The Tea Leaves Podcast

Hon. Kevin Rudd served as Australia’s 26th Prime Minister from 2007 to 2010 and again in 2013, and as its Foreign Minister from 2010 to 2012. Today, Kevin is global President and CEO of the Asia Society in New York, and President of the Asia Society Policy Institute. On this episode we discussed Kevin's new book, The Avoidable War: The Dangers of a Catastrophic Conflict Between the U.S. and Xi Jinping’s China, which is available now everywhere books are sold. Kevin and Rexon explore the risk of conflict between the United States and China, and Kevin's recommendation for a strategic framework to maintain stability between Washington and Beijing.

Dr. Amy Searight is a leading U.S. expert on Southeast Asia and U.S. policy in the Indo-Pacific region. Dr. Searight served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for South and Southeast Asia from 2014 to 2016, before which she served in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, USAID, and on the State Department's Policy Planning Staff. Today, Amy is a senior associate for Asia at CSIS. On this episode, Amy offered a preview of the historic U.S.-ASEAN Special Summit, which U.S. President Joe Biden will host in Washington on May 12-13. In addition to expectations for the summit, we discussed the challenges facing ASEAN, its members' views on the U.S. Indo-Pacific Strategy and economic framework, China's relations with the bloc, the Philippines election, and more.

In part two of our conversation with Ashley J. Tellis, we discussed opportunities for the United States and India to expand their relationship through greater cooperation on trade, technology, and security. We also discussed India's views on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, the outlook for a visit to India by U.S. President Joe Biden, Pakistan's changing role in Indian security considerations, and more.Ashley holds the Tata Chair for Strategic Affairs and is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Previously, he served on the National Security Council (NSC) as special assistant to President George W. Bush and senior director for strategic planning and Southwest Asia. On the NSC he was a top negotiator of the pivotal 2005 U.S.-India Civil Nuclear Agreement – a landmark agreement that helped transform the U.S.-India relationship.You can watch the full video of our conversation at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwSvkY8tzvEq21kNOjYILXQ

Ashley J. Tellis holds the Tata Chair for Strategic Affairs and is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Previously, he served on the National Security Council (NSC) as special assistant to President George W. Bush and senior director for strategic planning and Southwest Asia. On the NSC he was a top negotiator of the pivotal 2005 U.S.-India Civil Nuclear Agreement – a landmark agreement that helped transform the U.S.-India relationship. In part one of our conversation with Ashley, we discussed India's strategic calculus around its relations with Russia amid the Russia-Ukraine war. We also discussed the role of India's tensions with China, and how the White House views India's Russia ties.You can watch the full video of our conversation at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwSvkY8tzvEq21kNOjYILXQ

On this episode, Ambassador Joseph Yun joined us for a deep dive on South Korean President-Elect Yoon Suk-yeol's victory and how the Yoon administration will shape Seoul's foreign policy. We discussed South Korea's relations with the United States, North Korea, and Japan, as well as potential cooperation with the Quad and policy surrounding the Russia-Ukraine War.Ambassador Yun has more than 33 years of diplomatic service, including as U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Policy from October 2016 to May 2018, and as U.S. Ambassador to Malaysia from 2013 to 2016. On March 22, 2022, U.S. President Joe Biden appointed Ambassador Yun as Special Presidential Envoy for Compact Negotiations, to manage negotiations between the United States and the three Pacific Island countries collectively known as the Freely Associated States (FAS).

On this episode of The Tea Leaves Podcast, we sat down with Ambassador Ted Osius, the President and CEO of the U.S.-ASEAN Business Council and former U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam (2014-2017). Ted highlighted his experience promoting the Trans-Pacific Partnership as the top U.S. diplomat in Hanoi, and discussed the evolution of economic and political relations between the United States and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). We also discussed U.S. ambitions to forge a new economic policy agreement in Asia, and the private sector's role in strengthening ties between the United States and Southeast Asia.

Dr. Thomas Wright is the director of the Center on the United States and Europe and a senior fellow in the Project on International Order and Strategy at the Brookings Institution. Tom is also a contributing writer for The Atlantic magazine, and last year published Aftershocks: Pandemic Politics and the End of the Old International Order, which he co-authored with current Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl. On this episode, we discussed the Russia-Ukraine crisis and Russian President Vladimir Putin's endgame, how great power rivalry and U.S.-China relations shaped the pandemic response, and the changing power dynamics and outlook for cooperation in the emerging world order.

Nazanin Ash is the CEO of Welcome.US, a non-profit, non-partisan initiative that seeks to rally additional support and resources from the American private sector, NGOs, and community groups in support of arriving Afghans. The initiative was launched in September 2021, and has partnered with the U.S. State Department, as well as more than 250 NGOs, businesses, and leaders of diverse faiths, politics, and backgrounds. Previously, Nazanin was vice president of Global Policy and Advocacy at the International Rescue Committee, and served in senior positions in the U.S. State Department and USAID.On this episode, Nazanin discussed the challenge of resettling close to 100,000 Afghan refugees in less than six months, the Welcome.US approach to public-private partnership and how the organization is rallying resources from across American society, and how the United States can ensure that our new neighbors are provided the support and opportunities to thrive.Please visit www.welcome.us for more information on how you can support the Afghan resettlement effort.

Congressman Ami Bera has represented California’s 7th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2013, and he serves as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, Central Asia, and Nonproliferation for the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Before entering politics, Congressman Bera had a twenty-year medical career in the Sacramento area. He is a first-generation American, born and raised in California, and the longest-serving Indian American serving in Congress.On this episode, we discussed the prospects for U.S. legislation focused on competition with China, U.S.-China relations and Congress' role with regard to Taiwan, and the United States' role and partnerships in the Indo-Pacific region.

This special episode, presented by the Asia Group in partnership with Bloomberg, highlights the InFinity Forum, a new flagship conference hosted by the Government of India and Bloomberg. Our guest for this episode is Dino Setiawan, chief executive officer and co-founder of AwanTunai, and an advisor to the InFinity Forum. AwanTunai is an Indonesian startup providing financing and digital e-commerce tools to brick-and-mortar wholesalers and small-scale entrepreneurs in the greater Jakarta area. On this episode, Dino discussed building AwanTunai and its prospects for growth, how his platform leverages data to make lending decisions and promote financial inclusion, and the evolution of fintech in Indonesia.The Asia Group served as Bloomberg’s knowledge partner for the InFinity Forum, which earlier this month convened entrepreneurs, policymakers, and other leading figures to discuss fintech’s development, and its potential to promote financial inclusion, in Asian markets.