Announcements

The RSIS Centre for NTS Studies will be organising ICAFS 2014 (International Conference on Asian Food Security 2014) Towards Asia 2025: Policy and Technology Imperatives on 21-22 August 2014 in Singapore. This second ICAFS will assess challenges and trends in the region's food security while focusing strongly on Asia's response towards the thinking horizon of 2025.

Registration has commenced (enjoy early bird rates before 30 April). Click here to book your participation.
 

The RSIS Centre for NTS Studies and IAR, UBC, will be organising the 2014 ASEAN-Canada Forum on ‘Natural Resources Management for Sustainable Growth’ on 24–25 July 2014. This Forum forms part of activities conducted under the 2012-15 ASEAN-Canada Research Partnership.

Click here for more event information.

The RSIS Centre for NTS Studies, together with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) are organising a Consultative Roundtable on ‘The Humanitarian Dimension and Victim Protection aspects of Trafficking in Persons’ on 26–27 June 2014.

Click here for more information.

Research Fellow / Associate Research Fellow Positions Open for Food Security and Climate Change

Credit: marthasadie/flickr.com

The RSIS Centre for Non-Traditional Security (NTS) Studies is seeking suitable candidates for its Food Security and Climate Change as well as Food Security research positions.

Please click here for more information.

2013-14 ASEAN-Canada Junior Fellow, Ms Shelly Hsieh, gave a seminar based on her research findings for her project on ‘Prospects for Market-based Carbon Management in Indonesia and Thailand’ on 9 May 2014.

Click here for more information.

	A/P Caballero-Anthony (second from right) with the rest of the seminar speakers.

Head of Centre, A/P Mely Caballero-Anthony participated in a Seminar on ‘Region-building and Regional Integration in Africa’ organised by the Centre for Conflict Resolution (CCR) in Cape Town, South Africa in April 2014.

Click here for more information.

The RSIS Centre for NTS Studies is organising a Workshop on ‘Community Resilience and Human Security: From Complex Humanitarian Emergencies to Sustainable Peace and Development’ on 10–11 April 2014. It seeks to explore community-based initiatives in Asian cities and formulate recommendations to address difficulties in upscaling/ mainstreaming such initiatives.

Click here for more information.

Head of Centre, A/P Mely Caballero-Anthony participated in the 61th Session of the UN Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters in her capacity as a Member of the Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters. 

Click here to read more.

	Source: Wikimedia Commons/Jaryiahr Khan

In Asia, states are increasingly vulnerable to water insecurity from the river Jordan to the Mekong. In response to this, the RSIS Centre for NTS Studies and APU are co-organising a workshop on 25-26 February to explore key water security issues to promote cooperation and deter conflict. Click here for more information.

	Credit: Jaime Goloyugo

The RSIS Centre for NTS Studies is organising a Seminar on 'Dealing with Climate Risks: The Prospects for Climate Diplomacy' on 28 November 2013 (Thursday) in RSIS. The seminar will seek to outline some of the key potential tasks for climate diplomacy in the future that are needed to complement the negotiations for a comprehensive, global climate agreement.

Click here for more seminar information.

The future of energy will increasingly be shaped in Asia, where the energy demand continues to rise in tandem with robust economic growth. Understanding these new energy opportunities and challenges will be the focus at this year’s 6th Singapore International Energy Week (SIEW). SIEW 2013 will drive discussions and debates around the theme ‘New Horizons in Energy’. 

Click here for more information.

	Flickr/ World Bank

The RSIS Centre for NTS Studies is organising an inception meeting on 17 October 2013 to discuss the possible programme, themes, anticipated outcomes, etc., for the second International Conference on Asian Food Security (ICAFS) slated to be held on 20–22 August 2014.

Please click here for more information.

This talk by Dr Laura Sjoberg (Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Florida) discusses accounting for dyadic-level (or between-states) causes of war through gendered lenses as both international and relational. In it, the speaker argues that, gender is a key feature of the relationships between states, and a key dyadic-level factor in the making of conflicts and the fighting of wars.

Click here to find out more about the seminar.

An NTS delegation comprising Dr J. Jackson Ewing (Research Fellow), Mr Pau Khan Khup Hangzo (Associate Research Fellow) and Margareth Sembiring (Research Analyst), visited the Maritime Institute of Malaysia (MIMA) in Kuala Lumpur on 23 September, as part their research on the environmental impact of the Iskandar Development project in Johor.

