In advance of the upcoming Asian summit season, this policy brief reflects on US high-level diplomacy in the Indo-Pacific since the Obama Administration’s 'pivot' to the region was announced. Its findings emerge from a quantitative catalogue of 1,128 diplomatic meetings held across the Obama, Trump and Biden Administrations.

The paper begins by assessing the diplomatic activities of the Biden Administration’s most senior diplomats - the President, the Secretary of State, and the Secretary of Defense. It then compares the frequency, seniority and distribution of these international engagements with those held by their predecessors during the first 18 months of the Trump Administration and the first 18 months of President Obama’s second term. It concludes by contrasting US diplomacy in 2020 and 2021 to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on high-level engagement with the Indo-Pacific.