Past Archives • Stimson Center

The United States-South Korea Alliance Amidst Uncertainty, Discussion Session 2

The panel was introduced by DCOWA President Vaughn Shannon and moderated by Dr. Clint Work, a Stimson Fellow leading congressional engagement on Korean peace and security issues. The featured speakers included: Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Rick Martin of the American College of National Security Leaders (ACNSL); Col. (Ret.) Steve Lee, Senior Vice President of Operations, Korea …

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The United States-South Korea Alliance Amidst Uncertainty

The panel was introduced by Xiao Yin Zhao, the Executive Director of the World Affairs Council of Kentucky and Southern Indiana, and moderated by Dr. Clint Work, a Stimson Fellow leading congressional engagement on Korean peace and security issues. The featured speakers included: Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Rick Martin of the American College of National Security …

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Book Launch: Breaking Ground

Featuring: Ambassador Kenneth Quinn, Former U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Cambodia and President Emeritus of the World Food Prize Foundation (Introductory Remarks) Dr. Kenneth M. Quinn has a distinguished 32-year career in the U.S. State Department with tenures throughout Southeast Asia and served for two decades as President of the World Food Prize Foundation. …

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Adapting to New Challenges: US-Japan Defense Cooperation

Featuring ADM Scott Swift (USN. Ret.) former Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet ADM Scott Swift served in the U.S. Navy for more than 40 years, commanding at all levels and completing his uniformed career as the 35th Commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet in 2018. He is founder of The Swift Group LLC and previously the MIT Center …

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GIS Tools for Smarter Energy Planning

Links to the tools presented here today are below in order of presentation: https://www.stimson.org/2020/mekong-infrastructure-tracker-tool/ https://www.re-explorer.org/ https://globalenergymonitor.org/ This was an official side-event for this year’s annual Asia Clean Energy Forum (ACEF). For more information about ACEF, go to https://www.asiacleanenergyforum.org/ Featuring: James Browning, Communications Director, Global Energy Monitor James Browning has worked to hold the fossil fuel industry …

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Global & Gulf Regional Strategies for Security and Justice in an Age of Uncertainty

Main Takeaways Currently, the world is facing an imminent threat. The Covid-19 pandemic requires renewed cooperation by all countries, both globally and regionally. The need for the United Nations is more urgent today than ever before, with a pandemic that tests both our leaders and institutions. During the second half of 2020, we are likely …

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International Cooperation in East Asia under COVID-19: Perspectives on Taiwan, Japan, and the United States

Speakers Shirley Kan, Independent Specialist in Asian Security Affairs Ms. Kan provided legislative support on Asian Security Affairs to Congress in the Congressional Research Service’s Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division from 1990 to 2015. She is an original Member of the Advisory Board of the Global Taiwan Institute. She speaks at conferences, is cited …

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New Tools: Coastal Communities and Climate Resilience

Speakers will include: Sally Yozell, Director of the Environmental Security Program at the Stimson Center Sally Yozell is a Senior Fellow and Director of the Environmental Security program at the Stimson Center. Yozell’s research examines the suite of environmental threats that have the potential to undermine national, regional, or global security. Her work focuses on …

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Launch of the Mekong Infrastructure Tracker

Featured Speakers Gloria Steele, USAID Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Bureau of Asia (Opening Remarks) Gloria Steele is a career member of the U.S. Senior Executive Services, currently serving as Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator of the Bureau for Asia. She oversees USAID’s operations across 30 countries in Asia. Prior to this role she served …

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U.S. Arms Sales in the Time of COVID-19

Speakers: Brittany Benowitz, Chief Counsel, American Bar Association (ABA) Center for Human Rights William Hartung, Director, Arms and Security Program, Center for International Policy Diana Ohlbaum, Senior Strategist and Legislative Director for Foreign Policy, Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) Rachel Stohl, Vice President,Stimson Center This webinar is co-sponsored by the Forum on the Arms …

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Arms Trafficking in the Americas

Participants: William F. Kullman, Retired U.S. ATF/Independent Consultant Kristen Rand, Legislative Director, Violence Policy Center (On the phone) Matt Schroeder, Senior Researcher, Small Arms Survey Rachel Stohl, Vice President, Stimson Center

The US-South Korea Alliance and Ongoing Cost-Sharing Talks

Additional Related Content: Cost-Sharing in Comparative Perspective: The US-ROK & US-Japan Alliances A discussion on cost-sharing dynamics in the US-ROK and US-Japan alliance, Seoul-Tokyo relations, China’s rise, and US political transition.

