President Barack Obama talks with Captain Vince Sibala on the bridge of the BRP Gregorio del Pilar (PF-15), during a tour of the ship in Manila Harbor, Philippines, November 17, 2015. White House Photo by Pete Souza, U.S. Government Work.

President Obama is in Asia this week to participate in the Asia Pacific Economic Community (APEC) leaders summit in the Philippines, and the East Asia Summit (EAS) in Malaysia. The CSIS Asia program has prepared resources and essays to aid understanding the background and potential objectives for the trip.  Our cogitASIA contributors Michael Green, Ernest Bower, and Matthew Goodman participated in a press briefing on trip for which you can read the transcript here.

On CSIS’s Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative microsite, guest author Richard Javad Heydarian argues that the regional summits could provide a relief valve and the opportunity for China, the United States, and the Philippines, among others, to engage constructively to offset the tension building in the South China Sea.

CSIS Chair for Southeast Asia Studies scholars Murray Hiebert and Phuong Nguyen argue that the victory of Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party in recent landmark elections offer a window to envisage a new chapter in U.S.-Myanmar relations.

Over on CogitAsia, we have a brief piece that provides a rundown of APEC 2015 by the numbers here.

CSIS also released our annual Global Forecast for 2016 this week, which looks at geopolitical and economic challenges with China, North Korea, India, Central Asia, and Southeast Asia in the year to come. Read the full volume here.