Seminar Announcement

The Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia will co-host the following seminar with the Security Studies Unit, Institute for Future Initiatives, the University of Tokyo. We welcome you to join us!

 

Event Details

Title: “Beyond Hedging? Southeast Asian Responses to Indo-Pacific Realignments under Trump 2.0”

 

Speaker:

Cheng-Chwee Kuik, Professor, Institute of Malaysia and International Studies (IKMAS), National University of Malaysia/ Japan Foundation JFSEAP Visiting Fellow, Kyoto University

Date: Wednesday, October 22, 2025

Time: 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM JST

Venue: Main Conference Room, Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, UTokyo; Zoom (Hybrid)

Language: English only

Discussants:

• Discussant 1: Tomohiko Satake, Associate Professor, School of International Politics, Economics and Communication (SIPEC), Aoyama Gakuin University
• Discussant 2: Antoine Roth, Research Fellow, Graduate School of Law, Tohoku University
• Moderator: Ryo Sahashi, Professor, Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, the University of Tokyo

Click here to register

 

Abstract:

Since the advent of Trump 2.0, the dual structural drivers of growing U.S. unpredictability and growing Chinese influence have led to multiple clusters of realignments across the Indo-Pacific. The ongoing realignments entail: (a) growing uncertainties surrounding U.S.-centric alliances and minilateral alignments (Quad and AUKUS); (b) growing momentum for other minilateral and multilateral groupings on both sides of the geopolitical spectrum (e.g., the NATO-linked Indo-Pacific Four [IP4] on one hand, as well as the China-, Russia-backed institutions like SCO and BRICS+ on the other); and (c) gathering impulses for multi-directional, multi-layered partnerships within and beyond circles of “likeminded” nations.

The multi-directional partnerships include the networks of bilateral and trilateral alignments among U.S. allies in Asia and beyond; multiple sets of enhanced bilateral partnerships (some involve a 2+2 mechanism) between an Indo-Pacific power and a Southeast Asian state (e.g., Japan’s OSAs with several Southeast Asian states); multiple sets of bilateral or minilateral mechanisms between a Southeast Asian state(s) and a partnering country (either democratic or not-so-democratic), as well as cooperative mechanisms involving ASEAN and its expanding circles of partners.

This talk offers a Southeast Asian perspective on the emerging trends. It first analyzes the logic and limits of each cluster of the realignments. It then argues that non-big powers across the region are likely to persist in hedging for as long as possible, even and especially at a time of shrinking space and increasing uncertainties. The talk advocates a pragmatic “likeminded-plus” approach for the IP4 powers and ASEAN states to forge stronger and closer networked alignments, without necessarily targeting any power, to mitigate the risks of external entrapment and internal resentment, while still maximizing mutually beneficial collaboration on a convergent, complementary and catalytic basis.

 

Speaker’s Biography:

Kuik Cheng-Chwee is Professor of International Relations at the National University of Malaysia and concurrently a nonresident senior fellow at Foreign Policy Institute, Johns Hopkins SAIS. He is currently on sabbatical as the Japan Foundation 2025 JFSEAP Visiting Fellow (September 2025-February 2026) at the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University. Professor Kuik’s research focuses on non-great powers’ alignment choices, Asian security, and international relations.

Cheng-Chwee’s publications have appeared in such peer-reviewed journals as International Affairs, Pacific Review, Chinese Journal of International Politics, Journal of Contemporary China, and Contemporary Southeast Asia. He is author of Theorizing Hedging: Explaining Shifts and Variations in Alignment Choices (Cambridge, forthcoming), co-author (with David M. Lampton and Selina Ho) of Rivers of Iron: Railroads and Chinese Power in Southeast Asia (California, 2020) and co-editor (with Alice D. Ba and Sueo Sudo) of Institutionalizing East Asia (Routledge, 2016). Cheng-Chwee serves on the editorial boards of Contemporary Southeast Asia, Australian Journal of International Affairs, International Journal of Asian Studies, and several other international journals. He holds an M.Litt. from the University of St. Andrews and a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University. He has been listed in Stanford University’s Top 2% Scientists, subfield International Relations, since 2023.

Contact Information: ssu@ifi.u-tokyo.ac.jp

 

Hosts:

• Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, the University of Tokyo
• Security Studies Unit, Institute for Future Initiatives, the University of Tokyo
• JSPS Project: The Historical Process of Development of the East Asian International Order: The Connection of Non-Western International Relations Theory and Area Studies