Wednesday, February 28, 2024
12:30 pm – 2:00 pm
Chung-Wen Shih Asian Studies Conference Room Suite 503
Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street NW Washington, D.C. 20052
Many Southeast Asian nations have found themselves caught between the United States and China as tensions continue to increase between the two states. The region’s key military and economic positions have only served to intensify that pressure. The decisions that these countries will make will undoubtedly have global impacts felt around the world. Prof. William M. Wise, the Chair of the Southeast Asia Forum, and Dr. Prashanth Parameswaran from the Woodrow Wilson Center will discuss the complicated position that these countries face as well as the interests the United States and China have within the region.
Join the Sigur Center and the Southeast Asia Forum as we discuss the role that Southeast Asia will play and its impacts on US-China relations. RSVP today! Free lunch will be provided.
Speaker
Dr. Prashanth Parameswaran is a fellow with the Wilson Center’s Asia Program, where he produces analysis on Southeast Asian political and security issues, Asian defense affairs, and U.S. foreign policy in the Asia-Pacific. He is also the CEO and Founder of ASEAN Wonk Global, a research hub that produces the weekly ASEAN Wonk BulletBrief newsletter; Senior Columnist at The Diplomat, one of Asia’s leading current affairs publications; and an Advisor at BowerGroupAsia, a strategic advisory firm focused on the Indo-Pacific region.
A political scientist by training, Dr. Parameswaran is a recognized expert on Asian affairs and U.S. foreign policy in the region, with a focus on Southeast Asia and politics and security issues. He has conducted grant-based field research across the region, consulted for companies and governments, and taught courses affiliated with the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Department of State. His policy insights, research and commentary have been published widely in the United States and across the region in leading publications and journals including CNN, The Washington Post, The South China Morning Post, The Straits Times, Asia Policy and Contemporary Southeast Asia.
Moderator
William M. Wise chairs the Southeast Asia Forum, a project to promote the study of Southeast Asia at colleges, universities and research centers in the Mid-Atlantic region. He is a former Non-Resident Fellow at the Stimson Center, affiliated with the Southeast Asia Program.
Professor Wise’s government and teaching career focused on defense, security and intelligence issues in Asia. From 2005 to 2019 he managed the Southeast Asia Studies program at the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Johns Hopkins University, and taught courses on Southeast Asia and intelligence problems in Asia. Prior to teaching at SAIS, he was Adjunct Professor of the Practice of International Affairs at the Elliott School of International Affairs (ESIA), George Washington University. He was a Public Policy Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington in 1999.
Professor Wise’s government experience spanned more than three decades. He was Deputy National Security Advisor to the Vice-President; Chief of Policy at the U.S. Pacific Command (now U.S. Indo-Pacific Command); and Deputy Director, for Policy Planning, East Asia & Pacific Region, Office of the Secretary of Defense. Earlier, he served in various positions in the U.S. Intelligence Community in Washington and overseas. He retired from the U.S. Air Force as a Colonel in 1997.
Professor Wise received his undergraduate degree from Amherst College and master’s degree from the University of Hawaii.
