Panel Events – Page 11 – Sigur Center for Asian Studies

10/4/18: U.S. Politics and Government: The View From Asia

September 21, 2018July 14, 2021Archives & RecordingsLeave a Comment

Thursday, October 4, 2018
12:30 PM – 2:00 PM
Lindner Family Commons – Room 602 (6th Floor)
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW
Washington, DC 20052

The Sigur Center for Asian Studies will host a panel of news journalists based in Washington, DC reporting from a variety of Asia-based news outlets to discuss how audiences in Asia view contemporary U.S. politics and government.

Light refreshments will be available. This event is free to the public, but is off the record and not for attribution.

Speakers:

Ms. Seema Sirohi is a graduate of Delhi University in India. She has a Master’s degree in journalism from Jawarahal Nehru University in Delhi and an M.A. In sociology from the University of Kansas in the USA. She has worked as a reporter for the Associated Press and as a correspondent and feature writer for the Telegraph. She has also served as a writer and editor for a number of internationally prominent newspapers and magazines. Since 2011, she has been a correspondent and columnist for the Economic Times , India’s largest daily business newspaper.

Mr. Prashanth Parameswaran has lived in Malaysia, Singapore and the Phillipines. He is currently a Ph.D candidate at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He has previously worked on Asian affairs at several think tanks in the U.S., including the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. And he is currently senior editor of The Diplomat Magazine which covers Asian affairs and has its headquarters in D.C.

Mr. Takeshi Kurihara is a graduate of the University of Tokyo where he earned a B.A. in journalism. He began his career as a reporter for NHK (Japan public television), working in western Japan and then eventually was transferred to Tokyo where he worked as a political reporter. Takeshi first came to the United States as a visiting scholar at Stanford University in 2015. In June 2018, he was transferred to the Washington bureau of NHK where he specializes in covering news related to U.S. government policies.

Moderator: Professor Andrew Krieger, senior adjunct professor at Montgomery College in Rockville, MD; teaches courses in international relations, sociology, and American government.

satellite view of the Indian Ocean and surrounding landmasses

9/24/18: The Indo-Pacific and Regional Trends: Towards Connectivity or Conflict?

September 5, 2018July 14, 2021Archives & Recordings4 Comments

Monday, September 24, 2018
12:30 PM – 1:45 PM
Room 505
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW
Washington, DC 20052

This event is co-sponsored with the Rising Powers Initiative

map of Belt and Road Initiative

The Sigur Center for Asian Studies and the Rising Powers Initiative will host an event on the Indo-Pacific to assess whether maritime and political trends in the region are advancing regional connectivity or setting the stage for greater mistrust and conflict. Experts on China, India and Japan will consider the nature of these countries’ Indo-Pacific strategies, whether these strategies are driven by economic or strategic motivations, how the Belt and Road Initiative and the Asia-Africa Growth Corridor are evolving, and implications for the role of the U.S.

This event is public and open to the media. Light refreshments will be available.

Speakers:

Mike Mochizuki, pictured in professional attire Robert Sutter, pictured in professional attire Jagannath Panda pictured with computer Deepa Ollapally, pictured in professional attire

(From left to right)

Dr. Mike Mochizuki, Associate Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, and Japan-U.S. Relations Chair in Memory of Gaston Sigur at the Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University; Co-Director, Memory and Reconciliation in the Asia-Pacific, Sigur Center for Asian Studies. Professor Mochizuki holds the Japan-U.S. Relations Chair in Memory of Gaston Sigur at the Elliott School of International Affairs at The George Washington University. Dr. Mochizuki was director of the Sigur Center for Asian Studies from 2001 to 2005. He co-directs the “Memory and Reconciliation in the Asia-Pacific” research and policy project of the Sigur Center. Previously, he was a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution. He was also Co-Director of the Center for Asia-Pacific Policy at RAND and has taught at the University of Southern California and Yale University.

