Last November 25, Asia Pacific Pathways to Progress, with the support of Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Regional Programme, organized an International Workshop on Southeast Asian Regional Cooperation Amidst Great Power Competition. The workshop discussed how the regional security and economic environment of Southeast Asia is changing as a consequence of these developments, and the options and scenarios for regional cooperation facing the governments and peoples of ASEAN. The event also marked Pathways’ chairmanship this year of the ASEAN-Institutes of Strategic and International Studies (ASEAN-ISIS) network.
Speakers and Participants of the International Workshop. Seated at the center are (from left to right): U Khin Maung Lynn, Joint Secretary of Myanmar ISIS; Tan Sri Rastam Mohd Isa, Chairman of ISIS Malaysia, APPFI Chairman Raphael Lotilla; Keynote Speaker and National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon, Jr.; APPFI President Dr. Aileen Baviera; and ISIS Thailand Director Dr. Thitinan Pongsudhirak.
National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon, Jr. delivered the keynote address, emphasizing how better and more effective cooperation is needed to defend the interests of the region and member states. Speakers from across the ASEAN-ISIS Network and other research and academic institutions in the region gave presentations around the panel themes of “Building the Regional Security Architecture”, “Promoting Maritime Development and Cooperation”, the “Challenges to Southeast Asian Integration and Connectivity”, and the “Role of Academics and Think Tank Networks Under the New Geopolitics”.
National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon, Jr. delivering his keynote address. On stage are (from left to right) APPFI Chairman Raphael Lotilla, Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Director Regional Programme Political Dialogue Asia Christian Echle, and APPFI President Dr. Aileen Baviera.
The following day, Pathways also hosted a Network Meeting for Early Career Researchers, involving analysts based in the ASEAN-ISIS member organizations, with a view to exploring research collaboration around some of the pressing issues touched upon in the workshop.
Participants of the Network Meeting for Early Career Researchers with APPFI President Dr. Aileen Baviera and Dr. Evi Fitriani from Universitas Indonesia.