Press Release Source:
The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS)
Sunday 4 June 2006
IISS Successfully Concludes the Shangri-La Dialogue:
Asian Defence Leaders Brought Together with New Understandings and Increased Cooperation
SINGAPORE – 4 June 2006: The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) today closed the 5th Annual Asia Security Summit (the Shangri-La Dialogue) after a weekend of highly successful bilateral meetings, addresses, plenary sessions, break-out groups and press conferences.
IISS Director-General Dr John Chipman said 'The IISS will continue to work to ensure that the Shangri-La Dialogue process continues to deepen and remains inclusive, engaging all the key players having a place and role in Asia-Pacific Security at full ministerial level'.
Uncertainty and instability in global affairs proved the prevailing theme, which delegates strove to address with a transparent and honest approach. Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong delivered a Keynote Address which spoke to the future of Asian security and sought to build on the outward-looking policies of most nations. Prime Minister Lee issued a call to 'strengthen established relationships that work, and also to generate new opportunities that will in time cause shifts and realignments to the present order.' US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld stated that 'now we see an expanding network of security cooperation in this region, both bilaterally between nations and multilaterally among nations, with the United States as a partner.' He added that 'We see this as a welcome shift.'
The programme also included addresses by Indian Minister of Defence Pranab Mukherjee, Japanese Minister of State for Defence Fukushiro Nukaga, Australian Minister for Defence Brendan Nelson, and Indonesian Minister of Defence Professor Juwono Sudarsono.
This year's Dialogue brought together a record number of defence ministers, military chiefs and civilian heads of defence ministries, together with delegates from business, think-tanks and universities. Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, Canada, China, France, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Thailand, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Vietnam were all represented.
The summit featured several opportunities to advance Asia-Pacific defence diplomacy. Firstly, the on-the-record plenary sessions offered a platform for ministers and national security advisors to clarify and expand on government policy, and to be challenged by an expert group on policies and assumptions, in this way informing and refining the quality of wider public debate on Asian security. Secondly, the off-the-record break-out groups, also involving senior officials, provided a private opportunity for professional discussions to analyse more deeply pertinent strategic issues and to advance policy aims. Thirdly, the multilateral lunches and dinners helped to cultivate the sense of a defence and security community where shared interests can be protected and advanced. In addition, this year there was an increased number of bilateral meetings between participating countries.
The 2006 Shangri-La Dialogue has been recognised as a key event for defence and security diplomacy for the region. Since its inaugural meeting in 2002, the Dialogue has become a recognised part of the architecture of Asian defence diplomacy and is seen as the region's premier and most inclusive security institution. The Shangri-La Dialogue continues to serve as the best available vehicle in the Asia-Pacific region for developing and channelling astute and effective public policy on defence and security.
About The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS)
The IISS is an international membership organisation based in London, and is both a limited company in UK law and a registered charity. It has offices in the US and in Singapore that operate under its name with charitable status in each jurisdiction. Founded in 1958, much of the Institute’s early work focused on nuclear deterrence and arms control, and the Institute was influential in setting the intellectual structures for managing the Cold War. Over the last decade the IISS has become a truly global organisation, with individual and corporate members in over one hundred countries. The Institute’s high-profile publications are universally regarded as providing the best independent, internationally sourced information and commentary on the main strategic events touching on national, regional and global security. The IISS owes no allegiance to any government, or to any political or other organisation. The Institute's conference activities are considered to be at the forefront of public policy development, given that its convening power is such that it can often bring government officials and others together in forum that they could not easily manage for themselves.
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Contact: The International Institute for Strategic Studies, London, United Kingdom sldpress@iiss.org, or see http://www.iiss.org/conferences/the-shangri-la-dialogue
