The Cambodian Center for Regional Studies will organize a public lecture “Prospect for U.S. Grand Strategy under the Second Trump Administrative: Implications for Southeast Asia” by Dr. Prof. Ann Marie Murphy, Professor, Seton Hall University, and Senior Research Scholar, Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University, which will be held on 10 June 2025, from 9 to 11:00am at Sen Monorom Hall, Third Floor, Paññāsāstra University of Cambodia (Toul Kork Campus). This event is supported by Faculty of Social Sciences and International Relations, Paññāsāstra University of Cambodia.
This talk will analyze the prospects for the United States grand strategy under the second Trump administration and assess its implications for Southeast Asia. U.S. foreign policy toward Southeast Asia has traditionally been framed within its overarching grand strategy, however the Trump administration has yet to articulate one. Much of the recent commentary on the future of U.S.-Southeast Asian relations assumes that strategic competition with China will be the defining feature of U.S. Indo-Pacific policy in Trump’s second term just as it was in Trump’s first term. Under this scenario, Southeast Asia will rise in strategic importance to Washington as the United States seeks to forge a coalition of allies and partners to counter China. Whether this scenario plays out, however, remains to be seen. To date, U.S. foreign policy has focused on regions other than Asia, and there are debates over U.S. grand strategy in the Republican Party. This talk will review these debates and assess their implications for the trajectory of U.S. policy toward Southeast Asia.
Registration via: https://forms.gle/RfECmRpcSJV1ZdKT6
| Program | |
|---|---|
| 9:00 – 9:30 AM | Registration |
| 9:30 – 9:35 | Welcoming Remarks by Mr. Him Raksmey, Executive Director, CCRS |
| 9:35 – 9:40 | Group Photograph |
| 9:40 – 10:50 | Public Lecture on “Prospects for U.S. Grand Strategy under the Second Trump Administration: Implications for Southeast Asia” by Prof. Ann Marie Murphy, Professor, School of Diplomacy, Seton Hall University and Senior Research Scholar, Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University Q&A and Open Discussion Session Moderated by Amb. Pou Sothirak, Distinguished Senior Advisor, CCRS |
| 10:50 – 11:00 | Closing Remarks by Amb. Pou Sothirak, Distinguished Senior Advisor, CCRS |
| 11:00 AM | End of the Public Lecture |
Short Biographies of Role Players
Ann Marie Murphy is Professor, School of Diplomacy and International Relations, Seton Hall University, and Senior Research Fellow, Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University. Her research focuses on Southeast Asian international politics and political change. Dr. Murphy’s most recent books include an edited volume (2025) Southeast Asia Views the United States: Perceptions, Policies and Prospects, and Non-Traditional Security Issues in Southeast Asia: the Transnational Dimension, (2018), co-authored with Amy Freedman. Dr. Murphy’s articles have appeared in journals such as Asian Security, Contemporary Southeast Asia, Orbis, Asia Policy, World Politics Review and PS: Political Science & Politics. Dr. Murphy ‘s research has been supported by grants from the Smith Richardson Foundation, the National Asia Research Program, the Social Science Research Council, the Fulbright Scholars Program. She serves on the editorial board of Asia Policy, the board of directors of the Center for Khmer Studies and is a cofounder of the New York Southeast Asia Network (NYSEAN), a Luce Foundation funded initiative to promote Southeast Asian studies in the United States. She earned her Ph.D. from Columbia University.
Ambassador Pou Sothirak is a retired academic currently serving as the Distinguished Senior Advisor to the Cambodian Center for Regional Studies (CCRS). He was the Executive Director of the Cambodian Institute for Cooperation and Peace from May 2013 to August 2023. He was appointed as Secretary of State of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Cambodia from September 2013 to January 2014. He was a Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of the Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) in Singapore from January 2009 to December 2012. He also served as Cambodian Ambassador to Japan from April 2005 to November 2008. He was elected Cambodian Member of Parliaments twice during the national general election in 1993 and 2003. He was appointed as Minister of Industry Mines and Energy of the Royal Government of Cambodia from 1993 to 1998. He has written extensively on various issues concerning the development of Cambodia and the region.