In the midst of the intensifying regional rivalry between the US and the China, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, has instigated measures seeking to reboot the country’s foreign policy. The previous administration under former president Rodrigo Duterte (2016-2022) pursued an ‘independent’ foreign policy that emphasised closer relations with China and undermined the military alliance with the US. As the Philippine president is often considered as the chief architect of foreign policy, Marcos Jr. has implemented a different approach given a confluence of external and domestic factors.
This seminar will lay out the preliminary contours of the Philippines’ foreign policy under the Marcos Jr administration.
What are the foremost foreign policy challenges faced by the Philippines? How will the Marcos Jr administration balance its relations between the two superpowers? What explains the current policy of 'strategic transparency' in its South China Sea policy? How is the rivalry between the US -China define the domestic political landscape in the Philippines?
Speaker
Professor Aries Arugay is Chair of the Department of Political Science in the University of the Philippine Diliman. His research focuses on comparative democratisation, civil-military relations, contentious politics, foreign policy, and social media.
Since 2020, he has been the Editor-in-Chief of Asian Politics & Policy, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell and the Policy Studies Organisation. He is also currently a Visiting Senior Fellow and Coordinator of the Philippine Studies Programme of ISEAS Yusof-Ishak Institute in Singapore.
The ANU Philippines Institute Research Seminar Series is a recurring seminar series that showcases the work of scholars working on political, social and cultural issues in the Philippines and the wider region, with the goal of encouraging greater exchange, collaboration and networking amongst the research community.
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