Dr. Robert Sutter, Professor of Practice of International Affairs; Director, B.A. Program in International Affairs, George Washington University. A Ph.D. graduate in History and East Asian Languages from Harvard University, Sutter taught full time for ten years at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and part-time for thirty years at Georgetown, George Washington, Johns Hopkins Universities, or the University of Virginia. He has published 21 books, over 200 articles and several hundred government reports dealing with contemporary East Asian and Pacific countries and their relations with the United States. His most recent books are: Foreign Relations of the PRC: The Legacies and Constraints of China’s International Politics since 1949 (Rowman & Littlefield 2018); US-China Relations: Perilous Past, Uncertain Present (Rowman & Littlefield 2018); Chinese Foreign Relations: Power and Policy Since the Cold War (Rowman & Littlefield 2016); The United States and Asia; Regional Dynamics and 21st Century Relations (Rowman & Littlefield 2015). Sutter’s government career (1968-2001) focused on Asian and Pacific affairs and US foreign policy. He was the Director of the Foreign Affairs and National Defense Division of the Congressional Research Service, the National Intelligence Officer for East Asia at the US National Intelligence Council, the China Division Director at the Department of State’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research, and professional staff member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Dr. Jagannath Panda, Research Fellow and Coordinator of the East Asia Centre at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi. Dr. Panda is primarily based out of New Delhi where he holds the position of Research Fellow and Centre Head for East Asia at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (ISDA) where he is in charge of the East Asia Centre’s academic and administrative activities. These include Track-II and Track 1.5 dialogues with the Chinese, Japanese and Korean think-tanks and institutes. He is a recipient of V. K. Krishna Menon Memorial Gold Medal (2000) from the Indian Society of International Law & Diplomacy in New Delhi. He is the author of India-China Relations: Politics of Resources, Identity and Authority in a Multipolar World Order (Routledge: 2016) and a Member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Asian Public Policy (Routledge). He is also affiliated (honorary) to the Institute of Transnational Studies (ITS), Germany/Italy. Dr. Panda is the first South Asian scholar to receive the prestigious East Asia Institute (EAI) fellowship. He has also received a number of prestigious fellowships such as the STINT Asia Fellowship from Sweden, Carole Weinstein Fellowship from the University of Richmond, Virginia, USA; National Science Council (NSC) Visiting Professorship from Taiwan; Visiting Scholar (2012) at University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign), USA and Visiting Fellowship from Shanghai Institute of International Studies (SIIS) in Shanghai, China. He has been invited as lead speaker to talks, seminars, conferences and symposiums and have also chaired prominent events. Dr. Panda has published in leading peer-reviewed journals like Journal of Asian Public Policy (Routledge), Journal of Asian and African Studies (Sage), Asian Perspective (Lynne Reiner), Journal of Contemporary China (Routledge), Georgetown Journal of Asian Affairs (Georgetown), Strategic Analyses (Routledge), China Report (Sage), Indian Foreign Affairs Journal (MD Publication), Portuguese Journal of International Affairs (Euro Press) etc.

Moderator: Dr. Deepa M. Ollapally, Director of the Rising Powers Initiative and Research Professor of International Affairs, George Washington University. Deepa Ollapally is directing a major research project on power and identity and the worldviews of rising and aspiring powers in Asia and Eurasia. Her research focuses on domestic foreign policy debates in India and its implications for regional security and global leadership of the U.S. Dr. Ollapally has received major grants from the Carnegie Corporation, MacArthur Foundation, Ford Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation and the Asia Foundation for projects related to India and Asia. She is a frequent commentator in the media, including appearances on CNN, BBC, CBS, Reuters TV and the Diane Rehm Show.

brown book cover with photo of Japanese surrender in WWII; text: Memory, Identity, and Commemorations of World War II edited by Daqing Yang and Mike Mochizuki foreword by Akira Iriye

8/31/18: Book Launch: Memory, Identity, and Commemorations of World War II – Anniversary Politics in Asia Pacific

August 10, 2018May 14, 2021Archives & Recordings, New Books in Asian StudiesLeave a Comment

Friday, August 31, 2018
12:30 PM – 1:45 PM EDT
Lindner Commons – Room 602
1957 E St. NW
Washington DC 20052

Book cover of Memory Identity and Commemorations of WWII

Why do some governments and societies attach great significance to a particular anniversary year whereas others seem less inclined to do so? What motivates the orchestration of elaborate commemorative activities in some countries? What are they supposed to accomplish, for both domestic and international audience? In what ways do commemorations in Asia Pacific fit into the global memory culture of war commemoration? In what ways are these commemorations intertwined with current international politics?

This book presents the first large-scale analysis of how countries in the Asia Pacific and beyond commemorated the seventieth anniversaries of the end of World War II. Consisting of in-depth case studies of China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Singapore, the Philippines, United States, Russia, and Germany, this unique collective effort demonstrates how memories of the past as reflected in public commemorations and contemporary politics—both internal and international—profoundly affect each other.

