The US-Asia Institute’s 101 Series is an annual introductory professional development program that aims to educate Congressional staff members on key areas in US-Asia relations. The 101 series introduces and discusses critical aspects of contemporary Asia and explores their impact on the United States. It takes a historic perspective to provide broad overviews of various countries, regions, and key issue areas including China, India, Japan, Korea, ASEAN, Central Asia, and US-Asia Trade.
It is off-the-record and exclusively open to Congressional staff. More than 1,200 people attend the series annually. Those who attend a pre-determined number of the sessions receive a Professional Development Certificate in recognition of their participation. Many participants will be eligible for consideration by USAI for Congressional staff delegations to Asia.
Learn More About Our Recent Congressional 101 Briefing Series: Central Asia 101, US-Asia Trade 101, China 101, ASEAN 101, Korea 101, India 101, Japan 101
The series provides a chance to have an interactive dialogue with diverse experts with firsthand knowledge of East and Southeast Asia. The sessions feature a wide variety of practitioners and think tank, research, and analyst experts. Past speakers have included experts as varied in their experience, perspectives and presentations as:
Ambassador Stapleton Roy, Career Ambassador and Founding Director Emeritus of the Kissinger Institute on China
His Excellency Ashok Kumar Mirpuri, Ambassador of Singapore to the United States
Robert Daly, Director, Kissinger Institute on China and the US, Wilson Center
Susan Thornton, Visiting Lecturer in Law, Yale Law School; Senior Fellow, Paul Tsai China Center; Former Acting Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs
Dr. Shao Yuqun, Director of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau Studies, Shanghai Institutes for International Studies; Senior Member, Center for American Studies
Sheila Smith, Ph.D., Senior Fellow of Japan Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations
David Dollar, Ph.D., Senior Fellow, John L. Thornton China Center, Brookings Institution
Ambassador James Zumwalt, CEO, Sasakawa Peace Foundation
Meredith Sumpter, Director, Asia Practice, Eurasia Group
Robert Sutter, Ph.D., Professor, Elliott School of International Affairs George Washington University
Ernie Bower, BowerGroupAsia
Victor Cha, Ph.D., Senior Advisor and Korea Chair, CSIS
Robert Keatley, Former Editor of the South China Morning Post and Wall Street Journal Asia
Cheng Li, Ph.D., Director, John L. Thornton China Center; Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy Program, Brookings Institution
Pek Koon Heng-Blackburn, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, School of International Service, American University
Admiral Dennis Blair, Chairman, Sasakawa Peace Foundation
J. James Kim, Ph.D., Asan Institute for Policy Studies
Prashanth Parmeswaran, the Diplomat
Richard Nash, Vice President of the Global Government Relations Group for PayPal
Yun Sun, Ph.D., Senior Fellow and Co-Director of the East Asia Program and Director of the China Program, Stimson Center
Erin Ennis, Senior Vice President of the US-China Business Council
Thank you to the US-Japan Caucus, Congressional Caucus on Korea, Congressional Caucus on ASEAN, and the House and Senate US-China Working Groups for your partnership and support of the 101 Congressional Briefing Series.