Click here to read more

The RSIS Centre for NTS Studies is organising a Symposium on Metro Agriculture and Urban Food Security on 5 September in NTU. The event will serve as a forum for stakeholders in Singapore to share their interests in urban farming and food security and to identify potential collaboration with each other and other urban zones involved in the Global Innoversity project. 

Click here for more information.

This seminar, to be held on 3 September, will address the critical need for greater knowledge and understanding of how the contemporary Indonesian legal system is dealing with the crime of people smuggling. While incidents of people smuggling have increased across the region, little is known about how Indonesia, as one of the central departure points for asylum seekers intending to travel on to Australia, is addressing this issue.

Registration is now open. Click here for more information on the seminar.

In examining the ‘ecological footprint’ of Chinese overseas investments in the Mekong region’s hydropower sector, this seminar, to be held on 19 August, explores how Chinese dam developers have been compelled to address mounting external pressure to adopt policies more closely aligned with emerging norms on ‘responsible’ investment.

The RSIS Centre for NTS Studies and the Institute of Asian Research (IAR) in the University of British Columbia (UBC) co-organised the 2013 Advisory Committee Meeting and ASEAN-Canada Forum. Hosted by the Tri Viet Institute for International Studies and Exchange, Ton Duc Thang University, the meetings were held in Vietnam on 19–21 August 2013.

Click here for more information on the event.

Dr J. Jackson Ewing, Research Fellow in the Centre, presented on ‘Eating in the “Little Red Dot”: Singapore Searches for Food Security in the face of Land Scarcity’ as part of the Global Innoversity programme hosted by Michigan State University and supported by Nanyang Technological University.

Click here for the presentation.

Head of Centre, Prof. Mely Caballero-Anthony participated in the 60th Session of the UN Advisory Board on Disarmament and Security in her capacity as a Member of the 2013 Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters. The meeting was held on 26–28 June 2013 in Geneva, Switzerland. 

Click here for more information.

A chapter on ‘Community Engagement and Environmental Management’ in resource-rich countries such as Myanmar has been published in the World Economic Forum (WEF) report on ‘Natural Riches: Perspectives on Responsible Resource Management in Conflict-affected Countries. The chapter was written by Prof. Mely Caballero-Anthony, Dr J. Jackson Ewing, Dr Alistair Cook and Mr Pau Khan Khup Hangzo. They are respectively, the Head of Centre, Research Fellow, Adjunct Research Fellow and Associate Research Fellow, in the RSIS Centre for NTS Studies.

Click here to read the chapter (pp 45–7).

This meeting, to be organised by the RSIS Centre for NTS Studies on 5–6 June in Manila, seeks to explore which elements of climate change (scenarios or events) may impact the components of the food ecosystem, and in doing so, affect the food security of ASEAN. 

Click here for more information

This meeting, to be organised by the RSIS Centre for NTS Studies on 3–4 June in Manila, seeks to explores which elements of the AEC may impact one or more of the components of the food ecosystem, and in doing so, affect the food security of the ASEAN region generally, and Singapore more specifically (as a case study country which imports over 90 per cent of its food).

Click here for more information

Junior Fellows with trainer Michael Sjoerdsma (third from left) at the workshop.

The RSIS Centre for NTS Studies together with the Institute of Asian Research, University of British Columbia (UBC), organised a five-day training workshop in May for junior fellows of the ASEAN-Canada Research Partnership in UBC, Vancouver.

Click here to read more.

	City view of Dhaka Credit: Kibae Park/ UN Photo

This Expert Working Group Meeting, to be organised on 22–23 April, in Singapore, will focus on environmental challenges facing Southeast Asia’s urban spaces. This meeting will explore the need to build resilience in key physical and social urban systems.

Click here for more information.

The transformation of conflicts since the end of the Cold War has brought new imperatives for the international system in the management and resolution of conflicts. The root causes have become more complex as myriad actors with varying goals are involved, while the effects of these conflicts are increasingly transnational. This roundtable with a presentation by Prof. Ibrahim Gambari will explore ways to enhance existing mechanisms and the need for new frameworks and policy options.

Click here for more information.

The Centre now has its own blog to provide an online platform for a multiplicity of young voices on increasingly pressing NTS issues endemic in the region. Contributors include the centre’s researchers as well as junior fellows from the ASEAN-Canada Research Partnership. This blog is a natural expansion of the MacArthur Asia Security Initiative Blog which started in 2009. Topics discussed cover a wide spectrum, from disaster preparedness, energy security post-Fukushima, perceptions of ASEAN inequality to tobacco packaging in Australia.

Click here to access the blog.

