Myanmar at the tipping point?
Dr. Miemie Byrd appeared as a subject matter expert on the Democratic Voice of Burma, a non-profit media organization based in Oslo, Norway, and Chiang Mai, Thailand.*
Bangladesh at 50: The Rise of A Bangladesh That Can Say No
“Bangladesh at 50: The Rise of a Bangladesh that can say no” is a new Security Nexus article written by DKI APCSS alumna Dr. Lailufar Yasmin, a professor at the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Abstract: Bangladesh celebrated its 50 years of independence in 2021. Since October 2020, as Bangladesh’s per capita income increased beyond that of India, it has gained international attention about its success and has become a center of analysis as to why. This article argues that the existing analyses misses the notion that Bangladesh’s internal economic success is very much connected with its foreign policy choices. Gradually, within 50 years of its existence, Bangladesh [...]
Twenty-Two Senior Leaders Graduated from the Transnational Security Cooperation Course
Twenty-two senior leaders from 19 countries and the United States completed the Transnational Security Cooperation (TSC) course 21-3 which was conducted in-resident in Honolulu, HI, from Dec. 5th to 10th. The fellows participating in the course represented diverse nationalities from Bangladesh, Colombia, Fiji, Indonesia, Maldives, Mexico, Mongolia, Nepal, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Palau, Australia, Canada, France, Japan, and Taiwan. Non-governmental organizations in attendance included the International Committee of the Red Cross and the International Criminal Police Organization. The three US fellows in attendance represented the US Coast Guard, Department of State, and Department of Defense. [...]
South Korea’s Taiwan Conundrum
“South Korea’s Taiwan Conundrum” is Dr. Sungmin Cho’s latest commentary for War on the Rocks. What would South Korea do if China attacked Taiwan? According to Cho, “many people in Washington, Taipei, and Tokyo are wondering. South Korea’s position remains much more ambivalent than Japan’s. Seoul is understandably more worried about the possibility of retaliation from China, akin to Beijing’s fury over the basing of a U.S. defensive missile system in South Korea several years ago. Seoul also has a unique concern that Beijing would turn even more non-cooperative in the future process of Korean unification, if it ever occurs, as a result [...]
China and North Korea: A New Peak of Comradeship
"China and North Korea: A New Peak of Comradeship" is Dr. Sungmin Cho’s latest commentary made at the invitation of the Italian Institute for International Political Studies. In July 2021, commemorating the 60th anniversary of mutual defense treaty, Chinese President Xi Jinping said bilateral relations between China and North Korea should “unceasingly rise to new levels” in the world “undergoing profound changes unseen in a century.” How can one explain, in Xi Jinping’s own words, China’s “unswerving support” of North Korea in 2021? What events are likely to impact China-North Korea relations in 2022? Dr.Cho offers his answers to these [...]
Quad Plus and Indo-Pacific: The Changing Profile of International Relations
“Quad Plus and Indo-Pacific: The Changing Profile of International Relations” is a new book featuring chapters by DKI APCSS faculty and alumni. The book edited by Jagannath P. Panda and Ernest Gunasekara-Rockwell includes a chapter by DKI APCSS professor Dr. John Hemmings. Co-authored with James Rogers, the chapter “Britain in the Indo-Pacific – and the Quad Plus, or even a "Quint"? “discusses Britain’s interests and capabilities in the Indo-Pacific as well as their impact on the region in the coming years. DKI APCSS alumni Evan A. Laksmana contributed a chapter on “Fracturing Architecture? The Quad Plus and ASEAN Centrality in the [...]
Myanmar’s U-turn: Implications of the Military Coup on Strategic Competition in the Indo-Pacific
Dr. Miemie Winn Byrd has a new article in the Journal for Indo-Pacific Affairs titled: "Myanmar’s U-turn: Implications of the Military Coup on Strategic Competition in the Indo-Pacific. " The article discusses the current crisis in Myanmar and China’s response to it. According to the author, China views Myanmar as an important land bridge to the Indian Ocean and alternative to the Malacca Strait. Direct access to the Indian Ocean would give China an enormous commercial and geopolitical advantage over its competitors. In addition, as the last remaining democracy on mainland Southeast Asia, Myanmar is the front line for democracy [...]
A record-setting 235 Fellows graduated from the Indo-Pacific Orientation Course!
The Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies graduated a record-setting 235 Fellows from Indo-Pacific Orientation Course 21-2. Administered November 15-19, 2021, IPOC 21-2 was the second course planned and executed in a HyFlex model. Professor James Minnich, course manager, explained that "HyFlex, or Hybrid-Flexible is a course construct where some Fellows participate in-person and others participate virtually." In this physically distanced course, 120 Fellows rotated into the Center where they spent three of the course's five 8-hour days in three plenary sessions, three seminar sessions, and an elective lecture, and [...]
How Vessel Identity Laundering Facilitates North Korea’s Maritime Sanctions Evasion
The Center for Advanced Defense Studies (C4ADS) and the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Secuirty Studies (DKI APCSS) recently joined forces to create a webinar on "How Vessel Identity Laundering Facilitates North Korea 's Maritime Sanctions Evasion" In the video, C4ADS experts unravel a new and complex scheme named vessel identity laundering that ships are using to create fraudulent ship registrations with the International Maritime Organization (IMO). They explain how vessel identity laundering is a significant evolution from vessel identity tampering, and how this new tactic facilitates illegal activity (to avoid sanctions or engage in smuggling). Law [...]
The Roles of the U.S. ROK Alliance in the Indo-Pacific
On December 1, 2021, a panel of subject matter experts gathered at the Sheraton Waikiki in Honolulu to discuss the evolving United States and Republic of Korea alliance. The symposium, sponsored by the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Honolulu and the Daniel K. Inouye Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies (DKI APCSS), aimed to foster continued discussion on opportunities presented in this year’s U.S. ROK Presidential Summit. Titled “The Roles of the U.S. ROK Alliance in the Indo-Pacific,” the symposium brought together speakers from both U.S. and Korean [...]
