The second Trump administration is overseeing a significant erosion of US connections to Southeast Asia through aggressive academic funding cuts, bureaucratic restructuring, and tightened immigration policies.
- Termination of $60 million in federal funding for National Resource Centres and foreign language fellowships.
- Closure of the Office of Multilateral Affairs and USAID, resulting in a loss of institutional memory.
- A 17 percent decline in new international student enrollments in 2025 alongside a surge in ICE arrests.
Dismantling Regional Expertise
The US is dismantling the intellectual foundation of its regional engagement by cutting funding for area studies. These programs originated from the 1958 National Defense Education Act and Title VI of the 1965 Higher Education Act.
The administration has terminated $60 million in federal funding for National Resource Centres (NRCs) and foreign language and area studies (FLAS) fellowships. This has caused immediate financial losses for the universities of Washington ($2.5 million), Michigan ($3.4 million), and Kansas ($2 million).
Even Cornell University, home to the oldest Southeast Asia program in the US, can no longer sustain its FLAS fellowships. Experts warn this thinning pipeline of scholars and diplomats risks a repeat of the Vietnam War, where Washington misread a nationalist struggle as a Cold War ideological conflict.
Bureaucratic Hollowing and Institutional Loss
Restructuring by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has significantly shrunk the State Department. This includes the closure of the Office of Multilateral Affairs, which managed engagement with ASEAN and diplomatic responses regarding the Mekong subregion and the South China Sea.
The shutdown of USAID has further erased decades of institutional memory and on-the-ground expertise. These closures have depleted the reservoir of seasoned practitioners who maintained US influence in the region.
Additionally, FY2025 saw total cuts of $100 million to flagship engagement programs. This included the curtailment of the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI), a program designed as “Seeds for the Future” to build long-term strategic networks with regional leaders.
Erosion of Soft Power and People-to-People Ties
American soft power is declining as international student enrollments fell by 17 percent in 2025. This decline is attributed to a predictable regulatory environment and a one-month suspension of new student visa interviews in May 2025.
Immigration enforcement has also intensified, with ICE arrests of Asian nationals surging from 2,000 in 2024 to over 7,000 in 2025. Reports indicate that Vietnamese, Lao, Filipino, and Cambodian communities, including green card holders, have been heavily affected .
In January 2026, the administration imposed an indefinite pause on immigrant visa processing for 75 countries, including Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar. Thailand’s foreign minister noted that the measure, which affected spousal and dependent visas, was “not good for the relationship.”
Discover more from Archyworldys
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
