In part two of Mike's discussion with Abe Denmark and Mira Rapp-Hooper, the three take a look at the importance of alliance coordination in the Indo-Pacific, the challenges U.S. alliances currently face, and how the U.S. alliance network factors into competition with China. What are the major issue areas that U.S. and allied officials are looking at today? What are the prospects for networking America's Pacific and Atlantic alliances?
Jul 13, 2020•26 min
Mike is joined by Abe Denmark, Director of the Asia Program at the Wilson Center, and Mira Rapp-Hooper, Senior Fellow for Asia Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, to discuss the past, present, and future of the U.S. alliance system in the Indo-Pacific. What are the major strategic decision points facing the U.S. and its allies in the Indo-Pacific? Is present friction within the alliance network emblematic of the current administration or broader, more systemic issues? Mike, Mira, and Ab...
Jun 29, 2020•24 min
Mike is joined in this episode by former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy and Force Development Elbridge Colby, with a special guest appearance by CSIS U.S. Alliances Project Director Patrick Buchan. Mike, Bridge, and Pat discuss the planning process for the National Defense Strategy and its impact on force posture in the Indo-Pacific. How are the interests of allies accounted for in the drafting of major planning documents like the NDS? How does the NDS envision the U.S. takin...
Jun 15, 2020•44 min
The story of grand strategy on the Asia Chessboard is a story in part about access to energy, both for consumers and producers alike. With COVID-19 delivering a major shock to the system, how are Asian producers and consumers adapting their strategies to the new reality? Has the pandemic merely exacerbated old energy-related tensions, or should observers expect new disputes to emerge? How can consumers create a sustainable post-pandemic energy mix, and how can producers generate greater access?...
Jun 01, 2020•38 min
In a special joint-episode, Mike is joined by Representative Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, an up-and-coming voice on Asia strategy in Congress. The two discuss the role of Congress in policymaking towards the region and the domestic politics of China policy. Who are the players on the Hill? What are the issues? How do local concerns over agricultural exports and supply chains shape debates about decoupling? How do members of Congress interact with America's Indo-Pacific allies? Be sure to check o...
May 18, 2020•36 min
In the twentieth episode of The Asia Chessboard, Mike is joined by Georgetown Professor Diana Kim to discuss Diana's new book, Empires of Vice , a look at how colonial administrations came to ban drugs across Asian territories. How did this process affect the development of governing norms in Asia? What impacts did these models of prohibition have on contemporary illicit markets across Asia? Are norms generated on the local level or with central governments?
Apr 06, 2020•27 min
With the coronavirus pandemic sweeping through the Asia Chessboard economically and geopolitically, Mike is joined by Dr. Evan Medeiros of Georgetown University to discuss what the viral crisis portends for the U.S.-China relationship, America's allies in the Indo-Pacific, and the future role of Asia. Will China emerge from the crisis in a stronger position regionally and globally? How does the coronavirus impact arguments for so-called "decoupling?" What has the crisis revealed about different ...
Mar 26, 2020•34 min
With climate change creating new sea routes through the Arctic circle, China is making moves to assert navigation and scientific rights in the region. Mike is joined by CSIS Senior Vice President for Europe Heather Conley to discuss China’s role in this emerging region of the Asia Chessboard. Do Russian moves in the Arctic make it more of a factor on the Asia chessboard? How do Russian and Chinese interests in the Arctic converge and diverge? What is the present level of risk for the U.S. in the...
Mar 09, 2020•28 min
Lynchpin of ASEAN and sitting astride some of the globe’s most important sea lines of communications, Indonesia is a critical part of the Asia Chessboard. Mike is joined by former Indonesian ambassador to the U.S. Dr. Dino Djalal to discuss Indonesia’s strategic culture and relationship with the U.S. How is Indonesia managing U.S.-China strategic competition? How does the next generation of Indonesian strategic thinkers view Indonesia’s place in the region and its relationships with Indo-Pacific...
Feb 24, 2020•25 min
As strategic competition between the U.S. and China heats up, old Cold War-era questions on the importance of values are being asked anew: to what extent does ideology, democracy in particular, factor into U.S. foreign policy in Asia? Mike is joined by Ambassador Derek Mitchell of the National Democratic Institute and Dr. Dan Twining of the International Republican Institute to dive into the past, present, and future roles of democracy support in U.S. Asia policy. The three begin by discussing t...
Feb 11, 2020•33 min
Mike sits down with Keio University professor Yuichi Hosoya to discuss one of the longest-tenured players on the Asia chessboard, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Mike and Yuichi kick off the episode by discussing Yuichi’s role as both an academic and an informal adviser to the Abe government on foreign policy. The two then turn to discussing how history and foreign policy are taught in Japanese universities. The conversation then moves towards analyzing the cornerstone of Abe’s contribution ...
Jan 27, 2020•32 min
In the first episode of 2020, Mike is joined by Tom Karako, Senior Fellow with the CSIS International Security Program and Director of the Missile Defense Project. Mike and Tom tackle the new hard power reality facing the Asia chessboard. What will the Indo-Pacific region look like now that the U.S. is no longer bound by the INF treaty? Mike and Tom also examine the doctrinal, strategic, and political realities of deploying intermediate-range missiles. They conclude by examining how possible U.S...
Jan 13, 2020•28 min
Mike is joined in this episode by Patrick Buchan, director of the U.S. Alliances Project and Fellow for Indo-Pacific security at CSIS. Buchan is also a former official with the Australian Department of Defense, Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, and the U.S. Office of the Secretary of Defense. After discussing Pat’s unique background as an Australian seconded to the U.S. government, Mike and Pat move towards discussing one of America’s Indo-Pacific allies, Australia. What are the origins ...