About the Speakers:

Mike Mochizuki, pictured in professional attire

Dr. Mike Mochizuki holds the Japan-U.S. Relations Chair in Memory of Gaston Sigur at the Elliott School of International Affairs at The George Washington University. Dr. Mochizuki was director of the Sigur Center for Asian Studies from 2001 to 2005. He co-directs the “Memory and Reconciliation in the Asia-Pacific” research and policy project of the Sigur Center. Previously, he was a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution. He was also Co-Director of the Center for Asia-Pacific Policy at RAND and has taught at the University of Southern California and Yale University.

Daqing Yang, pictured in professional attire

Dr. Daqing Yang graduated from Nanjing University and received his Ph.D. from Harvard University. He specialized in the history of modern Japan. His research interests include the Japanese empire, technological developments in modern Japan, and the legacies of World War II in East Asia. In 2004, Dr. Yang was appointed a Historical Consultant to The Nazi War Crimes and Japanese Imperial Government Records Interagency Working Group at the U.S. National Archives. Professor Yang is a founding co-director of the “Memory and Reconciliation in the Asia Pacific” program based in the Sigur Center for Asian Studies, and is currently working on a new project on postwar China-Japan reconciliation. He is the author of Technology of Empire: Telecommunications and Japanese Expansion in Asia, 1883-1945. He co-edited the following books: Historical Understanding that Transcend National Boundaries, which was published simultaneously in China and Japan; Rethinking Historical Injustice and Reconciliation in Northeast Asia; and Communications Under the Seas: The Evolving Cable Network and Its Implications.

Robert Sutter, pictured in professional attire

Dr. Robert Sutter is Professor of Practice of International Affairs at the Elliott School of George Washington University beginning in 2011. He also serves as the school’s Director, Program of Bachelor of Arts in International Affairs. A Ph.D. graduate in History and East Asian Languages from Harvard University, he has published 21 books, over 200 articles and several hundred government reports dealing with contemporary East Asian and Pacific countries and their relations with the United States. His most recent books are: Foreign Relations of the PRC: The Legacies and Constraints of China’s International Politics since 1949 (Rowman & Littlefield 2018); US-China Relations: Perilous Past, Uncertain Present (Rowman & Littlefield 2018); Chinese Foreign Relations: Power and Policy Since the Cold War (Rowman & Littlefield 2016); The United States and Asia: Regional Dynamics and 21st Century Relations (Rowman & Littlefield 2015). Professor Sutter’s government career (1968-2001) focused on Asian and Pacific affairs and US foreign policy.

Dr. Lily Gardner Feldman is currently the Harry & Helen Gray Senior Fellow at AICGS at Johns Hopkins University. She also directs the Institute’s Society, Culture & Politics Program. She has a PhD in Political Science from MIT. Dr. Gardner Feldman has published widely in the U.S. and Europe on German foreign policy, German-Jewish relations, international reconciliation, non-state entities as foreign policy players, and the EU as an international actor. Her latest publications are: Germany’s Foreign Policy of Reconciliation: From Enmity to Amity, 2014; “Die Bedeutung zivilgesellschaftlicher und staatlicher Institutionen: Zur Vielfalt und Komplexität von Versöhnung,” in Corine Defrance and Ulrich Pfeil, eds., Verständigung und Versöhnung, 2016; and “The Limits and Opportunities of Reconciliation with West Germany During the Cold War: A Comparative Analysis of France, Israel, Poland and Czechoslovakia” in Hideki Kan, ed., The Transformation of the Cold War and the History Problem, 2017 (in Japanese). Her work on Germany’s foreign policy of reconciliation has led to lecture tours in Japan and South Korea.

Dr. Christine Kim is Associate Professor of Teaching in the School of Foreign Service of Georgetown University. An historian by training, she teaches courses on modern Korea and East Asia at both the undergraduate and graduate levels; topics include comparative colonialisms, twentieth century conflicts, political symbolism, and film. Her research and writing focus on national identity, material culture, and political movements. The King Is Dead (forthcoming) explores the ways that colonization and modernization influenced Korean polity and identity during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. She is also engaged in a study examining cultural heritage and arts management in Korea in the twentieth century. Kim is the recipient of numerous fellowships, including ones from the Department of Education (Fulbright-Hays), the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Korea Foundation, the Academy of Korean Studies, and the East-West Center.

wind turbines in Taiwan at sunset, with silhouette of person taking pictures

7/24/18: Taiwan’s Energy Future

July 10, 2018May 12, 2021Archives & RecordingsLeave a Comment

Event Recording

Tuesday, July 24, 2018
12:30 PM – 1:30 PM
Lindner Family Commons – Room 602 (6th Floor)

Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E St. NW, Washington, DC 20052

This event is co-sponsored with the Global Taiwan Institute. This event is free and open to the public and media.

