Asia: Beyond the Headlines

Peter Dutton of the U.S. Naval War College; Atlantic foreign correspondent Robert D. Kaplan; Holly Morrow, Fellow at Harvard University's Belfer Center; and Zha Daojiong of Peking University (via Skype) examine ways in which the South China Sea dispute might be disentangled while avoiding a potentially disastrous conflict. Orville Schell, Director of Asia Society's Center on U.S.-China Relations, moderates the conversation.

Kevin Rudd, former Prime Minister of Australia (and a fluent Mandarin speaker), and Henry M. Paulson, Jr., former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and chairman of the Paulson Institute, assess the present state of China, its likely future, and what its rise to global prominence could mean for the rest of the world. In conjunction with United Nations General Assembly 2014.

Ambassador Hossein Mousavian, a former senior Iranian diplomat and nuclear negotiator, and Gary Sick, Iran expert and former National Security Council member, explore root causes of the misperceptions Iranians and Americans have of each other and the missed opportunities for dialogue over several decades. Hamid Biglari moderates the discussion. (1 hr., 12 min.)

LOS ANGELES, May 8, 2014 — In the keynote address of Asia Society's 2014 National Chinese Language Conference, former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who speaks fluent Mandarin, cautions against five commonly held misperceptions of China and speaks of language as "a doorway to understanding." (24 min., 44 sec.)

Following a New York City screening of his film "Documented," which recounts his arrival in the U.S. from the Philippines as a child and subsequent awakening as an immigration reform activist, journalist Jose Antonio Vargas discusses issues raised by the film with Asia Society's Tom Nagorski and the audience. Introduction by MTV President Stephen Friedman. (36 min., 11 sec.)

Afghan media mogul and entrepreneur Saad Mohseni; Aarya Nijat, Vice President and Co-Founder, Beikraan Inc.; and Faiysal AliKhan, Carnegie Fellow at the New America Foundation, talk to Asia Society Trustee Tom Freston about how the current generation of Afghanistan youth is working to rewrite expectations of their country's future. (1 hr., 25 min.)

On the eve of the drawdown of American troops in Afghanistan, U.S. General John Allen, former U.S. commander of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, joins Martha Raddatz of ABC News for a look at questions surrounding Afghanistan's future in general and its security situation in particular. (1 hr., 23 min.)

War correspondents Bob Woodruff and Mike Boettcher discuss their experience reporting from conflict zones in Afghanistan and Iraq. (1 hr., 21 min.)

Former nuclear negotiators Robert Einhorn and Hossein Mousavian, former U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Thomas R. Pickering and George Stephanopoulos of ABC News assess U.S.-Iran relations in the wake of the first public, high-level negotiations in more than 30 years. (1 hr., 18 min.)

One year after Xi Jinping became president of China, New Yorker staff writer Evan Osnos; Dr. Susan Shirk of UC San Diego; former U.S. Ambassador to China J. Stapleton Roy; and moderator Orville Schell assess China's leadership transition so far. (1 hr., 17 min.)

Iranian President Dr. Hassan Rouhani hails a "window of opportunity" to work with the West on Iran's nuclear program and alludes to the civil war in Syria before sitting down to a Q & A session with Asia Society President Josette Sheeran. (English - 1 hr., 27 min.)

Asia Society's Josette Sheeran moderates a discussion among Carolyn Brehm, Judith Cekfin, Tom Freston, U Wunna Maung Lwin and Zaw Oo on challenges and opportunities in Myanmar's reform and ways forward for development through responsible investment. Closing remarks by Rajiv Shah of USAID. (1 hr., 18 min.)

Dr. Zalmai Rassoul, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan, discusses the impending withdrawal of international forces from his country, and the upcoming presidential election, with John Hockenberry, host of public radio's The Takeaway. Tom Freston introduces the program. (1 hr., 5 min.)

Indonesian Foreign Minister Dr. Marty Natalegawa addresses Asia Society New York in conjunction with the opening of the 68th United Nations General Assembly. (1 hr., 4 min.)

Authors Orville Schell, Director of the Center on U.S.-China Relations at Asia Society, and John Delury, Assistant Professor of East Asian Studies at Yonsei University, in conversation with Jonathan Spence, Professor of History at Yale University, on their new book "Wealth and Power: China’s Long March to the Twenty-first Century." At Asia Society New York. (1 hr., 12 min.)

Former Governor of New Mexico Bill Richardson and Ambassador Donald P. Gregg, former U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea, analyze the present North Korea threat and discuss how it might be resolved. ABC News International Editor Jon Williams moderates the discussion. At Asia Society New York. (1 hr., 18 min.)

