State of Asia Address 2026

Asia is no longer simply adapting to changes in the international order. Increasingly, it is where that order is being shaped.

Our annual State of Asia Address creates space to step back from daily headlines and ask: what does it all add up to? Which forces are reshaping Asia, and what do they mean for countries, companies, institutions, and people in Switzerland and Europe?

On November 4, Asia Society Switzerland and the University of Zurich will proudly welcome Kevin Rudd, Global President and CEO of Asia Society, to deliver the 2026 State of Asia Address.

Rudd, a leading authority on China, is exceptionally well placed to assess the forces transforming the world. A former Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Australia, he recently completed three years as Australia’s Ambassador to the United States.

His Address comes as the global order is becoming more contested. China’s growing power and its competition with the United States remain central, but they are not the whole story. Regional powers are asserting greater agency, economic security is reshaping trade and investment, and technological change is creating new questions of power and governance.

Artificial intelligence is an increasingly important part of this picture. It promises major economic gains while creating military, cyber, and societal risks that national governments and international institutions are struggling to address.

For Europe, this is not a distant debate. Chinese industrial strength and rapidly shifting supply chains are creating new competitive pressures that are proving difficult to navigate.

The State of Asia Address offers a unique opportunity to hear one of the world’s most experienced and closely informed voices on Asia examine these questions and the prospects for cooperation in a more fragmented international order.

This event is open to the public and free of charge. Access is granted to registered guests on first-come, first-served basis. Please note that a ticket does not guarantee a seat for this event.

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The Honorable Dr. Kevin Rudd AC is a leading international authority on China. He currently serves as Global President and CEO of Asia Society. Asia Society was established in New York in 1956 and now operates across 16 centers with more than 250 staff around the world.

Rudd is also Founding President of the Asia Society Policy Institute, a "think-and-do tank" focused on U.S.-Asia relations, and the Founding Chair of its Center for China Analysis.

Rudd returned to lead Asia Society in March 2026 following three years as Australia’s Ambassador to the United States under the Trump and Biden Administrations. He previously served as Australia's 26th Prime Minister from 2007 to 2010 and as Foreign Minister from 2010 to 2012, before returning as Prime Minister in 2013.

He has published two books on U.S.-China relations, On Xi Jinping (2024) and The Avoidable War (2022), which have been translated into more than seven languages.

He is professionally proficient in Mandarin Chinese. In 2022 he was awarded his DPhil from Oxford University for his dissertation on Chinese President Xi Jinping’s ideological worldview.

Over the years, he has been extensively cited on China relations, appearing frequently on U.S. network television, in print media including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and the Financial Times, and across major outlets in India, Japan and across Europe.

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This event is co-organized by the University of Zurich and Asia Society Switzerland.