Wind turbines in the sunset

Wind Turbines in Taichung, Taiwan, June 19, 2016. Image Credit: EPA/Ritchie B. Tongo

Event Description:

Climate change is as much an environmental issue as it is a national security concern for Taiwan. While Taiwan is not a member of the United Nations, its energy policies are guided by the Paris Climate Accord. Although Taiwan was not even among the top 10 countries for offshore wind in 2017, it is now leading the way in Asia through partnerships with several European companies, which see Taiwan as an entry to the Asian offshore wind power market.

Taiwan’s recent push towards renewable energy follows the 2011 Fukushima Disaster in Japan. In the aftermath of that disaster, public opinion in Taiwan shifted dramatically against the use of nuclear power due to its potential danger. President Tsai Ing-wen was elected into office in 2016 on a promise that Taiwan will become “nuclear-free” by 2025. Yet in 2017, the island experienced significant power outages that raised some doubts about the viability of the government’s ambitious plan for Taiwan’s energy future.

Please join the Global Taiwan Institute and co-sponsor, The Sigur Center for Asian Studies at George Washington University, on July 24th to explore the future of Taiwan’s energy. This event is the third installment of the Civil Society and Democracy Series, which is partially funded by the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy. The panelists will discuss Taiwan’s policy and opportunities in sustainable energy, how it will impact the Asia-Pacific region, and what it means for US interests.

Please direct questions or concerns to Global Taiwan Institute Program Associate Marzia Borsoi-Kelly.

** Media that would like to bring additional crew members or equipment, please contact Ms. Borsoi-Kelly directly.

Panelists

Wen-Yu Weng is a low-carbon energy and sustainability consultant. Currently based at the Carbon Trust in the UK, she delivers and designs low-carbon strategy and implementation projects in Southeast Asia, East Asia, the UK, and other European countries, working closely with local partners, governments, the private sector, and international organizations. She has particular interests in solar and wind energy, storage and grid issues, energy policy, circular economy, green finance, and the application of IT innovations for a low-carbon future. Outside her environmental consultancy and research work, Wen-Yu co-founded the Emerging Leaders Program at the Caux Dialogue on Land and Security in Switzerland, and is also the Co-founder of the non-profit Taiwan Debate Union. She received her M.Sc. in Environmental Policy from the University of Oxford, as well as a M.Sc. in Development Studies from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Clara Gillispie is the Senior Director of Trade, Economic, and Energy Affairs at the National Bureau of Asian Research (NBR). Her subject-matter expertise focuses on shaping program and research agendas on energy security, trade and innovation policies, public health and the environment, and geopolitical trends in the Asia-Pacific. Prior to joining NBR in 2011, Ms. Gillispie served as a consultant for Detica Federal Inc. (now a part of BAE Systems), where she conducted program assessments and policy reviews for US government clients. She has also worked both at the US House Committee on Science, Technology, and Space and the American Chamber of Commerce in the People’s Republic of China. Ms. Gillispie graduated from the London School of Economics and Peking University with a dual M.Sc. in International Affairs. Prior to her graduate studies, Ms. Gillispie received a B.S. from Georgetown University and attended Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan, for language training.

Lotta Danielsson is the Vice President of the US-Taiwan Business Council. Lotta’s duties include membership retention and development, research on current Taiwan policy issues, and research to identify the needs of U.S. businesses in Taiwan. She oversees all member products and services, and manages the development of new value-added membership services. She also oversees all events and conferences, and she has planned the annual US-Taiwan Defense Industry Conference – which serves as an important platform for bilateral dialogue on Taiwan’s national security and defense needs – since its inception in 2002. As a student in the three-year International MBA program (Chinese Track) at the University of South Carolina, Lotta spent 19 months studying Mandarin Chinese in Taipei, Taiwan and in Beijing, China. Lotta also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology from Georgia State University.

