2013 Lowy Institute Owen Harries Lecture: The future of American foreign policy in the Asia Pacific region

The lion’s share of 21st century history will play out in the Asia Pacific region, and the United States needs to step up its game in response. If the US is to continue to shape the contours of this dynamic and rapidly changing region, it must advance a strategy encompassing political, commercial, multilateral, and people-to-people elements. Building on generations of bedrock bipartisanship, America is poised to sustain a leading role – if it can summon the political will, creativity, and clarity of message that will appeal to a domestic audience and an anxious Asia.

We invite you to join us for the inaugural Owen Harries Lecture to be presented by Kurt Campbell, former Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs in the Obama Administration and the Lowy Institute’s inaugural Distinguished International Fellow.

Dr Kurt Campbell is the inaugural Lowy Institute Distinguished International Fellow.

A former US diplomat, Dr Campbell most recently served as Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, where he was a key architect of the ‘rebalance to Asia’ strategy.

He is Chairman and CEO of The Asia Group, LLC, a strategic advisory and investment group specialising in the Asia-Pacific region. In 2007, Dr Campbell co-founded the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), a Washington, DC think tank. He remains Co-Chair of the Board of Directors at CNAS.

Dr Campbell has co-authored many books, including Difficult Transitions: Why Presidents Fail in Foreign Policy at the Outset of Power (with Jim Steinberg), To Prevail: An American Strategy for the Campaign against Terrorism (with Michele Flournoy), Hard Power: The New Politics of National Security (with Michael O’Hanlon), and The Power of Balance: America in Asia (with Nirav Patel). He is currently writing a book entitled The Pivot, about his experiences working on Asia Pacific policy in the Obama Administration.