ISEAS recently published a book titled Non-Traditional Security in Asia: Issues, Challenges and Framework for Action. The book is a collection of the Centre’s research on non-traditional security issues and challenges in the region.

Click here to read more.

An abridged version of an article on Singapore’s water experience written by Prof. Mely Caballero-Anthony (Head of Centre) and PK Hangzo (Associate Research Fellow) was featured in the February/March 2013 edition of Engineering World.

Click here to read more.

Head of Centre, Prof. Mely Caballero-Anthony, participated in the 59th Session of the United Nations Secretary General Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters (ABDM), in New York on 27 February to 1 March. She has been appointed a Member of this UN Advisory Board by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for a three-year term beginning 1 January 2013.

Click here for more information.

	Credit: Comprock.

This seminar, to be organised on 25 February 2013, will discuss the findings from the CISS Australia 2011–2012 Project on ‘Food Security in Asia’. The project investigated ways in which food-related policies in the region intersect with local and regional food security dynamics, and the impact on local communities and across the wider region.

Click here for more information

4 senior scholars from ASEAN and Canada have been selected for the 2012–13 ASEAN-Canada Senior Fellowship Programme coordinated by the RSIS Centre for NTS Studies. Senior fellows will be writing policy papers to address this round's theme of ‘Towards Balanced Growth – Alternative Development Models and Redistribution Mechanisms’ in their projects.

Click here for more information.

Head of Centre, Prof. Mely Caballero-Anthony, was the key resource person in the training programme on ‘Myanmar Leadership Course on Climate Change’, organised by the Partnership for International Strategies in Asia (PISA) in Myanmar on 18–22 February 2013.

Click here for more information.

9 young scholars from ASEAN and Canada have been selected for the 2012–13 ASEAN-Canada Junior Fellowship Programme coordinated by the RSIS Centre for NTS Studies. Junior fellows will be addressing the theme of ‘Towards Balanced Growth – Alternative Development Models and Redistribution Mechanisms’ in their projects.

Click here for more information.

Prof. Mely Caballero-Anthony, Head of the RSIS Centre for NTS Studies, has been appointed a Member of the UN Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for a three-year term beginning 1 January 2013.

Established in 1978 pursuant to paragraph 124 of the Final Document of the tenth special session of the General Assembly, the Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters received its current mandate pursuant to Assembly decision 54/418 of 1 December 1999.

Click here to read more.

The Consultation on ‘Pandemics as Threats to Regional and National Security’ held in Manila in January 2013, supports the continued international agenda for a coordinated, multisectoral pandemic preparedness and response plan. The event was organised by the United States Department of Health and Human Services (USDHHS) and the USAID-funded International Medical Corps’ PREPARE Project, in close cooperation with the ASEAN Secretariat, and with the epistemic support and participation of the RSIS Centre for NTS Studies.

Click here to read more.

In December 2012, the RSIS Centre for NTS Studies became a partner of the global SAVE FOOD initiative. SAVE FOOD is a campaign instituted by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) and Messe Düsseldorf GmbH to fight global food wastage at all points along supply chains. 

Click here for more information.

This event on 30 November will see Dr Hans Günter Brauch delivering a seminar on Business-as-Usual vs. Sustainability Transition in the Context of the Nexus between Climate Change and Energy Security’. The seminar will be followed by a launch of two books that look at the issue of energy with a non-traditional security perspective.

Click here for more information.

	Credit: digital.democracy/flickr

The RSIS Centre for NTS Studies is hosting a closed-door Roundtable Discussion on ‘Managing Cross-Border Movements of People: Promoting Capacity and Response for Irregular Migration’ on 19–20 November 2012 to address the conceptual ambiguities on irregular migration and emerging trends in movements of people, as well as assess existing responses to the broad range of movements of people in the Asia-Pacific region.

Click here for more information.

This seminar on 5 November 2012 will see Dr Sara Davies (Senior Research Fellow, Griffith Asia Institute, Griffith University; Program Convenor, Prevention of Mass Atrocities Workstream, Asia Pacific Centre for the Responsibility to Protect) examining the evolving notion of ‘duty to report’ amongst states in the event of novel infectious disease outbreaks.

Click here for more information.

	Credit: Eskinder Debebe/ UN Photo

This seminar on the Responsibility to Protect (RtoP) will see Prof. Alex Bellamy, Professor of International Security and Director of the Human Protection Hub at the Griffith Asia Institute, Griffith University, Australia, briefly summarising progress thus far since the formal adoption of RtoP in 2005 and providing an overview of some of the critical debates about its implementation and conceptual development. The seminar will be held on 2 Nov at the RSIS Centre for NTS Studies.

