For all the talk, there is little evidence that Washington is treating the region as a decisive priority.
Published daily by the Lowy Institute
Susannah Patton is a Research Fellow in the Foreign Policy and Defence Program at the United States Studies Centre. She joined the United States Studies Centre from the Australian government, where she was until 2020 a Senior Analyst in the Southeast Asia Branch at the Office of National Intelligence, Australia’s peak intelligence assessment agency.
Susannah previously served in the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit Taskforce in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and as a diplomat in the Australian Embassy in Bangkok. Susannah holds first class honours degrees in law and political science from the Australian National University and speaks Thai.