SINGAPORE - The road ahead for America's 46th president will be busy - and bumpy - as freshly inaugurated Mr Joe Biden looks to roll back Mr Donald Trump's isolationist policies and mend Washington's ties with its global partners.
What can countries in Asia expect from a new administration? And how will continuing competition for influence between America and China play out in the region?
These questions and more will be addressed in an upcoming webinar titled Geopolitical Reset 2021: Implications For Asia to be held next Friday and presented by The Straits Times and the World Economic Forum (WEF).
Having officially entered the Oval Office on Wednesday, President Biden has already signed orders to start the process of rejoining the World Health Organisation and Paris Climate Agreement.
His moves are set to be well received by Asia's leaders. But several issues still need to be addressed.
While Mr Biden has acknowledged that the US will work together with Beijing on issues where their interests converge, including climate change and global health security, he has also vowed to "get tough with China".
In the same vein, the webinar will discuss if Sino-US tensions on trade and technology will ease with a new administration, and if Mr Biden's proposed Summit for Democracy will be well received or pose more challenges for Asia.
The webinar will feature panellists such as Professor Chan Heng Chee, Ambassador-at-Large and Chair of the Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities, NUS University Professor Wang Gungwu and Mr George Yeo, Senior Adviser to Kuok Group and former Singapore Foreign Minister.
Professor Kishore Mahbubani, Distinguished fellow at the Asia Research Institute, will also be a panellist at the webinar. He was the first Singapore Ambassador to serve on the UN Security Council and was also previously appointed the Founding Dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.
Prof Chan was the former Singapore ambassador to the United States, while Mr Yeo has taken on advisory roles in various organisations including Peking University, Nalanda University, Mitsubishi Corporation, AIA and Pinduoduo.
Prof Wang is a university professor at NUS Arts and Social Sciences and a leading scholar on Sino-Southeast Asian historical relations.
The webinar will be moderated by ST Associate Editor Vikram Khanna. The ST's US Bureau Chief, Mr Nirmal Ghosh, and China Bureau Chief Tan Dawn Wei will also join in the conversation.
The webinar is being held in conjunction with the Davos Agenda 2021 week, which runs from Monday to Friday, where more than 1,500 business, government and civil society leaders from over 70 countries will attend a series of virtual sessions to discuss global issues under the theme, "A crucial year to rebuild trust".
Geopolitical Reset 2021: Implications for Asia will go live on Jan 29 at 7pm SGT (12pm CET). The webinar will also be streamed on the ST's Facebook and YouTube pages.
Readers can also watch it here.
