In this episode, William Choong, managing editor of Fulcrum, talks to James Crabtree, executive director of International Institute for Strategic Studies (Asia), the London-headquartered think tank which runs the annual Shangri-La Dialogue. The dialogue is an annual meeting of defence ministers from Asia and beyond, and is covered widely by media from around the world. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the dialogue was postponed in 2020 and 2021.

For quick reference, the themes below were discussed:

8:39 - Themes that Fumio Kishida, the Japanese prime minister, could raise as keynote speaker

13:48 - The United States and the Indo-Pacific

18:18 - China’s run-up to the Shangri-la Dialogue

23:07 - How the return of in-person meetings changes regional diplomacy