Click here for more information.

	Credit: Aquafornia/flickr

The RSIS Centre for NTS Studies is organising a Seminar on ‘Risk and Resilience: Securing Energy in Insecure Spaces’. This seminar is organised for government representatives from defence and security agencies in the region.

Click here for more details.

Head of Centre, Prof. Mely Caballero-Anthony, was in New York on 23–25 October to speak in an Inter-Regional Workshop on ‘Regional Organizations and Inclusive Political Participation and Representation’ organised by International IDEA. The workshop is an activity of the Inter-Regional Dialogue on Democracy.

Click here for more information.

Head of Centre, Prof. Mely Caballero-Anthony, was in Washington, DC, recently to speak in the second meeting of the Global Health Norm Setting Roundtable Series, ‘Establishing Health Norms at the Regional Level: The Cases of Africa and Southeast Asia’. The meeting focused on two regions that are prone to public health threats, i.e., sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia.

Click here for more information.

	Credit: mark navales/flickr

The long-running, intermittent peace process between the Philippine government and Muslim separatist movements once again looks close to a breakthrough agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). In this seminar, Dr Steven Rood who represents The Asia Foundation on the International Contact Group for negotiations between the government and the MILF will assess both the current state of play and medium-term prospects for peace in Mindanao.

Click here for more details.

The 18th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), or COP18, to be held in Doha in November 2012 represents yet another opportunity to move forward on the climate change agenda. The disappointments of Copenhagen, Cancun and Durban had swept whatever progress previous COPs had been able to achieve under the rug, and placed the relevance of the UNFCCC process under question. In this RSIS Distinguished Public Lecture, the Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC, Ms Christiana Figueres, takes on this issue through focusing on three themes: the status and progress of climate change negotiations; why a multilateral process is essential; and the critical role of the private sector in facilitating progress towards the low-carbon tipping point.

Click here for more information.

This year’s Singapore Global Dialogue (SGD) saw Head of the RSIS Centre for NTS Studies, Assoc. Prof. Mely Caballero-Anthony, speaking at the session on ‘Contemporary Global Challenges’.

She noted that even as the need to address non-traditional security threats become more salient, international negotiations have been hamstrung by parochial interests and differences in norms and values.

Click here for more information.

	Credit: Paul Teng, NTU/NIE.

The RSIS Centre for NTS Studies is hosting a closed Expert Working Group Meeting in Singapore on 23–24 August 2012 to address the loss and wastage of food in Southeast Asia. The Meeting is being convened with support from Singapore’s National Security Coordination Secretariat (NSCS).

Click here for more information.

The RSIS Centre for NTS Studies participated in the Sustainable Earth Peak* Launch on Saturday, 18 August, an event which officially launched NTU’s comprehensive sustainability enterprise led by the Sustainable Earth Office (SEO).

Launch activities included a concert and an exhibition that showcased the various projects involved in the Sustainable Earth Peak project. The event was attended by Mr Choi Shing Kwok, Permanent Secretary from the Singapore Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources (MEWR).

Please click here for more information.

	Credit: o d b/ flickr

The Beijing Policy Roundtable on Non-Traditional Security, to be held on 30­–31 July 2012, seeks to engage various scholars and non-traditional security (NTS) practitioners to discuss the latest NTS concerns as well as the research outcomes of the RSIS Centre for NTS Studies’ programmes on Internal and Cross-border Conflict; Climate Change, Environmental Security and Natural Disasters; and Energy and Human Security.

Click here for more information.

The deadline for proposal submissions for the Junior Fellowship under the ASEAN-Canada Research Partnership has been extended to 31 August 2012 (Friday).

Supported by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada, the 2012–2013 junior fellowship is one of several key activities conducted under the ASEAN-Canada Research Partnership. To reflect on ASEAN and Canada’s priorities and/or expertise, this year's fellowship focuses on the theme of ‘Towards Balanced Growth – Alternative Development Models and Redistribution Mechanisms’.

Click here for more information on how to apply for the scholarship.

Associate Professor Mely Caballero-Anthony, Head of the RSIS Centre for NTS Studies, and Mr P.K. Hangzo, Associate Research Fellow at the Centre, recently presented a lecture at the 4th Workshop of the Global Alliance of Technological Universities (GlobalTech). The workshop, held on 25 June 2012, was themed ‘Challenges and solutions for sustainable water management in urban centres’.

Click here for more information.