US Alliances in the Indo-Pacific

Part of the Korea Study Group event series. Additional Related Content: Cost-Sharing in Comparative Perspective: The US-ROK & US-Japan Alliances A discussion on cost-sharing dynamics in the US-ROK and US-Japan alliance, Seoul-Tokyo relations, China’s rise, and US political transition. The US-South Korea Alliance and Ongoing Cost-Sharing Talks A Stimson webinar discussion with ROK Ambassador Hwang …

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How Southeast Asia is Coping with COVID-19?

Speakers: Ambassador Robert Blake (ret), Senior Director, McLarty Associates John Lichtefeld, Vice President, The Asia Group; Stimson Center Non-Resident Fellow Bilahari Kausikan, Former Permanent Secretary, Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs Rene “Butch” Meily, President, Philippines Disaster Resilience Foundation Moderator: William Wise, Nonresident Fellow, Southeast Asia Program, The Stimson Center This event is part of the …

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The Road Ahead: The Post-COVID-19 International Order

Speakers: Kuni Miyake, Research Director for Foreign and National Security Affairs, Canon Institute for Global Studies Kuni Miyake is the Research Director for Foreign and National Security Affairs at the Canon Institute for Global Studies. He is also a Visiting Professor at Ritsumeikan University. In 2006-2007, he was Executive Assistant to Akie Abe in the Office of the Prime Minister of …

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Trends in Global Arms Transfers and Military Spending

Featured Speakers: Dr. Nan Tian, Researcher, Arms and Military Expenditure Programme, SIPRI Siemon Wezeman, Senior Researcher, Arms and Military Expenditure Programme, SIPRI Valerie Insinna, Air Warfare Reporter, Defense News Mandy Smithberger, Director, Straus Military Reform Project at the Center for Defense Information, Project on Government Oversight Rachel Stohl, Vice President, Stimson Center This event is …

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The Critical Role of Underground Research Laboratories

Featuring speakers: Dr. Bret Leslie, Senior Professional Staff, NWTRB Dr. Leslie’s doctoral research focused on natural analogs of nuclear waste repositories. He has conducted field and laboratory studies with radioactive materials, probabilistic risk assessments, and public outreach on the US spent nuclear fuel and high-level waste disposal program for a national laboratory, a non-profit, and …

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Geopolitics in the Age of COVID-19: The View from South Asia

Featuring perspectives from analysts on the ground in India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh, including: Bismellah Alizada, South Asian Voices Contributor and Co-founder, Rahil Foundation Bismellah Alizada is the co-founder of Rahila Foundation, an organization working for youth empowerment through education and capacity building, and Deputy Director (on academic sabbatical) at Organization for Policy Research and …

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Sanctions & The DPRK’s Public Health Infrastructure

Staff asked about how sanctions might be further refined to be more effective, what role the US might play in assisting North Korea’s effort to respond to COVID-19 to the extent possible, and how sanctions affect access to the country for humanitarian and public health NGOs. This session was supported by Dr. Kee B. Park. …

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Key Challenges in Japan’s Defense Policy: Views from the Next Generation

Featured Speakers: Takahisa Kawaguchi, Senior Fellow, Tokio Marine & Nichido Risk Consulting Mr Kawaguchi is unable to travel and will join the event via video. Takahisa Kawaguchi is a Senior Fellow at Tokio Marine & Nichido Risk Consulting Co., Ltd. He is of research member of the 21st Century Public Policy Institute at the Japan …

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Natural Resources Safeguards and Security as a Part of the Indo-Pacific Vision

USAID’s strategic approach to advance America’s vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific includes improving natural resource management, especially since the region is rich in forests, fisheries, and other natural resources. Unfortunately, irresponsible infrastructure development projects and transnational environmental crime erode the natural resources upon which many of our partner countries depend for their long-term …

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US-ROK Alliance: Alternative Futures Out-Briefing

The discussion opened with a summary of the workshop, which covered alternative futures to the alliance and drew on in-depth discussions with high-level ROK diplomatic and military officials on topics such as the significance of the alliance as it relates to US national defense strategy, the division of labor and military equities in the alliance …

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Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula: Different Ways, Same Goal

Featured Speakers: Sang Hyun Lee is a senior researcher at the Sejong Institute in South Korea, and serves as president of the Korea Nuclear Policy Society (KNPS). He is a former nonresident fellow at the Stimson Center. Previously, he served as a Director-General for Policy Planning at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA). Yong-Sup Han is a …

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Beyond the Headlines: Redefining Responsibility in the Arms Trade

Keynote Address: Rep. Ted Lieu (California) Featured Speakers: Jeff Abramson, Senior Fellow, Arms Control Association Brittany Benowitz, Chief Counsel, American Bar Association (ABA) Center for Human Rights Colby Goodman, Senior Consultant, Transparency International Defense and Security Adam Isacson, Director for Defense Oversight, Washington Office on Latin America Kate Kizer, Policy Director, Win Without War Dan …

