Organizer: Sigur Center for Asian Studies at George Washington University

Description:

The Sigur Center for Asian Studies will host Benjamin Ho, Assistant Professor at the China Programme of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) in Singapore, to discuss how views of a rules-based international order are developing with regards to Southeast Asia. After Ho shares his expertise, he will engage in a moderated Q&A session with David Shambaugh, Gaston Sigur Professor of Asian Studies, Political Science, and International Affairs at GW.

Of late, the notion of a rules-based order (RBO) has been used in many foreign policy speeches, both among American policymakers and those in Southeast Asia. Linked to this notion of a rules-based order is the view that a liberal international order (LIO) best secures the interests of countries around the world, and one that is related to America’s normative preference of how the world should be ordered. However, the growing prominence of so-called illiberal states like China and Russia in recent years has challenged the future of a liberal international order. Drawing from the fieldwork interviews conducted over the past two months, this talk will examine various iterations of the concepts of RBO/LIO among American scholars/thinkers and how they reflect American views towards Southeast Asia and the extent to which countries in the region support America’s vision of the world.

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