Kamala Harris Takes the Lead on Asia

At a time when president Joe Biden’s Republican rivals are criticizing his administration’s failure to devote what they regard as the proper amount of attention to U.S. interests in the Pacific, the Biden administration announced that the president is outsourcing East Asian diplomacy to his vice president, Kamala Harris.

For weeks, the White House has been telegraphing the president’s likely decision to skip the annual 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit. He would instead likely travel to the G20 summit in India, which was scheduled to take place just two days after the conclusion of the ASEAN confab in Indonesia.

About the Author

Noah Rothman

Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review. His third book, Blood and Progress: A Century of Left-Wing Violence, was published by Hachette in May 2026.

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At a time when president Joe Biden’s Republican rivals are criticizing his administration’s failure to devote what they regard as the proper amount of attention to U.S. interests in the Pacific, the Biden administration announced that the president is outsourcing East Asian diplomacy to his vice president, Kamala Harris.

For weeks, the White House has been telegraphing the president’s likely decision to skip the annual 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit. He would instead likely travel to the G20 summit in India, which was scheduled to take place just two days after the conclusion of the ASEAN confab in Indonesia.

About the Author

Noah Rothman

Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review. His third book, Blood and Progress: A Century of Left-Wing Violence, was published by Hachette in May 2026.