The Indo-Pacific is becoming more contested with troubling implications for countries like Australia. Against a backdrop of rising Chinese assertiveness, deepening uncertainty about the future direction of US strategy, and intensifying rivalry between both great powers, regional nations are struggling to adjust their foreign policy settings for a more turbulent era.

What is the likely trajectory of US and Chinese foreign policy in the Indo-Pacific? How are domestic debates about America’s role in the world affecting US strategy in the lead up to the 2020 election? How are other Indo-Pacific nations reacting to their shifting strategic environment? And what does all of this mean for Australia’s own strategic future?

To explore these issues, USSC hosted a public panel discussion with the following experts:

• Bruce Jentleson, Professor of Public Policy and Political Science at Duke University, leading scholar of American foreign policy and former official in a number US administrations
• Anne Marie Murphy, Professor at the School of Diplomacy and International Relations, Seton Hall University
• Nadège Rolland, Senior Fellow for Political and Security Affairs at the National Bureau of Asian Research and author of China’s Vision for a New World Order
• Ashley J. Tellis, Research Director of the Strategic Asia Program at the National Bureau of Asian Research and Tata Chair for Strategic Affairs at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
• Ashley Townshend, Director of Foreign Policy and Defence at the United States Studies Centre