Following the launch of the ASEAN-Canada Research Partnership in January 2012 at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta, the Partnership’s Advisory Committee (AC) gathered in Bangkok on 9 June 2012 to discuss the necessary steps for operationalising its framework. The AC discussed the broader context and rationale for the ASEAN-Canada Research Partnership and outlined the modalities of all activities lined up for the initiative. Activities to be rolled out in the next 3 years include Junior and Senior Research Fellowships, Research Workshops and ASEAN-Canada Forums.

Click here to read more.

Assoc. Prof. Mely Caballero Anthony, returns to head the RSIS Centre for NTS Studies, fresh from her secondment to the ASEAN Secretariat as Director of External Relations.

'Working in the ASEAN Secretariat has been a very enriching experience, where one deals directly with political and security issues and policies at the highest levels. It helps one appreciate the intricacies of regional cooperation. I am very happy to be back at RSIS and to once again lead the work of the Centre for NTS Studies,' she says.

To be held on 10 May, this seminar will discuss the International Rice Research Institute’s (IRRI, Philippines) information gateway initiative which began in late 2010 with active support from many research partners around the world. The components of this initiative will allow for the analysis of a variety of subjects related to domestic and trade policies, marketing, and food security. Reliable, real-time estimates on rice production will also be more readily available. This would enable policymakers to design mitigation mechanisms for farmers and make informed decisions on whether or not to impose trade restrictions and prevent excessive stockpiling to secure the domestic food supply.

Read more.

On 11 March 2011, a massive earthquake struck the Tohoku region of Japan. The giant tsunami that resulted caused a disaster of unprecedented proportions. Japan has experienced countless earthquakes and tsunamis throughout its history and has expended considerable energy into preparations against them. It also possessed a certain degree of knowhow in managing the crises surrounding natural disasters.

Read more.

The RSIS Centre for NTS Studies will host a high-level closed-door Expert Working Group Meeting on 22-23 March 2012 to discuss the viability of establishing an international rice futures market in Southeast Asia. The Meeting is being convened with support from Singapore’s National Security Coordination Secretariat.

The ASEAN-Canada Research Partnership was launched on 20 January 2012 at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta, Indonesia. The launch was conducted during a ceremony marking the 35th Year Anniversary of the ASEAN-Canada Dialogue Partnership.

Click here to read more.

This Dissemination Meeting, to be held on 28-29 November 2011, aims to showcase the research outcomes of the MacArthur Foundation’s Asia Security Initiative projects and to share the findings to a wider policy community and civil society. Over the course of 3 years (2009–11), both centres have, under the MacArthur Asia Security Initiative, conducted research on non-traditional security (internal and cross-border conflict; climate change, environmental security and natural disasters; as well as energy and human security) and regional security cooperation. Read more.

Professor Antonio Marquina  – Visiting Senior Fellow in the Centre for NTS Studies – who led the ASEF-supported ASEM Education Hub Thematic Network on Human Security, will kick off this panel discussion with the presentation of his latest edited book Perspectives on Migration Flows in Asia and Europe. The publication is the third in a series by Asian and European scholars, following publications on energy security and global warming.

Read more or click here to register for the event.

Dr Jason Blackstock introduced his seminar by highlighting the rapidly growing scientific and popular interest in geoengineering. He observed that the topic is likely to provoke heated debates across the globe, and as such, it is important to go beyond pure science and ponder the potential political and geopolitical implications of geoengineering projects.

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Given China’s rising profile in international affairs, its foreign-policy intentions have attracted attention from policy and academic communities. Over the past year, China’s handling of regional hotspot issues such as the Cheonan incident has led to questions regarding its relations with its neighbours. In this seminar, Professor Zha Daojiong sought to share his personal observations of, and explanations for, China’s reactions to those headline events. Focusing on the Asia-Pacific region, he covered themes such as China’s national security considerations and the puzzles surrounding its policy behaviours. Read more.

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This seminar marked the launch of three country reports from the Comparative Perspectives on Conflict Management and Peacemaking in Asia project undertaken by the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD Centre) and its partners. The HD Centre’s primary role across the globe is to facilitate dialogue and mediate in armed conflicts. Its collaborators in this project, which began in 2009, included the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, Current Asia, the Institute of Bangsamoro Studies and the Delhi Policy Group. Read more.

Credit: NASA Goddard Photo and Video/flickr.com

The RSIS Centre for NTS Studies, in cooperation the Oxford Martin School at the University of Oxford, The Royal Society (UK), Environmental Defense Fund (US), and TWAS (The Academy of Sciences for the Developing World) – will be convening a pilot workshop on geoengineering governance at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore on 18–19 July 2011. The meeting will explore how geoengineering  is framed in Asia and the governance issues associated with any such research, potential development and deployment. Click here to read more.

The Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group II has suggested that, in some parts of the world, climate-related disruptions of human populations are likely to occur both within states and across national borders, with sudden sharp spikes in rural to urban migration in some countries, and the exacerbation of shortfalls in food production, rural poverty and urban unrest in others. Given Southeast Asia’s high degree of vulnerability to climate change, the nature and extent of climate-induced migration is an important environmental, social and political challenge for the region’s peoples and governments. Read more.

To be held from 10–12 August 2011 at the Grand Copthorne Hotel

The organising committee for the upcoming International Conference on Asian Food Security (ICAFS) is pleased to announce that it has extended the deadline for abstract submissions in response to continuing public interest. Abstracts will be accepted up until Friday 17 June and responded to by Monday 4 July 2011. For more information on ICAFS including abstract submission and registration guidelines, please click here.

Centre for NTS Studies’ Associate Research Fellow, Sofiah Jamil, was featured in an article titled ‘More Muslim Researchers in RSIS’ which was published in the Berita Harian on 13 May 2011. Sofiah was quoted as saying that she aims to increase the awareness of environmental issues within the Muslim society in Singapore, as there are still many who are unaware about the consequences of environmental issues and climate change. The article noted that there has been an increase in the number of Muslim researchers involved security studies at RSIS over the past few years and that the school now has 27 Muslim researchers – 16 Singaporeans and 11 foreigners. Click here to read the article (in Malay).

Professor Shaun Breslin, Director of the Centre for the Study of Globalisation and Regionalisation at the University of Warwick and Visiting Senior Fellow at the RSIS Centre for NTS Studies, in a seminar of 25 April 2011, discussed the growing interest in the Chinese model (also known as the Beijing Consensus). The model has been viewed by some as providing an opportunity to break the exclusivity of the liberal-based Washington Consensus. He argued that, by engaging in the debate on the Chinese model, China is attempting to shape the discourse to its own advantage so as to legitimise its strong-government policy. Read more.

Dr Shahar Hameiri observed, in a seminar on 20 April 2011, that there exists two opposing viewpoints. Some posit that the state is withering away in the face of globalisation, while others reassert the state’s dominant role. He proposed a third, alternative approach, which focuses on the way states are being transformed under contemporary conditions. This perspective allows for the possibility that, while states have largely remained central agents of domestic governance and international politics, they are undergoing significant transformations which are conditioning how and what they govern, and how regimes of governance are emerging across states. Read more.

The RSIS Centre for NTS Studies will be convening an International Pandemic Preparedness and Response Conference titled ‘Finding the Balance between Vigilance, Warning and Action and Lessons from Disaster Management’ in Singapore from 18 to 19 April 2011.

Read more.

Credit: rosipaw/Flickr.

The Consortium of NTS-Asia through the support of the Ford Foundation invites applications for the NTS-Asia Research Fellowship. To commence in July, this three-month research fellowship programme offers successful applicants an opportunity to work on a wide range of NTS issues in Asia. Three fellowship positions are available this year and each fellowship comes with a stipend of US$8,000 (all inclusive* for the duration of the fellowship). Young scholars are encouraged to apply.

Read more.

The RSIS Centre for NTS Studies is organising a second Dissemination Meeting/Policy Roundtable on the Responsibility to Protect (RtoP) in Bangkok on 28 March 2011. The first meeting was held in Tokyo, Japan, on 26 January 2011, in collaboration with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Research Institute. The objective of these dissemination meetings/policy roundtables is to promote an understanding of RtoP and to assist in operationalising the concept in Asian policymaking.

Read more.
 

Dr Pål Prestrud, Director of the Center for International Climate and Environmental Research – Oslo (CICERO) discussed, in a seminar on 22 March 2011, the implications of arctic warming for international shipping. As a result of the warming trend, sea ice extent as well as the thickness and age of the ice have been decreasing, making the shipping routes connecting Europe to Asia via the Arctic Ocean more accessible. He argued however that, due to the existence of several challenges, including the lack of support infrastructure for the shipping industry, it is unlikely that the Northern Sea Route will be commercially attractive within the next few decades. Read more.

Credit: Baldiri / Wikipedia

Conflicts over water have increasingly become and are likely to remain a major source of friction between India and its neighbours in Southern Asia – Pakistan, Bangladesh and China. Against this backdrop, the RSIS Centre for NTS Studies is organising a one-day symposium on 18 February 2011 to further develop strategies and negotiate new ideas of cooperation.

