Dialogue Abstract

The foreign policy of any great power is a projection of its domestic political culture, its perception of a wider interest, and its concept of place and purpose in the world. In the case of the United States, the premier great power of the post-World War II era, all three of these elements are now in flux. America is presently wrestling with a constitutional crisis, lacks a consensus as to its core international interests, and it is consequently struggling to define a strategic direction. Yet the institutional structure of the international order remains to a significant degree a legacy of American energy and ideas. A seismic shift in American behaviour must therefore bear implications for the whole world. Given these developments, this Dialogue will focus on the impact of US domestic upheaval on American foreign policy, international order, regional security and the interests of Southeast Asia and Singapore.

About the Speakers

Michael E. Brown is a Professor of International Affairs at the George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs. He was Dean of the Elliott School from 2005 until 2015. He previously held senior positions at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, and the International Institute for Strategic Studies. He is a member of the RSIS Board of Governors, and he was an RSIS Distinguished Visitor in April 2016. He has been the Editor of Survival and Co-Editor of International Security, two of the leading journals in the security studies field. Dr Brown is the author of Flying Blind: The Politics of the U.S. Strategic Bomber Program, which won the Edgar Furniss National Security Book Award. He is the editor or co-editor of 22 books, including: Grave New World: Security Challenges in the 21st Century. He received his PhD from Cornell.

Bates Gill is Professor of Asia-Pacific Security Studies at Macquarie University in Sydney. He is also a member of the Board of Governors of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) and an Associate Fellow with the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House, London). Dr Gill has a 30-year international career as a scholar, policy advisor, and institution-builder, having held leadership positions at the Brookings Institution, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, and the University of Sydney. He is an author or editor of eight books and 200 other publications, mostly focusing on international security affairs with a particular emphasis on China, US-China relations, and regional order in East Asia. He received his PhD from the Woodrow Wilson Department of Government and Foreign Affairs at the University of Virginia.