Why the US could lose more ground in Southeast Asia
While the US remains Asean’s biggest investor, its investment in core infrastructure is limited. Meanwhile, China makes its presence felt
But this analysis overlooks the fundamental reasons why the US has struggled to compete with China in Southeast Asia despite strategic initiatives like the Obama administration’s pivot to Asia and the Free and Open Indo-Pacific strategy sustained across administrations.
The mainstay of these strategies has been to revitalise bilateral security alliances, engage with regional countries and their multilateral institutions to address global challenges like climate change and the pandemic, or promote liberal principles like freedom of navigation, human rights and democracy.
As a result, US engagement in the region has been more demonstrable to long-term security allies like the Philippines or economically developed states such as Singapore, but limited with regard to less developed non-allies like Cambodia.