Matthew F. FLEMING

Author: Matthew Fleming

  • U.S. Embassy Seoul | U.S.-ROK-Japan Maritime Cooperation

    U.S. Embassy Seoul | U.S.-ROK-Japan Maritime Cooperation

    From Coordination to Maritime Resilience

    Following its print launch at the 2026 Young Trilateral Leaders Summit, I am excited to share that our report is now available online on the Embassy of the United States, Seoul’s website in English, Korean, and Japanese.

    “U.S.-ROK-Japan Maritime Cooperation: From Coordination to Maritime Resilience” draws on two dialogue sessions held in June and July with emerging experts from across the region. Dongkeun Lee and I developed and co-led the project through the Indo-Pacific Minilateral Cooperation Ideas Lab at Northeastern University’s Center for International Affairs and World Cultures, and coauthored the report with two of the discussants, Richard Gray and ABHISHEK SHARMA.

    The project was funded through the Young Trilateral Leaders Alumni Project Fund, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, with assistance from the East-West Center.

    Thank you to everyone who contributed to the discussions that informed the report. I am also grateful to Shizuka Takada for authoring the Japanese translation, to Grace Lee and Abbigail (Hull) McCarty for their administrative assistance throughout the project, and to Director Maia Keapuolani Davis Cross and the Center for providing a space where emerging voices could come together.

    English Version: https://lnkd.in/g2SH6g4t

    Korean Version: https://lnkd.in/g4gf42ie

    Japanese Version: https://lnkd.in/gYcjS4fQ

    Read More About YTL: https://lnkd.in/gR6tGMZ6

    Read More About The Project: https://lnkd.in/g4MW7Rkv

    Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Government, the East-West Center, or all discussants and their affiliations. The appearance of U.S. Department of War visual information does not imply or constitute Department of War endorsement. Use of the cover image does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Coast Guard.

  • The 2026 Young Trilateral Leaders Summit

    The 2026 Young Trilateral Leaders Summit

    At the 2026 Young Trilateral Leaders Summit, I returned to YTL, this time as a Resident Expert and the designer of its tabletop exercise. I also launched the print editions of two reports at the summit, each funded by separate YTL Alumni Project Fund grants awarded in March.

    In my presentation, I highlighted how regional rhetoric shapes the political space in which states pursue their interests and build cooperation. The Indo-Pacific defines the regional frame by shaping who and what are understood to be part of the region. National approaches to a Free and Open Indo-Pacific are not identical, but they draw on a shared vocabulary that allows states to articulate shared vulnerabilities and challenges and to frame the pursuit of national interests as compatible with regional priorities and as contributing to regional public goods. Minilateral partnerships can then operationalize areas of overlap within that framework by translating selected priorities into practical initiatives.

    A flagship moment was the TTX I designed around four scenarios set in 2036. Delegates confronted linked crises spanning the effects of brain drain on scientific capacity, critical-mineral supply and processing, undersea-cable disruption, and a suspected quantum-enabled failure. Without key cooperative mechanisms in place, they had to make rapid decisions and accept trade-offs among competing needs. The exercise highlighted the costs of deferred cooperation. Over the next two days, across four subsequent project-development sessions, cross-national teams worked backward from those vulnerabilities to propose what the partnership should begin building now to strengthen technological resilience by 2036.

    For “Why Trilateralism Matters: A Roadmap for U.S.-ROK-Japan Cooperation,” I served as an editor and co-authored the Security Pillar with Ayumi Nagatomi, working with project lead Yun Kyung Kim, Kelsee Jordan Lee, and contributors across six pillars. Through the Indo-Pacific Minilateral Cooperation Ideas Lab at Northeastern University’s Center for International Affairs and World Cultures, Dongkeun Lee and I led two Emerging Experts Dialogue sessions and co-authored “U.S.-ROK-Japan Maritime Cooperation: From Coordination to Maritime Resilience.” Online English, Korean, and Japanese editions of both reports are forthcoming on the U.S. Embassy in Seoul’s website.

    I first joined YTL as a U.S. delegate at its inaugural 2024 summit in Busan, one of the people-to-people initiatives announced at Camp David in 2023. Returning as YTL completed its first three-country cycle (Busan in 2024, Osaka in 2025, and Honolulu in 2026) is especially meaningful.

