Abstract

When President Obama announced that the United States would pivot to Asia in 2011, he raised expectations that the United States would step up its regional engagement, particularly in Southeast Asia. But nearly 15 years later, many of these hopes have been dashed. Leaders in Washington have embraced more mercantilist trade policies while the American public has become more skeptical of international engagement. Amidst this backdrop, is it time for the United States to scale back its ambitions in the region? This talk will assess what might that imply for US policies towards Southeast Asia and how regional states might respond.

About the Speaker

Zack Cooper is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where he studies US strategy in Asia, including alliance dynamics and US-China competition. He also teaches at Princeton University and serves as chair of the board of the Open Technology Fund. His book, Tides of Fortune: The Rise and Decline of Great Militaries, published by Yale University Press in February 2025 explains how militaries change during power shifts.

Before joining AEI, Dr Cooper was the senior fellow for Asian security at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). He previously worked as codirector of the Alliance for Securing Democracy and senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States and research fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. He also served as assistant to the deputy national security adviser for combating terrorism at the National Security Council and as a special assistant to the principal deputy undersecretary of defense for policy at the Department of Defense.

Dr Cooper has published research reports on a number of aspects of US strategy and alliances in Asia. He has also co-authored several books and written articles for academic journals and popular press, including International Security, Security Studies, Foreign Affairs, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal, among other outlets. Dr Cooper graduated from Princeton University with a PhD and an MA in security studies and an MPA in international relations. He received a BA in public policy from Stanford University.