We have heard enough now about US-China rivalry in Asia but not enough about its implications for the region. Join us and our three panelists to unpack this and more.

Chair and Speaker:

Chanintira na Thalang (Associate Professor, Thammasat University, Thailand): Unpacking Thailand’s Perceptions of and Position Amidst the US-China Rivalry

Speakers:

Ketian Vivian Zhang (Assistant Professor, Schar School of Policy and Government, George Mason University): China’s Gambit: The Calculus of Coercion

Wen-Qing Ngoei (Associate Professor of History, College of Integrative Studies, Singapore Management University): Singapore and U.S. Informal Empire in Southeast Asia

Speaker Profiles:

Chanintira na Thalang is Associate Professor at the Faculty of Political Science, Thammasat University. Her current research interests include ASEAN, Global IR, ethnic conflicts and security in Southeast Asia. She is the author of a number of books written in Thai. Her work has also been published in English in a variety of academic journals such as International Affairs, Nations and Nationalism, Asian Survey, Electoral Studies, the Journal of Current Southeast Asia, the Australian Journal of International Affairs and Asian Ethnicity. More recently, she co-edited a volume entitled, International Relations as a Discipline in Thailand: theory and practice published with Routledge in 2019 and two special issues published in The Pacific Review and Contemporary Southeast Asia in 2022.

Ketian Vivian Zhang is an Assistant Professor at George Mason University. She studies rising powers’ grand strategies, coercion, economic statecraft, and maritime disputes, with a focus on China. Her research has appeared in International Security, Journal of Strategic Studies, Journal of Contemporary China, Asia Policy, and Journal of Indo-Pacific Affairs.

Wen-Qing Ngoei is Associate Professor of History at the Singapore Management University (SMU). He received a PhD in the history of U.S.-Southeast Asian relations at Northwestern University. Following postdoctoral stints at Northwestern University and Yale University, he taught history at the Nanyang Technological University before joining SMU. His first book, Arc of Containment: Britain, the United States, and Anticommunism in Southeast Asia (Cornell) traces how British decolonization strategies intertwined with anticommunist nationalism and anti-Chinese prejudice in Southeast Asia to usher the region from formal colonialism to U.S. hegemony. He has published in journals such as Diplomatic History and Journal of American-East Asian Relations.

Zoom information will be sent in the confirmation email.

For more information, contact the GRADNAS (The Graduate Research and Development Network on Asian Security) Coordinator, Dr. Stuti Bhatnagar at gradnas@anu.edu.au.

This event is the eighth in the GRADNAS Seminar series of 2023 that showcases the cutting-edge academic research on Asian security by GRADNAS members. It presents an exciting opportunity for research exchange involving the network, providing a regular occasion for GRADNAS scholars to share and receive feedback on their ongoing and published research. Join us as we celebrate and showcase the excellent research by GRADNAS members and friends. Visit our website here.