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The RSIS Centre for NTS Studies is organising a book launch on ‘Learning from Tsunami – Aid and Reconstruction after a Disaster’ from 2 to 4pm on 17 February 2011. Written by the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI), the book is a timely initiative given the increasing occurrence of natural disasters in the region and the need to better manage aid and reconstruction efforts.

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Organised by the RSIS Centre for NTS Studies and the Institute for Strategic and Development Studies (ISDS), the 2nd Study Group Meeting on SSG and Conflict Management in Southeast Asia was convened on 11 February 2011 in Manila to examine the state of security sector governance (SSG) in Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand, and how this has affected conditions of intra-state conflict.

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The Regional Centre for Strategic Studies (RCSS), with the support of the Ford Foundation, organised a Consortium of Non-Traditional Security Studies in Asia (NTS-Asia) sub-regional workshop titled ‘Ending the Displacement Cycle: Finding Durable Solutions through Return and Resettlement’ in Colombo, Sri Lanka from 28–29 January 2011. The RSIS Centre for NTS Studies is the Secretariat of NTS-Asia and the workshop was one of two NTS-Asia sub-regional workshops to be held this year.

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The RSIS Centre for NTS Studies successfully completed the first of two Dissemination Meetings/Policy Roundtables on the Responsibility to Protect (RtoP). The meeting was held in Tokyo, Japan, on 26 January 2011, in collaboration with the Japan International Cooperation Agency Research Institute (JICA-RI).

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RSIS Centre for NTS Studies Associate Research Fellow, Sofiah Jamil, was identified by Singapore’s Malay language newspaper, Berita Harian, as one of 50 Malay/Muslim individuals expected to drive the community's progress in 2011. These individuals include professionals from the public and private sectors as well as politicians, religious leaders, scientists, entrepreneurs, athletes and artists.

Read more.

The RSIS Centre for NTS Studies, in collaboration with the Strategic Foresight Group (SFG), will be organising the Workshop on the ‘Benefits of Cooperation in the Himalayan River Basins Countries of Bangladesh, China, India and Nepal’. This workshop to be held on 3 December 2010 at the Intercontinental Hotel, Singapore, will examine the critical issue of water security. It will be an opportunity for participants to discuss transboundary water issues and the potential of and benefits for regional cooperation on issues that affect the Himalayan River Basins countries. The topic of water security is critical as it has ramifications on social, political and other security issues. Read more.

The NTS-Asia Secretariat based in the RSIS Centre for NTS Studies will be organising with support from the Ford Foundation, the 4th Annual Convention of the Consortium of Non-Traditional Security Studies in Asia (NTS-Asia). To be held from 25 to 26 November 2010 at Traders Hotel, Singapore, this annual event will be an opportunity for members to take stock of the salient NTS issues that affect the Asia-Pacific region. Topics that have been proposed for discussion during the event include: Global Architecture and Non-Traditional Security; Climate Change and Security; Transnational Crime; Conflict Prevention and Resolution; as well as Human Rights and Human Security.

Click here for more information on the programme.
Click here to find out more about the Consortium of NTS-Asia.

Mr Francis Deng, Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide to the UN Secretary-General, spoke about genocide prevention and the concept of the Responsibility to Protect (RtoP) at a seminar held on Friday, 12 November 2010 in the RSIS Centre for NTS Studies. Mr Deng discussed the importance of investing effort into developing measures for peace time to prevent mass atrocities. Forming the crux of these efforts would be, among other things, exploring the legal tools that have developed to deal with this social phenomenon, shaping norms of tolerance, non-violence and non-discrimination through national policies and programmes and informal institutions, and creating a class of moderates. Read more.

Dr Meenakshi Gopinath, Principal of Lady Shri Ram College, and Founder and Honorary Director of WISCOMP (Women in Security, Conflict Management and Peace), spoke about a gendered perspective of human security at a seminar organised on 14 October 2010 in the RSIS Centre for NTS Studies. She discussed the challenges and opportunities in peacebuilding, drawing on the experience of South Asia and sought to highlight the concerns and experiences of women, who as a group are disproportionately affected by conflict and displacement. Read more.

Co-organised by the Department of International Relations, Australian National University; and the Centre for NTS Studies, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, this event to be held from 6 to 8 October is a response to the need for continued efforts to exchange and evaluate information on best practices and to identify and address emerging issues related to food security. It aims to deliver a more comprehensive understanding of the security challenges of food scarcity in the Asia-Pacific region. Read more.