Night View of Taiwan President's Office with red tint at sunset

7/11/18: Taiwan’s Role in Countering CCP Political Warfare

June 29, 2018July 20, 2021Archives & RecordingsLeave a Comment

Wednesday, July 11, 2018
1:30 PM – 3:00 PM
Elliott School of International Affairs
**B12**
1957 E St. NW, Washington, DC 20052

This event is co-sponsored with the Global Taiwan Institute. This event is free and open to the public and media.

night view of taiwan presidential office building

Event Description:

The Trump administration’s 2017 National Security Strategy warned that adversaries “are using information tools in an attempt to undermine the legitimacy of democracies.” Indeed, there is a growing consensus that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is currently engaged in a comprehensive coercive campaign that utilizes political warfare to influence and undermine democracies through coercive, corrupt, and covert means. The impact of China’s authoritarian influence is being felt throughout the world, but most visibly in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Czech Republic, United States, and Taiwan. To be clear, the government in Taiwan has the longest experience contending with CCP political warfare than any other governments. Consequently, Taipei’s counter-measures to this emerging challenge deserves careful study. Please join GTI and the Sigur Center for Asian Studies at the George Washington University on July 11 for a timely discussion with a panel of experts: Toshi Yoshihara (Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments), Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian (The Daily Beast), and Shanthi Kalathil (National Endowment for Democracy).

Please direct questions or concerns to Global Taiwan Institute Program Associate Marzia Borsoi-Kelly.

** Media that would like to bring additional crew members or equipment, please contact Ms. Borsoi-Kelly directly.

Panelists

Toshi Yoshihara is a Senior Fellow at CSBA. Previously he held the John A. van Beuren Chair of Asia-Pacific Studies at the U.S. Naval War College where he taught strategy for over a decade. He was also an affiliate member of the China Maritime Studies Institute at the War College. Dr. Yoshihara has been a visiting professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University since 2012. He has also taught as a visiting professor at the School of Global Policy and Strategy, University of California, San Diego and as a visiting professor in the Strategy Department at the U.S. Air War College. He has served as a research analyst at the Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis, RAND, and the American Enterprise Institute. Dr. Yoshihara has testified before the Defense Policy Board, the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. He is the recipient of the Navy Meritorious Civilian Service Award in recognition of his scholarship on maritime and strategic affairs at the Naval War College.

Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian is a Security Reporter at The Daily Beast and previously a contributing reporter at Foreign Policy. She was previously an assistant editor at Foreign Policy’s China channel Tea Leaf Nation. Bethany has appeared on CNN, C-SPAN, BBC, Al Jazeera, PRI, and Deutsche Welle, among other outlets, and her work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Atlantic. She covered the 2017 German federal elections as a correspondent in Berlin and has also reported from Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Austria, China, Japan, and Taiwan. She was a 2017 Arthur F. Burns Fellow in Berlin, a 2016 Jefferson Fellow at the East-West Center, and a 2015 fellow with the International Reporting Project. Before joining Foreign Policy, she lived and worked in China for more than four years. She holds an M.A. in East Asian studies from Yale University and a graduate certificate from the Hopkins-Nanjing Center for Chinese and American Studies. Bethany speaks and reads Chinese.

Shanthi Kalathil is Director of the International Forum for Democratic Studies. Her work has focused primarily on issues pertaining to democratization, development, and the impact of information and communication technology, with a particular emphasis on Asia. Previously in her career, she served as a senior Democracy Fellow at the U.S. Agency for International Development, an associate with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a non-resident associate with the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University, and as a consultant for the World Bank, the Aspen Institute, and other international affairs organizations. Kalathil has appeared on media including NPR, BBC, VOA, RFA, C-SPAN, and others, and has authored or edited numerous policy and scholarly publications, including Diplomacy, Development and Security in the Information Age (Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, 2013), Developing Independent Media as an Institution of Accountable Governance (The World Bank, 2008), and (with Taylor C. Boas) Open Networks, Closed Regimes: The Impact of the Internet on Authoritarian Rule (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2003). A former Hong Kong-based staff reporter for The Wall Street Journal Asia, Kalathil lectures on international relations in the information age at Georgetown University. She holds degrees from U.C. Berkeley and the London School of Economics and Political Science.

