Not a Pawn: Southeast Asia in a World of Rising Great Power Tensions
March 17, 2022

Southeast Asia is a dynamic region that boasts of high-growth economies, interstate peace, and a remarkably successful regional organization — ASEAN. But the region now finds itself unwittingly on the frontline of a grand strategic competition. While China’s rise in particular poses an acute concern to the region, many Southeast Asian nations also strongly oppose the growing U.S.-China security competition that will likely be highly destabilizing and damaging to them. Southeast Asian states also want to partner with both the United States and China to address complex global challenges such as climate change and pandemics.

This webinar will be first in a series of three events produced as a part of a new partnership between the Quincy Institute and the Asian Peace Programme at the Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore.

1st APP ROUNDTABLE: ARI20 ANNIVERSARY ROUNDTABLE SERIES – The Idea of Peace in Asia
November 9, 2021

The 21st century is being marked by a decline in the primacy of the West and a corresponding return of Asia. From 1 AD to 1800 AD, China and India have been the two largest economies of the world. After 200 years of Western dominance, Asia is again set to return. However, this return of Asia is also marked by the threat of conflict: between US and China in the South China Sea and Taiwan Straits; between China and India; between China and Japan; and between India and Pakistan. If the rise of Asia is to be peaceful, these potential conflicts need to be managed. This roundtable discusses how the ‘Asian century’ can emerge in a peaceful manner. It asks: What does conflict resolution entail in the Asian context? Can Asia’s rise avoid a redux of the ‘Cold War’? How is the idea of ‘peace’ and ‘conflict’ resolution different in Asia, as compared to the West?