    Thank you to the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo Japan and Embassy of the United States, Seoul, and the East-West Center, especially Adam Hennings, Grace Lee, Noyuri Mitsuhashi, and Abbigail (Hull) McCarty. I am grateful to fellow experts Martijn Rasserr, Tobias Peyerl, Sayuri Romei, Jeonghee Lim, and Jinwan Park.

  • Young Trilateral Leaders Alumni Workshop

    Young Trilateral Leaders Alumni Workshop

    On March 25-27th, I had the pleasure of participating in and presenting at the first Young Trilateral Leaders Alumni Workshop at the East-West Center in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi.

    The workshop brought together YTL alumni from across the United States, Japan, and the Republic of Korea to explore how emerging leaders can translate shared commitment to trilateral cooperation into concrete projects, policy dialogue, and public-facing outputs. Across the discussions, a recurring theme was the importance of transnational networks and people-to-people ties in sustaining U.S.-ROK-Japan cooperation through the communities and relationships that connect the three countries.

    As part of the first day of programming, I presented on the Indo-Pacific Minilateral Cooperation Ideas Lab at Northeastern University’s Center for International Affairs and World Cultures, discussing minilateral cooperation, regional security, and U.S.-ROK-Japan relations.

    As part of the first day of programming, I presented on the Indo-Pacific Minilateral Cooperation Ideas Lab at Northeastern University’s Center for International Affairs and World Cultures, discussing minilateral cooperation, regional security, and U.S.-ROK-Japan relations.

    I am also grateful that, following the workshop, my proposal was selected to receive support through the Young Trilateral Leaders Alumni Project Fund for future programming hosted by the Indo-Pacific Minilateral Cooperation Ideas Lab.

    Thank you to the East-West Center, the U.S. Department of State, Embassy of the United States, Seoul, U.S. Embassy in Tokyo Japan, and the broader Young Trilateral Leaders community.

    Read More: https://www.eastwestcenter.org/news/news-release/new-chapter-young-trilateral-leaders-network-alumni-workshop

  • Atlantic Council | A Next-Generation Agenda: South Korea-US-Australia Security Cooperation

    Atlantic Council | A Next-Generation Agenda: South Korea-US-Australia Security Cooperation

    Matthew F. Fleming was a contributor to the Atlantic Council’s A Next-Generation Agenda on South Korea-US-Australia Security Cooperation.

    There is great potential for expanded trilateral cooperation among the United States, South Korea, and Australia, but they will need to overcome the “tyranny of distance” and the resulting diverging threat perceptions. The three partners should do more to take advantage of the varied applications of critical and emerging technologies, as well as engage further with other partners in the region on these topics. The partners can focus their efforts on concretely developing cooperation through public-private collaboration through avenues such as defense industry cooperation, research and development (R&D), and infrastructure projects…

    Link to Read the Full Report: (Click Here)
  • The Diplomat | Pragmatism with Purpose: South Korea’s Opportunity to Lead in the Indo-Pacific

    The Diplomat | Pragmatism with Purpose: South Korea’s Opportunity to Lead in the Indo-Pacific

    Seoul has a chance to take a leading role in shaping the “Free and Open Indo-Pacific.

    South Korea must not relinquish its agency and allow others to define the Indo-Pacific without it. As President Lee Jae-myung has stated, South Korea “cannot repeat the mistakes of 120 years ago,” because “in the past, we failed to keep up with the changing international trends and were caught between the great powers and pushed around, ultimately losing our sovereignty.” 

    South Korea today possesses capabilities to navigate a volatile regional and international environment that its 19th-century self could only have dreamed of. South Korea has emerged as a G-20 economy, a leading actor in critical and emerging technologies of AI and semiconductors, and a global cultural exporter with soft power reaching far beyond Asia. It is also a resilient democracy that recently weathered the turbulence of a short-lived declaration of martial law by former President Yoon Suk-yeol, who was impeached for his constitutional violations. 

    However, Seoul has not consistently translated its strengths into regional agenda-setting or leadership that reflects its substantial economic, cultural, and security advancements. Yoon began to change this oversight with the Camp David Summit, South Korea’s first Indo-Pacific Strategy, and founding membership in the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework. It will be under Lee that South Korea’s larger regional role can truly start to take shape…

    Link to Read the Full Article: (Click Here)

  • Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs | A Policy Framework for International Cooperation in Space Biotechnology

    Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs | A Policy Framework for International Cooperation in Space Biotechnology

    Matthew F. Fleming was a Research Assistant at the Center for International Affairs & World Cultures, were he supported the research and coordination behind this project.

