[MEMBERS ONLY] President Biden: The Asia Inbox
VIEW EVENT DETAILSAsia: Beyond the Headlines
***This is a members-only program and registration is required.***
On November 3, voters in the United States will go to the ballot box – actually millions have already cast ballots – and make their choice: either to stay the course with President Donald Trump, or chart a new course with former Vice President Joe Biden. One of the few things the two campaigns – and a broad range of campaign-watchers – agree on: the stakes are extremely high, the COVID-19 pandemic has altered the political landscape in myriad ways, and the differences between a Biden administration or a second Trump administration would be profound. Recent Asia Society events have shown the intense interest across Asia in the election, and the implications for issues as varied as trade, climate change, U.S.-China relations and more. What will the next four years portend for the U.S., Asia, and the world?
Join us for a special discussion with Asia Society Co-Chair and Singapore’s Ambassador-at-Large Ambassador Chan Heng Chee, Asia Society Policy Institute Vice President Wendy Cutler, and Johns Hopkins University Professor and former Dean of its School of Advanced International Studies Vali Nasr.
Speakers
Amb. Chan Heng Chee is the Global Co-Chair of Asia Society and Ambassador-at-Large with the Singapore Foreign Ministry. She chairs the Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities in the Singapore University of Technology and Design. She is Chairman, Board of Trustees, ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute (ISEAS), a member of the Presidential Council for Minority Rights, Deputy Chairman of the Social Science Research Council, a member of the Science of Cities Committee, National Research Foundation, a member of the Advisory Council on the Ethical use of Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) and Data, Ministry of Communications and Information. She is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the National University of Singapore and a member of the Yale-NUS Governing Board. Previously, she was Singapore’s Ambassador to the United States and Singapore’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations with concurrent accreditation as High Commissioner to Canada and Ambassador to Mexico.
Wendy Cutler is Vice President of Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI) and Managing Director of its Washington, D.C. office. In these roles, she focuses on building ASPI’s presence in Washington — strengthening its outreach as a think/do tank — and on leading initiatives that address challenges related to trade and investment, as well as women’s empowerment in Asia. She joined ASPI following nearly three decades as a diplomat and negotiator in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. Most recently, she served as Acting Deputy U.S. Trade Representative, working on a range of U.S. trade negotiations and initiatives in the Asia-Pacific region. In that capacity she was responsible for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, including the bilateral negotiations with Japan. She also was the chief negotiator to the U.S.-Korea (Korus) Free Trade Agreement.
Vali Nasr is the Majid Khadduri Professor of International Affairs and Middle East Studies at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies of Johns Hopkins University. Between 2012 and 2019 he served as the Dean of the School, and between 2009 and 2011 as Senior Advisor to U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Ambassador Richard Holbrooke. Among many books, he is the author of The Dispensable Nation: American Foreign Policy in Retreat (2013); Forces of Fortune: The Rise of a New Muslim Middle Class and How it Will Change Our World (2009); and The Shia Revival: How Conflicts within Islam will Shape the Future (2006). He has advised senior American policy makers, world leaders, and businesses including the President, Secretary of State, senior members of the U.S. Congress, and presidential campaigns. He is a member of International Board of Advisors of the Blavatnik School of Government at Oxford University, the International Board of Advisors at the American University of Beirut, and the Board of Advisors of Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.
Tom Nagorski (moderator) is Executive Vice President of the Asia Society. He joined following a three-decade career in journalism — having served most recently as Managing Editor for International Coverage at ABC News. Before that, he was Foreign Editor for ABC’s World News Tonight, and a reporter and producer based in Russia, Germany, and Thailand. He was the recipient of eight Emmy awards and the Dupont Award for excellence in international coverage, as well as a fellowship from the Henry Luce Foundation. He has written for several publications and is the author of Miracles on the Water: The Heroic Survivors of a World War II U-Boat Attack. He serves on Princeton University’s Advisory Council for the Department of East Asian Studies, the Advisory Board of the Committee To Protect Journalists, and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He graduated from Princeton University in 1984.
This program is made possible through the generous support of the Nicholas and Sheila Platt Endowment for Public Policy.