Lucas Myers is senior associate for Southeast Asia with the Wilson Center’s Indo-Pacific Program.
Southeast Asia, a key arena for U.S.-China competition, is seldom afforded the priority it deserves in American foreign policy circles. This needs to change if competition with China remains the lodestar in U.S. foreign policy. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s early phone calls with the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam set the right tone, but more can and should be done to prioritize and “reset” U.S. policy in the region.
