NEWS & EVENTS

On February 25, 2021, Dr. David Shambaugh presented his latest book, Where Great Powers Meet: America and China in Southeast Asia, at the Reischauer Center, with additional comments from Amb. David Shear.

Dr. Shambaugh outlined the themes of his book, including the US and China’s past and current engagements in Southeast Asia, and the region’s interactions with the two powers. Dr. Shambaugh then discussed specific findings in the book, the central being that it is crucial to understand Southeast Asia on its own merit; the cold-war analogy is still not applicable in the region because the US and China currently have a “soft rivalry,” i.e. no tit-for-tat actions, in Southeast Asia; other middle powers like Japan and the EU also have important roles to play in Southeast Asia, while most of them are current/former allies of the US; and China is an “overestimated” power and the US is an “underappreciated” power in Southeast Asia so far. Later on, in Amb. Shear’s comments, he praised the book’s value for understanding the region and the US’s influence in Southeast Asia. Finally, during the Q&A, Dr. Shambaugh also emphasized the importance of the region to the US and the need to engage with Southeast Asia by tailoring policies to each country and repairing existing deficits.