Midcoast Forum on Foreign Relations

Marvin C. Ott

June 13 at Noon: Point Lookout

Topic: The Strategic Arena No One Knows: China and Southeast Asia

MARVIN C. OTT —  Visiting Professor, Johns Hopkins University and Public Policy Scholar, Woodrow Wilson International Center.  Formerly Professor of National Security Policy, National War College and Faculty Fellow at the Institute for National and Strategic Studies, National Defense University.  Received Meritorious Civilian Service and Meritorious Joint Unit Service awards from the Department of Defense.

Dr. Ott held a number of professional positions before coming to the National War College.  He was associate professor at Mount Holyoke College, senior manager at the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins and American University, senior East Asia analyst at the CIA, consultant on Japan to the National Academy of Sciences, chairperson for Southeast Asia at the Foreign Service Institute (State Department), senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and most recently as Deputy Staff Director of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

He has lived and traveled widely in Asia and served as a civilian in Vietnam (Darlac Province) during the war.  He is the author of more than a hundred chapters, articles, monographs and op eds on international affairs – primarily East Asian, intelligence, and technology assessment related topics.

“Chinese leadership evokes the classic realists of 19th century Europe—vitally concerned with prerogatives of sovereignty and the sanctity of borders, animated by calculations of power and influence. From the standpoint of the Chinese regime, Southeast Asia is properly understood as a natural and rightful Chinese sphere of influence, a region where China’s interests are paramount.”  [From a recent Op-Ed in The International Herald Tribune]

Recent publications include a monograph on China’s Ambitions in the South China Sea published by the East-West Center, and Southeast Asian Security Challenges published by the National Defense University, a monograph entitled China and Southeast Asia published by Johns Hopkins and an article on Intelligence Oversight in The Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence .  He has been a regular commentator on Fox TV News and a periodic commentator on National Public Radio, BBC and CNN (Business Asia).    He speaks regularly to U.S. Government audiences on East Asian security issues.  He also writes a biweekly foreign policy column for The Ellsworth American (Maine).  His undergraduate education included Chung Chi College, Hong Kong.  He holds a masters degree and doctorate from The School of Advanced International Studies of The Johns Hopkins University.