Research Fellow Dr Charmaine Willoughby attended the international conference on Cooperation and Integration in the Baltic Region and Southeast Asia: A Comparative Perspective. The conference addressed common security issues that both regions face, including both traditional and non-traditional areas, as well as the ways to deepen multilateral cooperation and regional integration. The conference featured perspectives from delegates and scholars from Asia and Europe.
Dr Willoughby presented a paper on the United States’ Indo-Pacific Strategy and its implications to Southeast Asia and ASEAN. She argued that the conceptualization of the Free and Open Indo-Pacific should be made less ambiguous and more operational. Some recommendations she forwarded included broadening the scope of the strategy and improving the US’ bilateral relations via the creation of functional minilateral arrangements.
The international conference was held on 18 April 2019 in Hanoi, Vietnam. The event was co-organized by the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung-Vietnam and Vietnam’s University of Social Sciences and Humanities.