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Event Gallery

event panelists listening attentively to audience questions

panelist answering audience questions while other panelists take notes and listens

panelist addressing other panelists while answering audience questions

panelist answering audience questions while making hand gestures

panelists at event sitting at panelist table addressing the audience

view of event room packed with audience from the back of the room

panelists sitting at panelist table preparing to speak

event audience some looking towards panelists and some looking down at phone

audience member at event asking panelists a question while other audience listens

6/19/18: NBR-Sigur Center Roundtable: Implications of DPRK Diplomacy for Taiwan

June 13, 2018July 20, 2021Archives & Recordings, Taiwan RoundtablesLeave a Comment

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Tuesday, June 19, 2018
12:00 PM – 2:00 PM

The Elliott School of International Affairs
State Room – 7th Floor
1957 E St., NW Washington, DC 20052

This event is co-sponsored by The National Bureau of Asian Research and the Sigur Center for Asian Studies

The National Bureau of Asian Research and the Sigur Center for Asian Studies cordially invite you to a panel discussion with experts examining the implications of recent North Korean diplomatic developments for Taiwan, cross-Strait relations, and U.S.-Taiwan relations.

Light lunch will be available.

Agenda:

12:00 PM – 12:30 PM: Registration and Lunch
12:30 PM – 12:45 PM: Welcome Remarks and Introduction
12:45 PM – 2:00 PM: Panel Discussion and Q&A

Panelists:

Patrick Cronin, Senior Director of the Asia-Pacific Security Program, Center for a New American Security

Robert Sutter, Professor of Practice of International Affairs; Director, B.A. Program in International Affairs, The George Washington University

Followed by discussant remarks by Tiffany Ma, Senior Director, BowerGroup Asia and Nonresident Fellow, The National Bureau of Asian Research

Moderator: Alison Szalwinski, Director for Political and Security Affairs, The National Bureau of Asian Research

**Final speaker list to be confirmed**

About the Panelists:

Patrick M. Cronin is a Senior Advisor and Senior Director of the Asia-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). Previously, he was the Senior Director of the Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS) at the National Defense University, where he simultaneously oversaw the Center for the Study of Chinese Military Affairs. Prior to leading INSS, Dr. Cronin served as the Director of Studies at the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). At the IISS, he also served as Editor of the Adelphi Papers and as the Executive Director of the Armed Conflict Database. Before joining IISS, Dr. Cronin was Senior Vice President and Director of Research at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

Tiffany Ma is a senior director at BowerGroupAsia, where she manages BGA’s client relationships and engagements. She directs analysis and activities designed to advise Fortune 500 companies on public policy issues, regional geopolitics and stakeholder management. Prior to joining BGA, Tiffany was the senior director for political and security affairs at NBR in Washington, D.C., where she led major initiatives on geopolitical and international security affairs in the Asia-Pacific that regularly convened senior government officials and specialists from across the region. She began her career as a research associate at the Project 2049 Institute, an Asia security think tank based in Arlington, Virginia, and has also worked at the International Crisis Group in Beijing, the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, and the Lowy Institute in Sydney.

Robert Sutter is Professor of Practice of International Affairs at the Elliott School of George Washington University beginning in 2011. He also serves as the school’s Director, Program of Bachelor of Arts in International Affairs. A Ph.D. graduate in History and East Asian Languages from Harvard University, he has published 20 books, over 200 articles and several hundred government reports dealing with contemporary East Asian and Pacific countries and their relations with the United States. Sutter’s government career (1968-2001) involved work on Asian and Pacific affairs and US foreign policy for the Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress, the Central Intelligence Agency, the Department of State, and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Additional information forthcoming. We look forward to seeing you at the discussion!

Taiwan military parade rehearsal with soldiers lined up

04/05/18: Taiwan Conference: How Does Taiwan’s Defense and Security Status Stack Up?

March 28, 2018July 20, 2021Archives & Recordings, Taiwan Conference SeriesLeave a Comment

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Thursday, April 5, 2018
3:00 PM – 7:00 PM
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, State Room (7th Floor)
Washington, DC 20052

Experts will assess the strengths and weaknesses of Taiwan’s defense capacity vis-a-vis China, and how the political and security relationship with the United States factors into Taiwan’s security calculus.

This event is on the record and open to the media.

