Is America back in Southeast Asia ?

President Joe Biden has much repair and restoration work to do in Southeast Asia. Donald Trump seriously degraded the United States’ role in the region, helping Beijing to escalate the most hostile US–China confrontation since 1972.

After a slow start, the Biden administration has begun to secure confirmation of some top diplomatic appointees for Southeast Asia. However several important posts, like Thailand or the Philippines, remain not only vacant but without any nominee.

The Senate in September finally confirmed Dan Kritenbrink, most recently ambassador to Vietnam, as assistant secretary of state for East Asia and the Pacific. Two months later, Jonathan Kaplan became ambassador to Singapore—a post which was empty for nearly five years. Kaplan is a political appointee with considerable experience in the tech sector, which the Biden administration hopes will be useful as…