    Biotechnology is an indispensable tool for long-term human space exploration, especially if the goal is for humans to not only be able to survive in space, but to flourish. At the intersection of simultaneous advancements in both space and biotech is the capacity to engineer closed-loop space systems that generate food, oxygen, medicine, habitats, and other materials sustainably without having to bring everything from Earth. Future scientific, resource, and security benefits are tremendous, but there are also many ethical risks. In this report, a team of interdisciplinary experts in the fields of political science, international affairs, biotechnology, philosophy, ethics, environmental science, and chemistry, argue that deeper and deliberate international and transnational cooperation will be crucially important to expand space diplomacy and governance as the genomic and space revolutions collide.

    Link to Read the Full Report: (Click Here)
  • Pacific Forum | Integrated Deterrence and Minilateralism: Three Years of Indo-Pacific Security in a Networked Way

    Pacific Forum | Integrated Deterrence and Minilateralism: Three Years of Indo-Pacific Security in a Networked Way

    In the 2022 U.S. National Security Strategy (NSS), the terms “deter,” “deterrence,” and “deterrent” are used forty-two times across its forty-eight pages, applying to broad ideas of aggression, conflict, and coercion, as well as more specific attacks and issues related to biological warfare capabilities, cyberattacks, and domestic terrorism. Introducing the concept of “integrated deterrence,” the 2022 NSS lays out a National Defense Strategy (NDS) intended to go beyond reliance “solely on conventional forces and nuclear deterrence,” aiming to “effectively coordinate, network, and innovate” by integrating capabilities across domains, regions, the spectrum of conflict, the U.S. government, and its allies and partners.

    On December 10-11, 2024, the Center for Global Security Research (CGSR) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) convened its workshop, Deterrence in the 2025 National Defense Strategy Review. This two-day workshop featured in-depth discussions on lessons from integrated deterrence, challenges in adapting deterrence strategies, and priorities for enhancing both conventional and nuclear deterrence in response to evolving threats. While key takeaways from this workshop can be found in the center’s Workshop Summary, this blog aims to emphasize further the crucial role that building minilateralism in the Indo-Pacific region plays in the ongoing implementation of a U.S. strategy for integrated deterrence, which seeks to better integrate its allies and partners in a ‘networked way’…

    Link to Read the Full Report: (Click Here)

  • CDA Institute | Navigating Instability with Resilient Optimism Post-Trump Election: Indo-Pacific Minilateralism & the U.S.-ROK-Japan Trilateral in a Shifting Political Landscape

    CDA Institute | Navigating Instability with Resilient Optimism Post-Trump Election: Indo-Pacific Minilateralism & the U.S.-ROK-Japan Trilateral in a Shifting Political Landscape

    Donald Trump will retake office at the start of 2025 as the 47th U.S. President. At the end of his previous presidency in 2020, pessimism about the future of the global order was high. The past four years of the United States’ deteriorating relations with China, threats to withdraw from multilateral organizations, and the emphasis on equal, reciprocal, and proportional burden-sharing with allies fueled these concerns. These concerns only intensified as the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted vulnerabilities to constructive international cooperation in an era of great power rivalry. Leading up to the 2024 U.S. election, this ever-increasing perception of current affairs as one of instability remained a prominent characterization. A sentiment that once focused on the threat to international cooperation posed by the Trump presidency and exacerbated by the later pandemic continued on a larger scale due to the emergence of multiple global crises: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, deteriorating inter-Korean relations amid North Korean threats, the militarization of the South China Sea, and increasing tensions between the United States and China. With Trump’s return to the White House, the growing concern about further instability and disruption to U.S. foreign policy that his election will bring is rightly being considered and debated.

