Discussion A: Security, Defense and Democracy
According to its latest 5-year plan, Beijing plans to sustain pressure on the South China and East China Seas and use its economic leverage to secure alliances in the region. This strategy is based on the belief that the US’ influence is dwindling. But with Biden in power, how will the US’ military and defense priorities change in the Indo-Pacific region? Couple this with political uncertainty and rising illiberalism, how will strategic and defense objectives interplay with a US return to promoting democracy in the region? Join Bates Gill, Professor of Asia-Pacific Security Studies and Macquarie University and Scholar-in-Residence at Asia Society Australia, C. Raja Mohan, Director of the Institute of South Asian Studies, Yuka Koshino, Research Fellow for Japanese Security and Defence Policy at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in London, Lynn Kuok, Shangri-La Dialogue Senior Fellow for Asia Pacific Security