On 3 December 2020, the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) from Indonesia, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) from Japan, and RSIS held a joint webinar on the topic “The US Presidential Election and the Implication for the Situation in East Asia”.
This webinar follows from an earlier series of three joint webinars focused on international developments during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The topics from the first series were: “Post-Pandemic Indo-Pacific: Prospect for Regional Cooperation”, “COVID-19 in Asia: Navigating Geopolitical Risks amid Unprecedented Disruptions”, and “Strengthening Resilience of Supply Chains in the Indo-Pacific Region: Towards Economic Growth in the Post-Pandemic Era”.
Speaking at the latest joint webinar were Mr Jusuf Wanandi, Vice Chairman, Board of Trustees, CSIS Foundation; Prof Akihiko Tanaka, President, GRIPS; Amb Ong Keng Yong, Executive Deputy Chairman, RSIS; and Prof Dewi Fortuna Anwar, Research Professor, Indonesian Institute of Sciences. The webinar was moderated by Dr Philips Vermonte, Executive Director, CSIS.
The speakers were unanimous in saying that the change of US President from Donald Trump to Joe Biden would lead to several significant shifts in US domestic and foreign policies. For example, the Biden administration is likely to be a stronger supporter of multilateral engagement, and is expected to re-enter into several international agreements which President Trump had withdrawn the US from. The level of bilateral and multilateral engagement in Southeast Asia and ASEAN is also likely to increase under the Biden administration compared to Trump’s foreign policy towards this region.