Navigating Strategic Competition: Senator Tammy Duckworth on the Future of U.S. Indo-Pacific Engagement

Please join us for a conversation with U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth on her recent travels to the Indo-Pacific and Congressional perspectives on U.S. strategy in the region. The event will take place on Thursday, July 16, from 10:30am to 11:15am ET. 

The Indo-Pacific is critical to U.S. national security and economic interests, encompassing some of the world's most consequential strategic flashpoints, vital trade routes, and key U.S. allies and partners. As strategic competition with China intensifies and regional security challenges continue to evolve, Congress is playing an increasingly important role shaping U.S. policy towards the region. 

Senator Duckworth has traveled extensively throughout the Indo-Pacific, leading bipartisan Congressional Delegations (CODELs) to the region. In the past five years, she has visited Taiwan, Indonesia, South Korea, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and the Philippines. In early July, she is visiting Taiwan, marking the first visit by a U.S. Senator since the May Trump-Xi summit. Earlier this year, she traveled to the Philippines and then to Singapore to participate in the International Institute for Strategic Studies' Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia's premier defense summit, and subsequently visited Japan. She will share insights from these engagements and discuss Congressional views on the evolving strategic landscape in the Indo-Pacific, the future of U.S. regional engagement, and the role of Congress in advancing American security interests.

The event will feature opening remarks by Dr. Victor Cha, President of the Geopolitics and Foreign Policy Department and Korea Chair at CSIS, followed by a fireside chat between Senator Duckworth and Dr. Charles Edel, Australia Chair and Senior Adviser at CSIS.

CSIS' Australia Chair conducts independent foreign policy research aimed at strengthening U.S.-Australia relations. The Chair is endowed through the generosity of Pratt Industries.