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Blockchain and the Traceability of Critical Materials

Dr. Philippe Thevoz from SICPA, who has been at the forefront of digital transformation for 30 years, will introduce blockchain technology, highlight use cases of the KSI Blockchain, which has been used by Estonia since 2008, and identify concrete examples of blockchain applications for securing data and process integrity of critical supply chains. This will …

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Negotiations, Sanctions, and Red Lines with North Korea

The discussion opened with an exploration of the differences in negotiating approaches of the United States and North Korea and why, at this time, the United States can’t go back to the maximum pressure campaign or just add more sanctions; what is necessary is a shift in geopolitics and healthy Congressional oversight of the negotiations …

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New START and the Future of Arms Control

While the current New START treaty has many shortcomings, it was argued that, at a minimum, the treaty should be extended to buy time for new negotiations. Staffers asked whether China’s absence from New Start is a valid reason for letting the treaty lapse and whether a return to testing is inevitable. They also asked …

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The “New North Korea”: Security Implications of North Korea’s Social Changes

While the world’s attention has been focused on the denuclearization talks with North Korea, the country’s domestic social changes have evaded public scrutiny. The burgeoning market economy, the internal social control and the securitization of society management all have key implications for the threat perception of the North Korean government, hence the goals and approaches …

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The Evolving Situation in Cameroon

U.S. Foreign Arms Sales

The conversation opened with a discussion of the main categories of arms sales, the primary legislative vehicles for these sales, and how provision of these goods and services to foreign partners can further U.S. national security interests. Staff inquired about recent regulatory reforms which have undermined Congress’ oversight role and asked why it remains so …

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Prospects for North Korean Denuclearization post-Stockholm

The conversation kicked off with a discussion of how the breakdown in talks likely signals internal debate in North Korea about the desirability of denuclearization as well as growing North Korean impatience with South Korea’s inaction vis-a-vis inter-Korean economic projects. Staff inquired as to whether China can be pressured to exert greater influence over North …

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The Status of US-DPRK Relations

Staff asked a range of questions about areas for additional leverage over DPRK, especially sanctions, and the impact on readiness of suspending the joint US-ROK military exercises. Concerns were raised about North Korea’s current missile capabilities, especially in light of short-range missile tests since May and a supposed new submarine, and options for reducing tensions …

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Contesting the Indo-Pacific: Military Technology and the Shifting Offense-Defense Balance

China’s growing capability and influence across the Indo-Pacific provokes pressing questions for U.S. strategy in the region. With Asia undergoing major power transitions and advances in military technology potentially shifting the offense-defense balance, how should the United States, its allies, and its partners across the Indo-Pacific respond? Eugene Gholz (University of Notre Dame) will present research …

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A Conversation with Dr. Chris Ford, Assistant Secretary of State

This is the event was rescheduled from October As the Nuclear Security Summits recede into the past, it is important that the world’s leaders not forget about nuclear security. Where the Summits played a valuable role in jump-starting attention to this challenge, the global community must now do the longer-term work of making sound nuclear …

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The Security Implications of Distant Water Fleets and Illegal, Unregulated, and Unreported Fishing

Commercial fishing is big business, with over 56 million people working on vessels to support it. Despite this, a lack of transparency exists across the entire seafood supply chain, impeding effective fisheries management. Distant water fishing (DWF) fleets operate in the shadows. With a lack of information on where they fish, what they catch, and …

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A Long Separation: A Photo Series of Korean Separated Families

Art reception to discuss the context and stories of a series of portraits “A Long Separation” exhibited at the Stimson Center. Artist, Laura Elizabeth Pohl, explains her inspiration and stories she found moving of families that were divided from loved ones in North Korea. Featuring: Laura Elizabeth Pohl, Photographer Remarks: Jenny Town,, Fellow, Stimson Center & …

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Voices from Japan: Japan’s National Security Policy and the U.S.-Japan Alliance in the 2020s

Japan updated its two major defense-planning documents in December 2018—the National Defense Program Guidelines for policy guidance, and the Mid-Term Defense Program for acquisition. Both documents are unprecedented in the heightened sense of urgency for Japan’s security challenges, and the ambitiousness of the plan for its future defense force to address them. The latest defense …

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Between Two Giants: The Korean Dilemma within U.S.-China Competition

The intensifying theme of great power competition between the U.S. and China has major implications for the Korean Peninsula, its future unification and the U.S. alliance system in Northeast Asia. Most directly, China could be even more reluctant to change the status quo on the Korean peninsula in the hope of maintaining leverage against the …

