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The International Institute for Strategic Studies (Asia)

Singapore-office

 About the IISS-Asia:

 

Over the last decade, the Asia-Pacific region has faced substantial and diverse security challenges despite its overall dynamism and growing prosperity, and as a result has become an increasingly important focus for the IISS. One-third of the IISS membership is located in the region, and over the years the region has come to figure ever more prominently in the Institute’s research programme and publications.

 

The International Institute for Strategic Studies (Asia) Ltd, a company limited by guarantee and a registered charity, was incorporated in the Republic of Singapore on 20 September 2001 to allow the IISS to demonstrate its growing commitment to the region and to develop closer relations with its members in the Asia-Pacific.

 

In 2002, it inaugurated a major experiment in defence diplomacy in the region, convening for the first time a conference for defence ministers from across the Asia-Pacific. Since then, the Shangri-La Dialogue (more formally, the Asia Security Summit), held in Singapore each June, has become a key feature in the calendars of not only defence ministers, but also their top officials, military chiefs and heads of intelligence.

 

During 2004, IISS–Asia took possession of a suite of offices in Republic Plaza at the heart of the city-state’s financial district. Though operating with a lean staff, it has quickly taken on additional functions, including organising a seminar series for local defence attaches and IISS members, both corporate and individual. The seminars feature presentations by visiting IISS staff, distinguished analysts in the security field, and senior government officials.

 

The IISS now intends to broaden the activities of IISS–Asia further by establishing an active Singapore-based research programme closely linked to the Institute’s overall research and publication priorities. Research conducted from IISS–Asia will be concerned with not only Asia-Pacific but strategic and security issues in other regions. Typical of the issues on which IISS–Asia will focus its research are those that link the Asia-Pacific with the Middle East, such as proliferation challenges and the maritime dimensions of energy security. The research programme will include IISS conferences and seminars to be held in Singapore and elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region.

 

The Arab Awakening: the return of politics to the Arab world
Chris Hondros/Getty Images

The upheavals that have rocked many Arab states since December 2010 have brought back politics into the Arab world after a long period of political somnolence. In several countries, they are reshaping relations between rulers and citizens. The upheavals that have rocked many Arab states since December 2010 have brought back politics into the Arab world after a long period of political somnolence. In several countries, they are reshaping relations between rulers and citizens, allowing the emergence of dormant and new political organizations, and setting up the scene for contentious politics.
 

Emile Hokayem, Senior Fellow for Regional Security, IISS Middle East, fresh from visits to several Arab states, provided insights into the internal situations of key countries and described the impact on regional politics at IISS-Asia in Singapore. Read More

 

IISS multimedia content
General Liang Guanglie, Minister of National Defense, China speaks in the Fourth Plenary Session

The 10th IISS Asia Security Summit, the Shangri-La Dialogue, ran from 3-5 June, 2011 in Singapore. In his opening remarks IISS Director-General Dr John Chipman said: 'There is a Shangri-La Dialogue ethos: frank exchange and sharp arguments, leading to more regular communication and more effective defence diplomacy.'

 

The 10th anniversary  Keynote Address was given by the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak. In his fifth and final opening plenary address to the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue, US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said that the 'stark realities' of the US economy and budget, and 'two protracted and costly wars in Iraq and Afghanistan', will not affect US commitments in Asia. General Liang Guanglie, the Chinese Minister of National Defence, attended the Dialogue for the first time. He spoke on a wide range of topics including cyber security, international co-operation and the modernisation of China’s military.

 

Read all Plenary Session Speeches

IISS Asia Adelphi Book Launch - NO EXIT: North Korea, nuclear weapons and international security
No Exit: North Korea, Nuclear Weapons, and International Security

By Jonathan D. Pollack. 
 
This Adelphi focuses on North Korea's political-military development since the end of the Pacific War. It analyses North Korea's efforts to achieve and maintain strategic autonomy, and how nuclear
technology has shaped and continues to shape this process.

Read More  
 

 

'Many experts have tried to explain North Korea’s development of nuclear weapons and to offer solutions to convince Pyongyang to dismantle its nuclear program. In this extraordinary, indispensable book Jonathan Pollack tackles these difficult issues and provides more complete answers than

anyone else.’

Han Sung-joo, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Korea

 

No Exit was launched in Singapore on 03 June 2011 on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue

 

Shangri-La Voices: Dr Jonathan Pollack on North Korea

 

Japan's Disasters: Regional and Global Security implications - Professor Heizo Takenaka

Asia Seminar Series:  'Japan’s Disasters: Regional and Global Security implications'
On the morning of 14 June, Professor Heizo Takenaka addressed a 50-strong invited audience at the Raffles Hotel, Singapore as part of the IISS-Asia Seminar Series sponsored by Australia’s Department of Defence. Professor Takenaka, one of Japan’s leading academic economists, held a number of important government posts between 2001 and 2006, most recently Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications; he is presently Director of the Global Security Research Institute and Professor in the Faculty of Policy Management at Keio University, and is a member of the IISS Council.

In his address, Professor Takenaka spoke in detail about Japan’s triple disasters in March - a major earthquake and the subsequent tsunami and nuclear meltdowns – and the ‘compound crisis’ that they have generated for the country. Beyond the large-scale loss of life and massive dislocation of large numbers of people, he highlighted the calamities’ impact on the global supply chain and other short-term negative economic results. Read More
China Foreign and Security Police Research Programme
Trapped Giant: China's Military Rise

Emboldened by economic strength and growing military power, China is emerging as a challenger to US dominance in the Pacific. But its promised peaceful rise has done little to convince regional powers that it will not use force to press longstanding territorial claims or attempt sea-denial operations in Asia’s lucrative trade routes.Read More

Latest Asia Pacific Press Coverage

  • 03 February 2012 - - Reuters - China security blanket for citizens abroad has limits
  • 01 February 2012 - - Flight International - Singapore steps up deterrent capabilities
  • 28 January 2012 - - Jakarta Globe - China Inching Towards Bigger Role in Persian Gulf
  • 16 January 2012 - - IISS Experts' Commentary - Asia's Energy Security