Agenda:

3:00 PM – 3:30 PM:
Registration and Welcoming Remarks

3:30 PM – 5:00 PM:
PANEL I: The US-Taiwan Security Relationship and the US Factor in Taiwan’s Defense

“US Policy Priorities in the Region and Role in Taiwan’s Security”
Bonnie Glaser, Senior Adviser for Asia; Director, China Power Project, CSIS
“Rise of Revisionist Powers and Strategic Challenges for US and Taiwan”
Lt. Gen. Wallace “Chip” Gregson, Jr. (Ret.), Senior Director, China and the Pacific, Center for the National Interest
“Taiwan’s Future Threat Environment and Need for US Policy Adjustments”
Richard Fisher, Senior Fellow, International Assessment and Strategy Center

5:00 PM – 5:30 PM:
Break for High Tea and Refreshments

5:30 PM – 7:00 PM:
PANEL II: Taiwan’s Strategic and Defense Capacities: Strengths and Weaknesses

“Taiwan’s Strong but Stifled Foundations of National Power”
David Gitter, Director, Party Watch Initiative
“Reconstructing Taiwan’s Military Strategy: Achieving Forward Defense through Multi-Domain Deterrence”
David An, Senior Research Fellow, Global Taiwan Institute
“The Chinese Invasion Threat: Taiwan’s Defense and American Strategy in Asia”
Ian Easton, Research Fellow, Project 2049 Institute

About the Speakers:

Bonnie Glaser is a senior adviser for Asia and the director of the China Power Project at CSIS, where she works on issues related to Asia-Pacific security with a focus on Chinese foreign and security policy. Ms. Glaser has worked for more than three decades at the intersection of Asia-Pacific geopolitics and U.S. policy. Prior to joining CSIS, she served as a consultant for various U.S. government offices, including the Departments of Defense and State. Ms. Glaser received her B.A. in political science from Boston University and her M.A. with concentrations in international economics and Chinese studies from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

Lt. Gen. Wallace “Chip” Gregson, Jr. (ret.) most recently served as the Assistant Secretary of Defense, Asian and Pacific Security Affairs. Previously, he served as Chief Operating Officer for the United States Olympic Committee, then as an independent consultant before entering Government in 2009. LtGen. Gregson is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations; the U.S. Naval Institute; and the Marine Corps Association. He is a Trustee of the Marine Corps University Foundation. His civilian education includes a Bachelor’s degree from the U.S. Naval Academy, and Master’s degrees in Strategic Planning from the Naval War College, and International Relations from Salve Regina College.

Richard Fisher is a Senior Fellow with the International Assessment and Strategy Center. He has previously worked with the Center for Security Policy, Jamestown Foundation China Brief, U.S. House of Representatives Republican Policy Committee, and The Heritage Foundation. He is the author of China’s Military Modernization, Building forRegional and Global Reach (Praeger, 2008, Stanford University Press, 2010, Taiwan Ministry ofNational Defense translation, 2012). His articles have been published in Far Eastern Economic Review, Asian Wall Street Journal, The Washington Times, The Sankei Shimbun, World Airpower Review and Air Forces Monthly. He received a B.A. (Honors) in 1981 from Eisenhower College.

David Gitter is the Director of the Party Watch Initiative, a Project 2049 Institute program that tracks the latest activities of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and specializes in analysis of authoritative open source Chinese language materials. Prior to joining the Institute, he has worked in various analytical capacities at the Congressional Research Service (CRS), the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy (OUSDP), Project 2049 Institute, and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) focusing on Chinese foreign policy and broader Asian security issues. Gitter received his MA in Asian Studies from the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University.

David An is currently the Senior Research Fellow at Global Taiwan Institute. Prior to joining GTI, David was a political-military affairs officer covering the East Asia region at the U.S. State Department from 2009 to 2014, and initiated the first Taiwan interagency political-military visit to the U.S., which have continued to occur annually. Prior to joining the State Department, he was a Fulbright scholar researching democracy in Taiwan and village elections in China. He received his M.A. from UCSD Graduate School of Global Policy and Strategy and his B.A. from UC Berkeley. He publishes and speaks widely on East Asian political and security matters.

