Thailand’s ties as an intimate US ally have declined in recent years and the US-Thai relationship is under pressure as China’s regional influence grows. How and why has this happened? Does it matter for the US rebalance in Asia? As the only US treaty ally in mainland Southeast Asia, Thailand has been the recipient of significant US investment in the past, but the United States is seeing a diminishing return. This exciting and innovative project is uncovering some fascinating results with implications for security dynamics across Southeast Asia and beyond. The project draws on extensive interviews with senior serving and retired officials. It also includes a detailed survey drawing on a wide sample of serving military and civil officials. The survey covers a range of factors affecting Thai thinking on the fluctuations of US and Chinese influence. Come along to hear about the latest findings.
Dr John Blaxland is a Senior Fellow at the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre at the Australian National University. He writes about military history, intelligence and security and Asia-Pacific affairs. He holds a PhD in War Studies from the Royal Military College of Canada, an MA in History from ANU and a BA (Hons) from UNSW. He is a graduate of the Royal Thai Army Command and Staff College and the Royal Military College of Australia at Duntroon. He also has served as Director Joint Intelligence Operations (J2) at Australia’s Headquarters Joint Operations Command and as Defence Attaché to Thailand and Myanmar. His publications include (as editor) East Timor Intervention (MUP, 2015), and as author The Protest Years: The Official History of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation 1963-1975, (A&U, 2015), The Australian Army From Whitlam to Howard (CUP, 2014), and Strategic Cousins: Canadian and Australian Expeditionary Forces and the British and American Empires (MQUP, 2006).
