Noor
Senior Fellow, Asia Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Prashanth Parameswaran
Founder, ASEAN Wonk Newsletter and Fellow, Wilson Center

Frank O’Donnell, moderator
Senior Research Adviser, Asia-Pacific Leadership Network

Register here.