On 27 September 2010, Associate Professor Mely Caballero-Anthony, Head of the RSIS Centre for NTS Studies and Mr Kwa Chong Guan, Head of External Relations at RSIS, attended a workshop in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on ‘The Civilian Contribution to Peace Operations: Assessing Progress and Addressing Gaps’. The workshop was jointly organised by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the Asia-Pacific Civil Military Centre of Excellence, and the Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) Malaysia. Read more.

A commentary on ‘Facing Food Shortages: Urban Food Security in an Age of Constraints’ written by RSIS Centre for NTS Studies’ Associate Research Fellow Pau Khan Khup Hangzo was published in The Straits Times under the title of ‘Feeding Urban Masses: A Key World Challenge’ on 22 August 2010. Another commentary, ‘Up in Smoke: Peatland Fires in Russia and Indonesia’, by Associate Research Fellow Sofiah Jamil, was published in The Jakarta Post and the Asia News Network on 24 August 2010. Also published were ‘Pakistan’s Flood: How Not to be Caught Off Guard’ by  Associate Research Fellow Irene A Kuntjoro in The Jakarta Post print edition, 28 August 2010; and ‘The Benefits of an Aging Population in Asia’ by the Centre’s Senior Research Fellow Dr Bill Durodie in The Jakarta Globe  on 31 August 2010. A commentary by the Centre’s Visiting Associate Fellow Mr Evan A Laksmana was published under the title ‘The TNI: Strategic Changes and Implications’ in The Jakarta Post, 1 September 2010.

On 30 August, Head of the RSIS Centre for Non-Traditional Security (NTS) Studies, Associate Professor Mely Caballero-Anthony and Professor Paul Teng, Senior Fellow (Food Security) with the NTS Centre visited the ASEAN Secretariat, Jakarta to meet with Dr. Somsak Pipoppinyo, Director of the Finance, Industry & Infrastructure Directorate, ASEAN Economic Community Department.

Read more.

From 16 to 17 August 2010, Associate Professor Mely Caballero-Anthony, Head of the RSIS Centre for Non-Traditional Security (NTS) Studies, attended the 2nd meeting of the Global Consortium on Security Transformation (GCST) Working Group on Regional Security from Above and Below, held in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Master’s students cum former research analysts at the Centre for NTS Studies – Kevin Punzalan, PK Hangzo and Sofiah Jamil – graduated from the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) in July after two years of part-time study. Read more.

4-5 August 2010
Venue: Traders Hotel, Singapore

Rising global food prices between 2007 and 2008 has pushed food security to the very forefront of the international political agenda. The situation has led to tens of millions more people being pushed into hunger and poverty, with civil unrest flaring up in locations all over the world. Exporting countries have also introduced export restrictions on food, even as many importing countries attempt to tackle the issue through subsidies and price controls. These events underline the scale of the challenges that the world’s policymakers and peoples will face in the decades ahead. Addressing them will entail considerable risk, uncertainty and turbulence.

In a seminar organised by the RSIS Centre for NTS Studies, Dr Tharaphi Than, Lector in the Department of Southeast Asia in the School of African and Oriental Studies, London, spoke about the history of armed groups in Myanmar’s civil war and how the government’s strategy in dealing with them has continued to affect the country’s relations with China. Read more.

Asia faces numerous small scale internal conflicts, which has the potential to destabilise fragile or failing states, and pose serious challenges to others.  Most of these conflicts arised from threats, which are transnational in their nature and consequence, and also fall under the general rubric of non-traditional security. The Southeast Asia (SEA) region in particular, is a hotbed for complex, internal conflicts where seeds of greater problems can be sown, turning it into a fulcrum for larger conflicts not just within a state but also between states. Some salient examples are the ongoing or dormant conflicts in Aceh in Indonesia, Mindanao in the southern Philippines, Narathiwat, Pattani, Songkhla and Yala in southern Thailand, Kashmir in India, and the civil strife in Sri Lanka.

“In Conversation” is a section devoted to interviews with experts and scholars on various NTS issues. This first batch of interviews include the thoughts of Emil Salim, Masakazu Ichimura, Bernadette P. Resurreccion and Fitrian Ardiansyah on issues related to climate change. These interviews were conducted on the sidelines of the RSIS Centre for NTS Studies’ Conference on Climate Insecurities, Human Security and Social Resilience from 27-28 August 2009 in Singapore. To view the interviews, kindly visit the Multimedia page.