AMERICA'S ROLE IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
Tommy Koh, Ambassador-At-Large at the Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Permanent Representative to the UN, chaired the Southeast Asia regional task force for America's Role in Asia (ARA), and spoke at the recent U.S. launch of the publication. ARA presents specific foreign policy recommendations for the next administration. Copies of the report were hand-delivered in August to foreign policy advisors in both the Obama and McCain campaigns. Koh points out that U.S. attention to Southeast Asia has been episodic rather than consistent, and focused almost exclusively on security and defense issues. "Few Americans know that Southeast Asia imports twice as many American goods as China does. U.S. investment in ASEAN is about US$100 billion, exceeding U.S. investments in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan combined." Read Koh's ARA chapter.