Dec 20, 2019•30 min
Amid the on-again, off-again trade deal with China and roiling protests in Hong Kong, Mike is joined by Ambassador Kurt Tong, partner at The Asia Group, former Consul General in Hong Kong and Macau, and former State Department Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic and Business Affairs. Mike and Kurt kick off the discussion with a look at Kurt's background. They also discuss how U.S. economic policy fits into a larger grand strategy picture in Asia. The conversation ends with a reflec...
Dec 02, 2019•28 min
On July 16, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed an indictment charging Sue Mi Terry with violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act. The indictment alleges activities that took place, in part, during a period in which Ms. Terry was employed by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. CSIS is not a party to this litigation and takes the allegations seriously. CSIS maintains strict policies to ensure full compliance with the Foreign Agents Registration Act and the intel...
Nov 18, 2019•2 sec
Mike is joined by Dr. Kath Hicks, Henry Kissinger Chair, Senior Vice President, and Director of the International Security Program at CSIS, for a discussion of how "gray zone" tactics factor into grand strategy in Asia. In unpacking the effect of gray zone tactics on strategy, Mike and Kath define the parameters of gray zone tactics and the domains in which they are most effective. With these assumptions in mind, what will the knock-on effects of gray zone tactics be on theories of coercion, vic...
Nov 04, 2019•31 min
In this episode, Mike interviews Steve Hadley, former national security advisor and a principal of RiceHadleyGates, a strategic consulting firm. Steve shares his journey from starting out as a young lawyer with an interest in history and strategy to the senior national security position in the White House. Mike and Steve then dive deep into the debate on U.S.-China competition. Is the Washington panic on China out of step with how the rest of the country views China? How can we best encapsulate ...
Oct 21, 2019•28 min
In this episode, Mike sits down with Eric Sayers, adjunct senior fellow for the Asia-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a New American Security, and Zack Cooper, research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, two rising conservative Asia strategic thinkers. Building on the previous episodes on the Democrats’ Asia strategy, the three discuss the nature of the U.S. strategic competition with China, growing isolationism among some Republican thinkers, and the roles of government, val...
Oct 07, 2019•32 min
In part two of host Mike Green's conversation with Kelly Magsamen and Mira Rapp-Hooper, the three focus on the likely approaches a future Democratic administration would take on trade issues, defense policy, and democratic values. What elements of the Trump-era National Defense Strategy, if any, might a future Democratic president continue in their own Asia grand strategy? The group also discusses polling from the Center for American Progress, and how young progressive grand strategists can find...
Sep 23, 2019•25 min
In part one of a two-part discussion, Mike is joined by Kelly Magsamen, vice president for national security and international policy at the Center for American Progress and a former pentagon and NSC official; and Mira Rapp-Hooper, senior fellow for Asia studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and Yale Law School China center. With the Democratic presidential primary in full swing, the three discuss the history of Democratic grand strategy in Asia, noting the prevalence of both realist and i...
Sep 09, 2019•24 min
In part two of Mike and Andrew's discussion with Kurt Campbell, the group turns to the domestic implications of the Trump administration's grand strategy in Asia. How does the Trump administration's aggressive trade policy affect American farmers crucial to Trump's voter base, and how do Trump administration trade policies fit into the larger discourses on free trade? Mike and Kurt also discuss the Trump administration's departure from long held norms in Asia grand strategy. Is the focus on brow...
Aug 12, 2019•26 min
In this episode, Mike and Andrew sit down with Dr. Kurt Campbell, president and CEO of The Asia Group, co-founder of the Center for a New American Security, and former assistant Secretary of state for East Asia and Pacific Affairs. In part one of a two-part discussion, Mike, Kurt, and Andrew give an inside look at the establishment of the Nye Initiative, the post-Cold War drive to restructure the U.S.-Japan alliance for the present era. They also grade the Trump and Obama administrations' record...
Jul 29, 2019•27 min
In this episode, Mike sits down with Will Inboden, associate professor of public policy and director of the Clements Center at the University of Texas at Austin. Will is also a former senior NSC official for strategic planning. Mike and Will unpack popular misconceptions about the application of history to grand strategy and discuss the critical place of values in American foreign policy. They also preview Will’s forthcoming book on the Reagan administration. Download the full transcript here.
Jul 15, 2019•39 min
In this episode, Mike and Andrew interview a true grandmaster of the Asia chessboard: Ambassador Richard Armitage. Ambassador Armitage has seen it all, from riverine patrols with the “brown-water navy” in Vietnam to hard-fought bureaucratic battles as Deputy Secretary of State. Andrew and Mike discuss Ambassador Armitage’s background in Asia. They grade the Trump administration’s ‘Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy.” Plus, they forecast possible black swans shadowing the Asia chessboard. (And A...
Jul 01, 2019•32 min
Andrew Schwartz interviews the host, Dr. Mike Green, senior vice president for Asia at CSIS, director of Asian Studies at Georgetown University, and former senior director for Asia on George W. Bush’s national security council. Andrew explores Dr. Green’s career, examining how Dr. Green originally became interested in the study of grand strategy and how he landed on Asia as his focus. Dr. Green and Andrew further consider the questions that will frame The Asia Chessboard going forward: is grand ...
Jun 17, 2019•34 min
