As the Shangri-La Dialogue convenes in Singapore, defense officials from across the Indo-Pacific are confronting a familiar yet more urgent question: maintaining strategic stability amid rising multipolar tensions. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s first appearance at the forum marks a key moment in the Trump administration’s regional recalibration. His speech is expected to signal a tightening U.S. security commitment in the face of a more assertive China and an emboldened Russia.
The agenda is a reflection of our current moment of flux. Sessions are focused on undersea warfare, space-based deterrence, and Al-driven defense tech – all areas that blur conventional boundaries of conflict. But while the optics favour renewed multilateralism, clear fault lines remain. Beijing’s absence at the defence ministerial level and its growing influence over regional trade routes point to a parallel diplomacy playing out beyond the confines of Western-led forums. The real takeaway may be less about discourse and more about how countries compensate by deepening ties without abandoning autonomy.
