An honor to return for my third Indo-Pacific Chiefs of Defense Conference and chair the closed-door US-ASEAN multilateral. Notable this year was the first in-person meeting between the Commander of US Pacific Command and China's Eastern Theater Commander, responsible for operations around Taiwan.

Rise and shine! ☀️ Pleasure to join @cnbc.com's Squawk Box Asia to discuss developments in the South China Sea and the strategic importance of Asia’s waterways, drawing on my recent work @foreignaffairs.com, "Beijing’s Next Play for the South China Sea." CNBC excerpt: bit.ly/4pXzXKs @brookings.edu

Beijing is normalizing its control over the South China Sea with incremental acts: Brookings Institution

Lynn Kuok, Lee Kuan Yew Chair in Southeast Asian Studies at Brookings Institutions, discusses how China's strategy in the South China Sea is shifting, and highlights the potential military and strateg...

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A decade after the 2016 arbitration award, China is renewing focus on disputed SouthChinaSea land features, including unoccupied ones, undermining 2002 commitments. Such moves collectively alter the regional order. My latest @foreignaffairs.com 🔗 www.foreignaffairs.com/guest-pass/r... @brookings.edu

Beijing’s Next Play for the South China Sea

How China is normalizing its control.

foreignaffairs.com

From martial law to democratic renewal in South Korea www.brookings.edu/articles/sou...

From martial law to democratic renewal in South Korea | Brookings

An analysis of South Korea's democratic resilience following the December 2024 martial law crisis and its path toward democratic renewal.

brookings.edu

In Brookings' How the Iran War May Change the World series, I examine implications for SE Asia. The war is eroding int'l law, increasing risks to Asia's strategic waterways, & deepening doubts about US leadership & reliability - devts that may ultimately work to China's advantage bit.ly/4uVL9YJ

The fallout in Southeast Asia | Brookings

The Iran war will not transform Southeast Asia overnight. But over time, countries in the region may begin to question what the U.S. brings.

brookings.edu

Can the UN Sec-Gen still act as a firebreak against conflict? Pleased to join the ‘World’s Toughest Job’, with @thantmyintu.bsky.social @nktpnd.bsky.social & Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein @ipinst.bsky.social to discuss. 🎙️ (discussion starts at 12:00): foreignpolicy.com/podcasts/wor... @foreignpolicy.com

A pleasure to host Philippines Ambassador Romualdez @brookings.edu for a private roundtable on the US-Philippines alliance, relations with China, the South China Sea, and Philippine foreign and security policy amid geopolitical change. Many thanks to the Ambassador and all who participated.

The article is out! "New Terms of U.S.–Japan Economic Security Cooperation: A Trump Reset?"

The Hormuz crisis shows how chokepoints are becoming easier to weaponize & the consequences more extensive. It also suggests major powers are more willing to impose economic costs & disregard transit rules. My latest for @foreignaffairs.com on the implications for Asia’s waterways bit.ly/4v2kpGD

Hormuz Is a Warning for the Indo-Pacific

What Hormuz unleashed.

foreignaffairs.com

New frontiers in the trade-economic security nexus in Asia www.brookings.edu/events/new-f...

New frontiers in the trade-economic security nexus in Asia | Brookings

On June 9, Brookings will host a webinar on economic security goals in U.S. trade policy and the impact that has had on Asian counterparts.

brookings.edu

What was striking about the Xi-Trump summit was Xi's vision of “strategic stability” in US-China relations, with cooperation as the "mainstay" & competition kept within "proper limits." The challenge is that competition is extending across more issues. Great to speak w @channelnewsasia.bsky.social

Transatlantic strains affect coordination on China and, potentially, Europe's approach toward Beijing. As the US seeks better ties w China through this week's Trump-Xi summit, a key question is whether Europe reassesses its own relations w Beijing. Great speaking w @munsecconf.bsky.social in April.

I spoke with @asia.nikkei.com about the Xi-Trump summit. While developments around Iran strain the current US-China trade truce, both Washington and Beijing have clear interests in preserving stability - even as long-term strategic competition continues. asia.nikkei.com/spotlight/po...

Set to host Trump, Xi targets stability under cloud of Iran uncertainty

China expected to use leverage to preserve trade truce, shape US policy on Taiwan

asia.nikkei.com

A prolonged Iran war could divert US assets and attention from the Indo-Pacific, affect China’s strategic calculus on Taiwan and the South China Sea, and strengthen the case for greater defence capacity among US allies including Japan. My interview @asia.nikkei.com: asia.nikkei.com/editor-s-pic...

Iran war 'distracts' US, creates possible opening for China: analysts

AEI's Cooper and Brookings' Kuok discuss implications for Washington in Asia

asia.nikkei.com

Truly grateful to Manish Jung Pulami for this most incisive review of Japan’s Quiet Leadership: Reshaping the Indo-Pacific: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Japan’s Quiet Leadership: Reshaping the Indo-Pacific

Published in Japan Forum (Ahead of Print, 2026)

tandfonline.com

Few will mourn the decapitation of the Iranian regime. But hard cases make bad law. The strikes on Iran risk weakening UN Charter constraints on the use of force and carry real spillover risks for Southeast Asia. Read my piece and colleagues' perspectives here: 🔗 bit.ly/4r8KcdV @brookings.edu

After the strike: The danger of war in Iran | Brookings

Brookings experts break down what the war in Iran means and what's at stake internationally and domestically.

