Episode
America in Asia: a very different Hegesth to 2025 & regional ordering amongst disorder
- Podcast
- The Grumpy Strategists
- Published
- Jun 15, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 2468
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- https://rss.com/podcasts/the-grumpy-strategists/2916069
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Summary
Marcus talks to SAA's man in Singapore, Graeme Dobell, about the dynamics and developments on show at the annual Defence ministers' gathering in Singapore's Shangri-La hotel. This year, its America talking up the China-US relationship as a source of stability & concert of two, while Japan rises to fill some of the void created by American unreliability, & South Korea builds sovereign power. Australia makes the lonely choice to just double down on its dependence on the USA. Marcus & Graeme explore the sartorial parallels between Pete Hegseth and the Nixon-era Alexander Haig, while remembering Australia's PM Curtin, and the imprint General Douglas MacArthur's approach to war and the region left, just as it disappears. China's defence minister was a 'no show' again - partly because speaking risks being purged by Chairman Xi and partly because China isn't bothering to tell its story anymore.