A prolonged Iran war could divert US assets and attention from the Indo-Pacific, affect China’s strategic calculus on Taiwan and the South China Sea, and strengthen the case for greater defence capacity among US allies including Japan.
My interview @asia.nikkei.com:
asia.nikkei.com/editor-s-pic...
Truly grateful to Manish Jung Pulami for this most incisive review of Japan’s Quiet Leadership: Reshaping the Indo-Pacific: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Few will mourn the decapitation of the Iranian regime. But hard cases make bad law.
The strikes on Iran risk weakening UN Charter constraints on the use of force and carry real spillover risks for Southeast Asia.
Read my piece and colleagues' perspectives here:
🔗 bit.ly/4r8KcdV
@brookings.edu
Japanese Defense Minister Shinjirō Koizumi and Dr Lynn Kuok speaking during a panel, 'Japan in the World', at the Munich Security Conference 2026.
Japanese Defense Minister Shinjirō Koizumi and Dr Lynn Kuok in conversation at the Munich Security Conference 2026.
Dr Lynn Kuok seated on stage during a panel at the Munich Security Conference 2026.
Chaired session w 🇯🇵 DefMin Koizumi @munsecconf.bsky.social. He stressed Euro-Atlantic-Indo-Pac links. The 10k N Korean troops sent to support Russia could haunt Asian security on return w combat experience. Intl law flouted in any theatre - & by any power - is undermined everywhere.
📺 bit.ly/4rESQSl
As China cranks up export controls against Japan -now targeting 40 Japanese companies- more important to understand Japan's strategies to reduce dependence on critical minerals: www.brookings.edu/articles/wha...
Super timely and relevent piece posted on @foreignaffairs.com today by @lynnkuok.bsky.social. Much hinges on improving and exercising international institutions and the effective leadership of major powers. One hopes the U.S. some day finds it within itself to be a responsible global citizen again.
From the Baltic and North Seas to the South China Sea and waters around Taiwan, threats to subsea cables - data or electricity - are mounting. My Foreign Affairs piece examines what’s needed to secure subsea infrastructure - lifelines shaping the balance of power above.
bit.ly/4spiRWx
@brookings.edu
What to make of Trump's 2025 National Security Strategy? My colleagues and I weigh in: www.brookings.edu/articles/bre...
@brookings.edu #NSS2025
The world is less bound by law, less anchored in US-led alliances, & more unpredictable as the power balance shifts. I joined the World Economic Forum's #RadioDavos to discuss Trump 2.0, US-China, UN reform & what gives me hope. Tks @robinpomeroy.bsky.social @aloraibi.bsky.social
📺: bit.ly/3JPcmLk
So pleased to join @channelnewsasia.bsky.social to discuss the upcoming #ASEAN summit. Watch the wide-ranging interview here 👉 : channelnewsasia.com/watch/asean-...
#ASEAN #APEC2025 #USChinaRelations
@brookings.edu
Chaired a NATO Public Forum session in The Hague with 🇦🇺 Deputy PM & Defence Minister Richard Marles on "Partnering in the Indo-Pacific." NATO's ties to the region are more urgent - and more fragile - than ever. In @foreignpolicy.com, I explain why: bit.ly/4fa8Bez
📸 Last pic: hardworking summit dog ❤️
lynnkuok.bsky.social
lynnkuok.bsky.social
Lynn Kuok House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on East Asia
📄 Written testimony: bit.ly/40d8zMM
🎙️ Oral testimony: bit.ly/3T02gZd
@brookings.edu
#UnitedStates #China #IndoPacific #SoutheastAsia #ASEAN #Geopolitics #ForeignPolicy
lynnkuok.bsky.social
lynnkuok.bsky.social
Thanks to Representatives Brian Mast, Young Kim and Ami Bera (@bera.house.gov) for the opportunity to testify. Thanks also to Subcommittee Democratic staffers Emma Rose Bruce and Gaurav Bansal for their assistance throughout.
lynnkuok.bsky.social
The United States has long been valued in Southeast Asia, but that support could fray if Washington is seen as contributing more to instability than to order.
lynnkuok.bsky.social
Key recommendations
➤Reverse tariffs; pursue digital, semiconductor & critical minerals trade deals
➤Reaffirm, at the highest levels, US treaty commitments to the Philippines; deepen economic & security ties w key ASEAN partners
➤Deploy international law as a tool of statecraft
lynnkuok.bsky.social
My testimony—‘Economics Is Security: Rebuilding US Strategy in Southeast Asia’—laid out how US influence is weakening due to policy missteps: sweeping tariffs, abrupt aid cuts, doubts cast on alliances, and a failure to grasp that in Southeast Asia, economics and security are inseparable.
lynnkuok.bsky.social
lynnkuok.bsky.social
On 10 June, I testified before the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on East Asia and the Pacific at a hearing titled ‘Building Bridges, Countering Rivals: Strengthening U.S.–ASEAN Ties to Combat Chinese Influence’.
