Shangri-La Dialogue

The Shangri-La Dialogue 2026, held in Singapore on 30-31 May, became a platform for explicit US military signalling on Iran when Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth told delegates that the United States was 'more than capable' of resuming strikes on Iran and that its munition stocks were 'more than suited' to it. Hegseth linked the Strait of Hormuz situation directly to Taiwan as TWIN Indo-Pacific concerns, and said President Trump was 'being patient'. His remarks coincided with Trump's Situation Room meeting in Washington, reading as a coordinated diplomacy-or-force message. China sent only scholars to the dialogue for the second consecutive year, with no defence minister present; its delegation addressed multilateralism and Taiwan without mentioning Iran.

The Shangri-La Dialogue is convened annually by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) and takes its name from the Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore where it is held. Established in 2002, it is the premier track-1 security forum for the Asia-Pacific region, drawing defence ministers, chiefs of staff, and senior officials from more than 40 countries. Unlike the Munich Security Conference, which focuses on Euro-Atlantic security, the Shangri-La Dialogue addresses Indo-Pacific dynamics including maritime disputes, alliance management, and the US-China rivalry.

China's decision to send scholars rather than its defence minister for the second successive year reflected continuing tensions over Taiwan and its reluctance to be seen legitimising a US-framed multilateral security agenda. The 2026 dialogue's Iran dimension was unusual: the conflict sits outside the forum's traditional geographic REMIT but its implications for global energy supply and US force posture in the Indo-Pacific made it unavoidable.