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 of the overall state of the US-South Korea relationship? What should we make of the investment deal that was agreed between the two leaders during the White House meeting? What repercussions will the factory raid have for the economic relationship between Seoul and Washington?
Join us for a discussion with Dr. Su-Hyun Lee, Senior Associate Fellow at the Centre for Multilateralism Studies and Coordinator of the MSc in International Political Economy Programme at RSIS, as we discuss US-South Korea ties.
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 this region in the near future?
Join us for a discussion with Professor Hal Brands, the Henry A. Kissinger Distinguished Professor of Global Affairs at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and a Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. At the time of the recording of this episode in August 2025, he was the S. Rajaratnam Professor of Strategic Studies at RSIS.
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 a discussion with Dr Makio Miyagawa, Adjunct Senior Fellow at RSIS. Dr Miyagawa has held successive positions at the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including Legal Desk Chief, Deputy Director of the US-Japan Trade Division and of the Russian Division, and Director within the Economic Affairs Bureau and Asia Oceania Bureau.
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, and what could Washington do to reverse this drift?
Join us for a discussion with Professor Joseph Liow, Tan Kah Kee chair of Comparative and International Politics and Dean of the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
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 Metz provides insights into the implications of the Ukraine war on US military strategy, the challenges facing the US defense industrial base, and the evolving nature of military recruitment and ethos. The conversation also touches on the federalization of the National Guard in response to domestic issues and the impact of social media on presidential communication and public perception.
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 into these topics.
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 to his tariffs?
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 this, and what are the prospects for US-China ties in the immediate future? Join us as we sit down with Jude Blanchette, Distinguished Tang Chair in China Research and Director of the RAND China Research Center, to discuss US-China ties.
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 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 international stage, but this would necessarily involve deeper engagement with China. Developments such as Indonesia’s admission to BRICS may sour Trump’s view of the country, while Indonesia’s lack of a presence in Washington may make it difficult for the two governments to reinforce their ties. Washington’s de-emphasis on the impacts of climate change might also be a disappointment for Indonesian leaders.
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 international stage, but this would necessarily involve deeper engagement with China. Developments such as Indonesia’s admission to BRICS may sour Trump’s view of the country, while Indonesia’s lack of a presence in Washington may make it difficult for the two governments to reinforce their ties. Washington’s de-emphasis on the impacts of climate change might also be a disappointment for Indonesian leaders.
Join us for part one of this two-part episode, as we sit down with Dr Yohanes Sulaiman, Associate Professor in International Relations at Universitas Jenderal Achmad Yani, Indonesia, to discuss the trajectory of US-Indonesia relations under Trump 2.0.
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 deterioration of US-China relations in recent years as well, with a distinct possibility that these conditions could lead the US and China towards confrontation and conflict.
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 under Trump’s transactional approach to foreign policy. Above all, it will be important to observe how the Philippines retains its strategic autonomy amid pressure from Washington. Join us as we sit down with Justin Baquisal, a Resident National Security Analyst at FACTS Asia and 2024 Shangri-La Dialogue Young Leaders’ Visiting Fellow at IISS, to discuss these issues.
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 a whole? Join us as we discuss these issues with Ambassador Makio Miyagawa, Special Advisor on National Security at the National Security Secretariat, Cabinet Bureau of Japan.
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 during the 2018-2019 trade war? What does Trump 2.0 mean for America’s foreign policy and role in the global trading system? Join us as we discuss these important issues with Steve Okun, Founder and CEO of APAC Advisors.
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.
The U.S. has been a strategic actor in the Indo-Pacific for decades, but it is facing an increasingly fragmented and multipolar world. Even as Washington engages its partners and allies in the region, fixed alliances in the vein of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) are too rigid and disruptive for regional actors to accept. Rather, smaller, more nimble coalitions on specific issues have been gaining popularity.
Join us as we sit down with Dr. Zack Cooper, Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, to discuss the future of American strategy in the Indo-Pacific, how the election might impact these efforts, and what Southeast Asian governments should look out for in the years ahead.
What is the state of the presidential campaign as the race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former-President Donald Trump enters the final stretch? How are the candidates faring in critical battleground states? Are the polls accurate in this election cycle? What campaign strategies are Harris and Trump pursuing and what difference, if any, will they make on Election Day? What are the domestic and foreign policy implications of the election?
Join us as we discuss these questions with Professor Daron Shaw of The University of Texas at Austin, one of the leading scholars on US campaigns and elections, political parties, public opinion and voting behaviour.
The results of the U.S. election will have important implications for most countries, including China. There may be a broad consensus on the need to compete with China among both the Democrat and Republican parties, but a Harris presidency would offer a relatively familiar set of challenges as compared to a second Trump administration.
From the threat of 60% tariffs on Chinese imports to potential expansions to new tech restrictions, a “Trump shock” would have important implications for the U.S.-China relationship. How are Chinese leaders preparing for the outcome of the election?
As U.S.-China competition heats up, one area of concern for security scholars is that of a potential conflict over Taiwan. Some U.S. scholars and analysts suggest that the U.S. should abandon its long-standing approach of strategic ambiguity in favour of strategic clarity. Meanwhile, Chinese officials and scholars have expressed increasing concerns about changes in the U.S. One China Policy that have already occurred. What do these trends mean, and what can we expect from Washington and Beijing?
To the layperson, especially one on the other side of the world, US election procedures seem confusing and needlessly complicated. How many races are being held in November? How does the electoral college work? We’ve heard all these questions and more from our colleagues and friends over the past few weeks, so we thought it’d be helpful to answer them in a special episode.