@houseforeign.bsky.social
China's salami-slicing in the #SouthChinaSea continues - this time w/ its first on-the ground, formal claim over a previously unoccupied land feature in over a decade. My @foreignpolicy.com piece on Sandy Cay as flashpoint + test of US credibility. TY @ravireports.bsky.social
👉http://bit.ly/3Hg5vsS
Thanks to the amazing MSC team and to the tireless photographers for capturing memories and making even a rainy day look like magic. 💕
📸: Michael Kuhlmann
📸 (JD Vance): LSimon
📸 (photo below): Mine!
The session I was meant to chair was cancelled - but it is every day your session is called off because the Vice President of the United States is speaking! 💫
It was also lovely to reconnect with fellow Munich Young Leaders 🇱🇻 @zklukasevica.bsky.social 🇪🇺 Benedetta Berti, as well as Boris Ruge, @alexsoros.bsky.social and many others.
This smaller-format MSC brought together 100 senior decision-makers and experts from both sides of the Atlantic. It allowed for deeper, informal exchanges. I was fortunate to speak with many remarkable women:
🇨🇳 Fu Ying 🇳🇱 @kajsaollongren.bsky.social 🇮🇸 @thordiskolbrun.bsky.social 🇵🇦 Erika Mouynes.
Wonderful to join the three-day Munich Leaders Meeting and to celebrate the opening of the
@munsecconf.bsky.social's DC office - on a very rainy evening! Congratulations to Ambassador Wolfgang Ischinger and @benediktfranke.bsky.social!
🇲🇾 Trade Minister Tengku Zafrul was recently in DC for 48 hrs, meeting w USTR & senior State officials - just after Xi's #SEAsia tour & #UStariffs. Delighted to host him for a private roundtable & that he made time to browse @brookings.edu books by RyanHass & @mireyasolis.bsky.social #Malaysia #MITI
Joined @bloombergtv.bsky.social to discuss Xi’s SoutheastAsia tour. Xi’s visit was a success: 113 agreements signed. Many not binding, but a clear show of presence as US engagement fades. ASEAN will hedge, but deeper China ties cld lead to strategic alignment by choice or necessity
📺 bit.ly/3YFgy4n
U.S. foreign policy is becoming more coercive. In my latest @foreignaffairs.com piece, I argue that pressuring Asia to align could backfire. It may also unfold alongside abandonment, leaving allies & partners simultaneously exposed to pressure and disregard
🔗 www.foreignaffairs.com/guest-pass/r...
Testified before US-China Commission on 20 Mar:
“America First” cannot mean America alone. To restore US influence in SE Asia, Washington must:
• deepen econ engagement
• strengthen partnerships
• uphold int'l law & avoid coercion.
Tariffs hit economies & strain partnerships.
📄 bit.ly/4idlGnu
“For over a decade, Washington rallied countries by pointing to China’s bullying, lawbreaking and unfair economic practices,” said Lynn Kuok, Lee Kuan Yew Chair in Southeast Asia Studies at the Brookings Institution. “Now, it risks being accused of exactly that.” www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
Back at @harvardkennedy.bsky.social—this time speaking in the John F Kennedy Jr Forum, where I once sat as a student and fellow. Spoke alongside Thailand's PM-designate ('23) Pita Limjaroenrat & ASPI's Greg Brown at the inaugural Asia-Pacific Conference. Kudos to the student team & @SGglobalnetwork.
Tks @lowyinstitute.bsky.social for invite to speak at #MSC2025 on Trump 2.0, Xi & the Great Game in Asia w Gen Brawner, Froman @cfr.org, Blanchette @rand.org & moderator Fullilove. Enjoyed panel & chats w @oanalungescu.bsky.social @gideonrachman.bsky.social @shashj.bsky.social @lgflake.bsky.social