Vali Nasr, Dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), speaks with Mary Kissel of the Wall Street Journal about U.S. and Chinese priorities in light of the changing political situation in Iran, Syria, and throughout the Middle East region. Asia Society Trustee Hamid Biglari introduces the program. At Asia Society New York. (1 hr., 20 min.)

China experts James B. Steinberg, Susan Shirk, and Orville Schell assess likely outcomes of the summit meeting between presidents Obama and Xi Jinping scheduled for early June 2013. At Asia Society New York. (1 hr., 22 min.)

Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger outlines an uprecedented opportunity for the United States and China to collaborate on a new global order, and discusses what he sees as the two countries' differing approaches to solving problems. (10 min., 30 sec.)

Panelists Victor Fung, Jaana Remes, Orville Schell, Peter Seligmann, and Ma Xiuhong discuss potential areas for increased cooperation between the U.S. and China. Introductory remarks by former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, C.H. Tung, and others. At Asia Society New York. (1 hr., 55 min.)

In a major address at Asia Society, National Security Advisor Thomas Donilon outlines the Obama administration's views on the path ahead for the United States in Asia in the areas of security, democracy, trade, and economics. Following his remarks, he is joined in discussion by Suzanne DiMaggio, Asia Society’s Vice President of Global Policy Programs. (1 hr., 6 min.)

Iran's highest-ranking official in the United States, Ambassador to the United Nations Mohammad Khazaee, and former U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Thomas Pickering discuss Iran’s nuclear program, Syria, Afghanistan, and the future of U.S.-Iran relations. Award-winning journalist and author David Ignatius moderates. (1 hr., 43 min.)

Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar discusses the implications of the 2014 U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan, and what the pullout means for Pakistan's ongoing struggle against extremism, with Time magazine political columnist Joe Klein. (1 hr., 1 min.)

U.S. Ambassador to China Gary Locke assesses China's just-completed leadership transition with George Stephanopoulos of ABC News and Orville Schell, Director of Asia Society's Center on U.S.-China Relations. (1 hr., 23 min.)

U.S. Under Secretary Robert D. Hormats, Asia Society Senior Fellow Alexander Evans, former Pakistan Ambassador Husain Haqqani, and Foreign Affairs Advisor Frank G. Wisner discuss the prospects for achieving a strategic U.S. approach to South Asia and the hard choices an incoming administration will need to make to get there. At Asia Society New York. (1 hr., 25 min.)

Speaking through an interpreter, Myanmar President Thein Sein expresses his commitment to democratic reform and a "harmonious society." Asia Society's Suzanne DiMaggio moderates the ensuing Q & A session. At Asia Society New York. (53 min., 6 sec.)

Pakistan's Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar addresses key issues facing her country today, such as trade liberalization with India, U.S. drone strikes, and relations with Afghanistan. (56 min., 43 sec.)

Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra discusses key regional challenges such as tensions in the South China Sea and Myanmar's opening. Followed by a talk with former U.S. Ambassador to Thailand Eric G. John. At Asia Society New York. (43 min., 26 sec.)

Former Utah Governor, presidential candidate, and U.S. Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman reflects on trends in China, and what he learned in his service as Ambassador, in a talk with George Washington University's David Shambaugh. (1 hr., 23 min.)

Author, public intellectual, and Taiwan Minister of Culture Lung Yingtai shares her views on cross-Strait bridge-building and how she navigates between writing and politics. (1 hr., 28 min.)

In the wake of the Bo Xilai scandal, Ian Johnson, Roderick MacFarquhar and Orville Schell assess China's recent political upheavals and its upcoming change of leadership in a program introduced by Hugh Eakin of the New York Review of Books. (1 hr., 21 min.)

U.S. Under Secretary of Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment Robert D. Hormats looks back on 40 years of U.S.-China ties, and offers suggestions for moving the relationship forward, in prepared remarks and in conversation with Orville Schell, Director of Asia Society's Center on U.S.-China Relations. (1 hr., 25 min.)

Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Kevin Rudd assesses China's rise, America's "strategic pivot" towards East Asia, and recent developments in Myanmar. Introduced by former World Bank President and Asia Society Trustee James Wolfensohn. (1 hr., 17 min.)

Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger assesses 40 years of US-China relations with Orville Schell. (18 min., 13 sec.)

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton outlines current US policy in Afghanistan and Pakistan in the inaugural Richard C. Holbrooke Memorial Address. (57 min.)

Former Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia Anwar Ibrahim discusses whether popular uprisings in the Middle East hold any implications for Asian societies. (1 hr., 25 min.)

Commentator Thomas Friedman compares the relative situations of China and the United States with Orville Schell. At Asia Society New York. (1 hr., 25 min.)

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton delivers her first major foreign policy speech on the eve of her first visit to Asia as a member of President Obama's Cabinet. At Asia Society New York. (53 min., 53 sec.)