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A Team of Their Own: How an International Sisterhood Made Olympic History

In January 2018, weeks before the Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang, North and South Korea merged their women’s ice hockey teams into one, scraping together teammates of Korean descent from all over the world. Join the Stimson Center and the Council of Korean Americans for a book talk and signing with author Seth Berkman on …

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“One Year to Go to the UN 75 Summit: Innovating Global Governance for 21st Century Challenges”

With the recent adoption of the UN General Assembly Resolution (A/RES/73/299) on the consultative process toward a declaration for the 75th anniversary commemoration of the United Nations and an associated Leaders Summit, in September 2020 in New York, the time is ripe to contribute innovative ideas and diverse perspectives and to begin to give greater …

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The Reality and Future of the Hong Kong Crisis

The 2019 protests in Hong Kong have riveted the world, as their focus has expanded from an extradition bill to alleged police misconduct, Hong Kong’s electoral system, and the broader relationship between Hong Kong and the government in Beijing. Understanding the history of the Sino-British negotiations, the deeper social, economic and political roots of the …

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Competitive Security Dynamics in Southern Asia: Conflicts, Challenges, and Choices

The past six months have seen major disruptions in stability across southern Asia. As tensions in Kashmir continue to simmer, a negotiated settlement in Afghanistan is up for debate, and nationalist discourses gain traction in the region, all eyes are on the strategic dynamics in Southern Asia. This year–the 20th anniversary of the Kargil crisis …

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Lessons from Taiwan: Disinformation, Cybersecurity, and Energy Security

The East Asia Program is launching a new annual series, Taiwan Security Brief. In the inaugural volume, three emerging researchers examine the impact of several nontraditional security challenges in Taiwan: online disinformation, cybersecurity in the digital economy, and energy security. How can Taiwan effectively mitigate problems in these security issues? What opportunities does Taiwan have …

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Addressing Southeast Asia’s Infrastructure Gap

Join us for a conversation with Ramesh Subramaniam on regional dynamics and the Asian Development Bank’s strong partnership in the region’s transformation. To maintain growth momentum, Southeast Asia needs vast investments in infrastructure – about $210 billion dollars a year according to an Asian Development Bank (ADB) estimate. Current investment levels are substantially less than …

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US-Japan-Australia Infrastructure Collaboration in the Indo-Pacific: Opportunities and Obstacles

Infrastructure needs in developing Asia are vast: the Asian Development Bank estimates that $26 trillion is needed through 2030. Bridging this infrastructure gap will require significantly increased engagement and public spending from governments, assistance from donor governments and international financial institutions, and—most importantly—unlocking investment from the private sector. The Free and Open Indo-Pacific has a …

US-Japan-Australia Infrastructure Collaboration in the Indo-Pacific: Opportunities and Obstacles Read More »

U.S.-Taiwan Relations: Reflections on 40 Years of the TRA

Since President Jimmy Carter signed the Taiwan Relations Act into law in 1979, the United States and Taiwan have maintained unofficial relations, including trade, people-to-people exchanges, and cultural ties. In the forty years since the Act was signed, the U.S.-Taiwan relationship has been a long-standing friendship between two democracies, surviving periods of tension with China. …

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Policy vs. Politics: Tackling the myth that voters are disconnected from foreign policy

Both the United States and Japan are deep in their political campaign seasons ahead of elections. With so much happening in many foreign policy areas ranging from Iran and North Korea, to U.S.-China tension over trade, there is much to discuss in foreign policy circles. On the other hand, there is a “myth” that foreign policies do …

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Post-Hanoi Dynamics between the ROK and China

The Hanoi summit was not the breakthrough in the peace process that South Korea had hoped to see. The talks with North Korea have stalled in an environment of increasing tension between the U.S. and China, placing South Korea in a challenging position as Moon Jae-in struggles to break the stalemate between Donald Trump and …

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Secret Wars: Insights from the Backstage of Covert Conflict

Featuring: Austin Carson is a professor of political science at the University of Chicago. Sameer Lalwani is a senior fellow and director of the South Asia program at the Stimson Center. Melanie Sisson is a senior fellow and director of the defense strategy and planning program at the Stimson Center.

Off Ramps From Confrontation in Southern Asia Book Launch and Discussion

The nuclear competition among China, India and Pakistan is accelerating with the introduction of new ballistic and cruise missiles, multiple warhead missiles and missile defenses. Border clashes between India and Pakistan persist, as do standoffs between India and China. Diplomacy is dormant. What to do? Stimson’s South Asia Program presents a collection of proposals from …

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Event Status: Past