Southeast Asia’s Mandalas of Multialignment
From Asia Geopolitics by The Diplomat
May 18, 2026 · 21 min
About this episode
Prashanth Parameswaran discusses the impact of multialignment on Southeast Asia's foreign policy and its strategic significance amid US-China tensions.
Prashanth Parameswaran joins the Asia Geopolitics podcast to explain how multialignment shapes Southeast Asia’s foreign policy and the region’s strategic importance. Today on The Diplomat’s Asia Geopolitics podcast hosts Ankit Panda (@nktpnd) and Katie Putz (@LadyPutz) are joined by an old friend, Prashanth Parameswaran -- now a senior columnist at The Diplomat and a fellow at the Institute for Indo-Pacific Security -- to discuss his latest book, “ Mandalas of Multialignment: Hedging Bets in Southeast Asia Grand Strategy Spheres, Foreign and Security Policy Webs, and Global Geopolitics and Geoeconomics .” In the realm of geopolitics, few regions are as dynamic and strategically significant as Southeast Asia. Amid intensifying rivalry between the United States and China, Southeast Asia is critical. You can subscribe to The Diplomat’s Asia Geopolitics podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify ; and watch the episode on YouTube .
People in this episode
Hosts: Ankit Panda, Katie Putz
Guest: Prashanth Parameswaran
Topics covered
- multialignment
- Southeast Asia
- foreign policy
- geopolitics
- strategic importance
- US-China rivalry
Keywords
- multialignment
- Southeast Asia
- foreign policy
- geopolitics
- US-China rivalry
- strategic importance
- Prashanth Parameswaran
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: The Diplomat
Books & works: Mandalas of Multialignment: Hedging Bets in Southeast Asia Grand Strategy Spheres, Foreign and Security Policy Webs, and Global Geopolitics and Geoeconomics
Places: Southeast Asia, United States, China
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