RSIS Distinguished Public Dialogue with Professor Michael E. Brown and Dr Bates Gill

The foreign policy of any great power is a projection of its domestic political culture, its perception of a wider interest, and its concept of place and purpose in the world. In the case of the United States, the premier great power of the post-World War II era, all three of these elements are now in flux. America is presently wrestling with a constitutional crisis, lacks a consensus as to its core international interests, and it is consequently struggling to define a strategic direction. Yet the institutional structure of the international order remains to a significant degree a legacy of American energy and ideas. A seismic shift in American behaviour must therefore bear implications for the whole world. Given these developments, this Dialogue will focus on the impact of US domestic upheaval on American foreign policy, international order, regional security and the interests of Southeast Asia and Singapore.