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Chaired session w 🇯🇵 DefMin Koizumi @munsecconf.bsky.social. He stressed Euro-Atlantic-Indo-Pac links. The 10k N Korean troops sent to support Russia could haunt Asian security on return w combat experience. Intl law flouted in any theatre - & by any power - is undermined everywhere. 📺 bit.ly/4rESQSl

As China cranks up export controls against Japan -now targeting 40 Japanese companies- more important to understand Japan's strategies to reduce dependence on critical minerals: www.brookings.edu/articles/wha...

What lessons can be learned from Japan’s critical minerals strategy? | Brookings

Mireya Solís sits down with Eiki Tagami of the Institute of Geoeconomics to examine Japan’s critical minerals strategy in this Q&A.

brookings.edu

Super timely and relevent piece posted on @foreignaffairs.com today by @lynnkuok.bsky.social. Much hinges on improving and exercising international institutions and the effective leadership of major powers. One hopes the U.S. some day finds it within itself to be a responsible global citizen again.

The New Arteries of Power

Subsea Cables Are This Century’s Hidden Battleground

foreignaffairs.com

From the Baltic and North Seas to the South China Sea and waters around Taiwan, threats to subsea cables - data or electricity - are mounting. My Foreign Affairs piece examines what’s needed to secure subsea infrastructure - lifelines shaping the balance of power above. bit.ly/4spiRWx @brookings.edu

The New Arteries of Power

Subsea Cables Are This Century’s Hidden Battleground

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What to make of Trump's 2025 National Security Strategy? My colleagues and I weigh in: www.brookings.edu/articles/bre... @brookings.edu #NSS2025

Breaking down Trump’s 2025 National Security Strategy | Brookings

Brookings experts break down what to take away from the Trump administration's 2025 National Security Strategy.

brookings.edu

The world is less bound by law, less anchored in US-led alliances, & more unpredictable as the power balance shifts. I joined the World Economic Forum's #RadioDavos to discuss Trump 2.0, US-China, UN reform & what gives me hope. Tks @robinpomeroy.bsky.social @aloraibi.bsky.social 📺: bit.ly/3JPcmLk

Superpower rivalry and geopolitics in Trump 2.0

How does the superpower rivalry between the US and China dictate international relations more broadly? And what does it mean for the future of trade, security and development? Lee Kuan Yew, Chair in ...

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So pleased to join @channelnewsasia.bsky.social to discuss the upcoming #ASEAN summit. Watch the wide-ranging interview here 👉 : channelnewsasia.com/watch/asean-... #ASEAN #APEC2025 #USChinaRelations @brookings.edu

ASEAN summit to prioritise economic stability, trade ties amid global headwinds: Analyst

Lynn Kuok, Lee Kuan Yew Chair at the Brookings Institution, says ASEAN leaders will focus on stabilising economic relations, diversifying trade partnerships and deepening intra-regional cooperation du...

channelnewsasia.com

Chaired a NATO Public Forum session in The Hague with 🇦🇺 Deputy PM & Defence Minister Richard Marles on "Partnering in the Indo-Pacific." NATO's ties to the region are more urgent - and more fragile - than ever. In @foreignpolicy.com, I explain why: bit.ly/4fa8Bez 📸 Last pic: hardworking summit dog ❤️

On 10 June, I testified before the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on East Asia and the Pacific at a hearing titled ‘Building Bridges, Countering Rivals: Strengthening U.S.–ASEAN Ties to Combat Chinese Influence’. @houseforeign.bsky.social

China's salami-slicing in the #SouthChinaSea continues - this time w/ its first on-the ground, formal claim over a previously unoccupied land feature in over a decade. My @foreignpolicy.com piece on Sandy Cay as flashpoint + test of US credibility. TY @ravireports.bsky.social 👉http://bit.ly/3Hg5vsS

Beijing’s Play for Sandy Cay

China’s salami-slicing in the South China Sea is eroding U.S. credibility.

foreignpolicy.com

Wonderful to join the three-day Munich Leaders Meeting and to celebrate the opening of the @munsecconf.bsky.social's DC office - on a very rainy evening! Congratulations to Ambassador Wolfgang Ischinger and @benediktfranke.bsky.social!

🇲🇾 Trade Minister Tengku Zafrul was recently in DC for 48 hrs, meeting w USTR & senior State officials - just after Xi's #SEAsia tour & #UStariffs. Delighted to host him for a private roundtable & that he made time to browse @brookings.edu books by RyanHass & @mireyasolis.bsky.social #Malaysia #MITI

Joined @bloombergtv.bsky.social to discuss Xi’s SoutheastAsia tour. Xi’s visit was a success: 113 agreements signed. Many not binding, but a clear show of presence as US engagement fades. ASEAN will hedge, but deeper China ties cld lead to strategic alignment by choice or necessity 📺 bit.ly/3YFgy4n

U.S. foreign policy is becoming more coercive. In my latest @foreignaffairs.com piece, I argue that pressuring Asia to align could backfire. It may also unfold alongside abandonment, leaving allies & partners simultaneously exposed to pressure and disregard 🔗 www.foreignaffairs.com/guest-pass/r...

How Trump’s Coercion Could Backfire in Asia

Forcing the region to choose sides risks pushing it toward China.

foreignaffairs.com