Assistant Secretary for Educational and Cultural Affairs Cate Dillon concluded a two-week tour of Cambodia, Malaysia, and Vietnam, according to the State Department’s public schedule. Cultural diplomacy is the least visible dimension of US foreign policy but the most durable: educational exchanges, cultural programs, and people-to-people connections create US relationships that outlast administration priorities and military deployments.
WHY SOUTHEAST ASIA
US cultural and educational diplomacy in Cambodia, Malaysia, and Vietnam in 2026 connects to specific US strategic interests: all three countries are part of the ASEAN framework that is central to US Indo-Pacific strategy; Vietnam in particular has become an important US manufacturing and trade partner as supply chains have diversified from China; Malaysia is a Muslim-majority country whose government’s positioning relative to US-Iran tensions affects regional alignment.
Cultural diplomacy is the slowest foreign policy. It is also the most persistent. The students from Cambodia, Malaysia, and Vietnam who participate in US educational exchanges this year will be the officials, executives, and journalists of those countries in 2036. That is the specific return on the investment.
| CONFIDENCE: HIGH | Dillon Cambodia Malaysia Vietnam two-week cultural diplomacy tour State Department public schedule confirmed reporting. |
SOURCES
▸ State Department public schedule — Dillon Southeast Asia cultural diplomacy tour, September 9, 2026
