Perhaps more than any other area in the Asia-Pacific, Southeast Asia is a region of rapid change and dramatic contrasts. Often overshadowed by discussions of the strategic importance of Northeast Asia, the rapid changes occurring in Southeast Asia will nonetheless play an increasingly important role in the security of the region. Southeast Asia is the third-largest export market for the U.S., it is home to one of Asia’s most successful regional organizations – ASEAN, and it contains some of the world’s most important sea lines of communication. However, the region is also challenged by stark inequality both within nations and between nations; significant ethnic and religious upheavals in countries such as Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines; and an unpopular military junta in Burma. Moreover, the difficulties of transnational security challenges such as global climate change, narcotics and human trafficking are particularly apparent in this region and catalysts for large-scale conflict.
In spite of the vital importance of this region, nowhere in Asia is the absence of strong U.S. leadership more noticeable than in Southeast Asia. The overwhelmingly positive response to the U.S. assistance and reconstruction efforts provided in the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami provide evidence that there is still a strong desire for U.S. partnerships and leadership in the region as well as an opportunity to broaden America’s engagement with Southeast Asian nations. The Asia Initiative ’09 project is working to expand the U.S. engagement in Southeast Asia by convening dialogues with key stakeholders in the region. In 2007, CNAS led a high-level delegation of American strategists and former policymakers to Singapore for a high-level, two-day strategic dialogue with representatives from all of the ASEAN nations. Following on the success of this inaugural event, in October 2008 CNAS co-hosted a two-day seminar with the Republic of Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Washington, D.C. Both of these meetings have helped facilitate greater interaction between key interlocutors in Washington and Southeast Asia and have proven instrumental in enhancing America’s strategic engagement in the region.