Looking back on the AWC “Uncertainty: The Indo-Pacific Region and American Foreign Policy” Conference

In the 50 years since President Nixon’s opening to China, the Indo-Pacific has become the focal point of world affairs and American foreign policy due to the region’s burgeoning political, economic, military, and cultural influence. Its member countries occupy key nodes in the networks and partnerships binding the international order together. The presence of China and India, long-standing American allies such as Australia, Japan, and Korea, and emerging states in Southeast Asia, as well as the preponderance of flashpoints and issues of mutual interest create complex considerations for American policymakers and scholars. Any formation of future American strategy and policy toward the Indo-Pacific must address an expansive array of challenges: alliances, climate, health, migration, security, trade, and more.

On March 4th, 2022, the Clements Center’s AWC Fellows–William Chou, Zoltán Fehér, and Joseph Ledford–hosted the annual AWC conference, Uncertainty: The Indo-Pacific Region and American Foreign Policy. The conference featured 15 scholars and policy professionals presenting on security, historical legacies, trade, and technology issues concerning the United States and Asia. General Vincent K. Brooks, Clements Distinguished National Security Fellow, kicked off the day with incisive commentary on the Asian security environment. Afterwards, Clements Visiting Faculty Fellow Rosella Cappella Zielinski chaired a panel on Pacific security and Clement AWC Fellow Zoltán Fehér chaired a panel on US foreign policy in the Indo-Pacific in the 50 Years after the Nixon-Kissinger Opening to China. Michael Auslin, the Payson J. Treat Distinguished Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution, delivered a lunchtime keynote on Asia’s new geopolitics. In the afternoon, AWC Fellows William Chou led a panel on transpacific trade and technology, and Joseph Ledford chaired a panel on historical lessons for US policy in the Indo-Pacific. Professor Sheena Chestnut Greitens, Director of the Asia Policy Program at UT-Austin, closed the conference with final remarks.