    However, despite the dominance of focusing on instability and justified concern over the disruption his administration might bring, a contrary, more optimistic perspective still deserves reiteration. Over the last four years, an undercurrent of optimism has emerged, focusing on rapid development and resilience building with our partners and allies. The world has witnessed remarkable international collaboration in developing and distributing COVID-19 vaccines, widespread condemnation of Russia’s actions, support for the Ukrainian defense, and coordinated humanitarian efforts in conflict zones. However, what is more interesting is the critical driver of resilience beyond traditional, pre-existing international multilateral structures, evident in the growing prevalence of more targeted, regionally focused, smaller formulas of partnership based on shared interests, termed minilateralism. Notably, initiatives such as AUKUS, the QUAD, and the U.S.-ROK-Japan trilateral partnership have propelled a vision of a Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) and highlighted the importance of countries adopting Indo-Pacific Strategies (IPS). This networked approach, characterized by an overlapping and ‘latticework’ of minilateral cooperation centered in the vital region of the Indo-Pacific, exemplifies a proactive, inclusive, and resilient response taking place amid great power competition and instability concerns…

    To Read the Full Report: (Click Here)

  • U.S.-ROK-Japan Trilateral Global Leadership Youth Summit

    U.S.-ROK-Japan Trilateral Global Leadership Youth Summit

    As a U.S. delegate at the inaugural U.S.-ROK-Japan Trilateral Global Leadership Youth Summit in Busan, South Korea, I had the privilege to:

    • Moderate a fireside chat with U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea, Philip S. Goldberg, discussing the crucial role of the U.S.-ROK-Japan trilateral relationship. (See my previous post for additional photos and information.)
    • Receive a letter from U.S. President Joseph Biden commending our cohort for shaping the future of the U.S.-ROK-Japan partnership and recognizing the importance of our contributions to strengthening trilateral cooperation.
    • Serve on the facilitating panel for the Camp David Summit Plus simulation at the Nurimaru APEC House, guiding negotiations and providing recommendations among the U.S., the ROK, and Japan delegations.
    • Co-author the final report titled “Roadmap for the Trilateral Partnership,” summarizing the policy recommendations proposed, negotiated, and agreed upon during the simulation.
    • Co-develop a policy proposal on the potential impact and benefits of a Trilateral Nuclear Consultative Group for expanded security cooperation and human security, presented during the Camp David Pitch Competition.
    • Engage in four monthly workshops with the East-West Center, focusing on the intersection of diplomacy, security, climate change, and technological innovation within the trilateral relationship.

    The Summit featured invaluable contributions from Deputy Prime Minister of Korea Ju-Ho Lee, U.S. State Department Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Elizabeth Allen, U.S. Ambassador to Korea Philip Goldberg, U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel, Japanese Ambassador to Korea Koichi Mizushima, Busan Mayor Heong-joon Park, and U.S. State Department Special Envoy for Global Youth Issues Abby Finkenauer.

    I am deeply grateful to the East-West Center in Washington, the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo Japan, the Embassy of the United States, Seoul, the Ministry of Education, Korea, and the National Institute for International Education (NIIED) for making this opportunity possible. More about YOUNG TRILATERAL LEADERS (YTL).

  • Fireside Chat with Philip S. Goldberg, The U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea

    Fireside Chat with Philip S. Goldberg, The U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea

    The Importance of the U.S.-ROK-Japan Trilateral Relationship

    I had the honor of moderating a Fireside Chat with the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea, Philip S. Goldberg, on the importance of the U.S.-ROK-Japan trilateral relationship.

    Our conversation covered vital topics, including the threat posed by aggressive actors to security issues in Northeast Asia and regional stability, the impact of upcoming elections on the resilience of this new era of US-ROK-Japan relations, and the trilateral relationship’s role in cooperation with Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands. Emphasis was also placed on the importance of people-to-people collaboration and youth engagement in building on the progress achieved between our three nations and pursuing a free and open Indo-Pacific region.

    I would like to express my gratitude to the Embassy of the United States Seoul staff for presenting me with this opportunity. Special thanks to Grace Lee, Public Diplomacy Officer Joshua Lustig, and the U.S. Consulate in Busan’s Principal Officer Nolan Barkhouse for their support and guidance. Additionally, thank you to the East-West Center for selecting me as a U.S. Delegate at this summit and facilitating this incredible opportunity.

    This Fireside Chat was a key component of the US-ROK-Japan Trilateral Global Leadership Youth Summit, which featured a range of significant events over three days. I look forward to fully reflecting on the summit and its highlights in a future post.