The Trump Administration clearly understands ASEAN’s vital security role in the Pacific. However, it is still unclear if they will make economic cooperation with the region an equally important priority.
June 6, 2017
‘Now 50 years old, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is today a dynamic actor and a crucial partner in Southeast Asia, a region increasingly important to the world’s prosperity and security. Yet ASEAN member countries are concerned about U.S. commitment in Asia amid changing global geopolitics. The United States is reorienting its foreign policy by focusing more narrowly on American interests under the motto “America First”– which is characterized by transnationalism, unilateralism, and bilateralism.’