Ian Easton is a research fellow at the Project 2049 Institute, where he conducts research on defense and security issues in Asia. Previously, Ian worked as a China analyst at the Center for Naval Analyses (CNA) for two years. Prior to that, he lived in Taipei from 2005 to 2010. During his time in Taiwan, he worked as a translator for Island Technologies Inc. and the Foundation for Asia-Pacific Peace Studies. While in Taiwan, he also conducted research with the Asia Bureau Chief of Defense News. Ian holds an M.A. in China Studies from National Chengchi University in Taiwan and a B.A. in International Studies from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

group of Burmese children looking forlornly at the camera

03/27/18: Film Screening and Discussion of Left for Dead: Myanmar’s Muslim Minority

March 21, 2018July 21, 2021Archives & RecordingsLeave a Comment

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Tuesday, March 27, 2018
2:00 PM – 4:00 PM

The George Washington University
Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street NW
Lindner Family Commons, Room 602
Washington, DC 20052

Gallery 102 is proud to present “As The World Watches.” This exhibition presents a select collection of responses to the humanitarian crisis affecting communities in Myanmar (formerly Burma). Like many other countries in our modern era, Myanmar is experiencing an increasingly fractured society and a growing radical movement within their politics. In keeping with some of history’s worst examples of conflict, the rapidly escalating violence in Myanmar is centered around religious and ethnic divisions. Recent riots have caused massive upheaval in the country, bringing long past due attention to the host of human rights issues affecting the Rohingya people. In the wake of this flood, the world has begun to turn its focus on the true cost and scope of a modern genocide. The aim of As The World Watches is to raise awareness of Myanmar’s long history of displaced peoples, and examine how the concept of “Other” has led to the systematic and ongoing annihilation of entire communities. Change can only begin with knowledge.

As part of this series, Gallery 102 and the Sigur Center for Asian Studies will present a film screening of “Left for Dead: Myanmar’s Muslim Minority.” The film shows what VICE News uncovered about its investigation into the violence and discrimination faced by the country’s Muslim minority. Following the screening will be a panel discussion on the film and the broader social, political, and historical context of the situation.

Discussants:

Layla Saad, Gallery 102 Curator & Co-Chair
Dr. Christina Fink, Professor of Practice of International Affairs, GW
Matthew Wells, Senior Crisis Advisor, Amnesty International
Robert Marro, Burma Task Force

About the film:
In recent years, democratic reforms have swept through Myanmar, a country that for decades was ruled by a military junta. As the reforms took hold, however, things were growing progressively worse for the Rohingya, a heavily persecuted ethnic Muslim minority concentrated in the country’s western state of Rakhine.

The 2012 gang rape and murder of a Buddhist woman by three Muslim men ignited violent riots in which hundreds were killed as Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya attacked each other. In the following months, tens of thousands of Rohingya were rounded up and forced to live in squalid camps; Human Rights Watch deemed the attacks crimes against humanity that amounted to ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya. Thousands of Rohingya have since attempted to leave the country, fueling the region’s intricate and brutal human trafficking network.

02/07/18: Taking Stock of Cross Strait Relations: Chinese Postures and Taiwan’s Prospects–A Roundtable Discussion

February 7, 2018July 21, 2021Archives & Recordings, Taiwan RoundtablesLeave a Comment

Audio Recording Part 1

Audio Recording Part 2

Wednesday, February 7, 2018

Lunch: 12:00 PM – 12:30 PM

Roundtable Discussion: 12:30 PM – 2:00 PM
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, Lindner Commons, Room 602 (6th Floor)
Washington, DC 20052

China’s stepped up pressure on Taiwan in recent weeks – from Beijing’s unilateral launch of new air routes, to the row with hotel giant Marriott over its website characterization of Taiwan – is once again bringing cross Strait relations into question. This is occurring in the context of China’s rising military profile and growing assertiveness in East Asia, which continues to raise region-wide concern. This Roundtable will assess key political and strategic dynamics of current cross Strait relations and what the trends portend.

“Chinese Strategic Pressure and Impact on Taiwan”

Mark Stokes, Executive Director of the Project 2049 Institute

“Taiwan’s Southbound Policy and the China Factor”

Dr. Joyce Juo-yu Lin, Professor of the Department of Diplomacy and International Relations, and Director of the ASEAN Studies Center at Tamkang University

“Domestic Politics and Taiwan’s Options on Cross Strait Relations”

Dr. Shelley Rigger, Brown Professor and Assistant Dean for Educational Policy, Political Science Department of Davidson College

Moderator: Edward McCord, Professor of History and International Affairs and Director of the Taiwan Education and Research Program at GW

About the Participants:

Mark Stokes is the Executive Director of the Project 2049 Institute, which seeks to guide decision makers toward a more secure Asia. Prior to his current position, he was the founder and president of Quantum Pacific Enterprises, an international consulting firm, and vice president and Taiwan country manager for Raytheon International. Mr. Stokes has also served as a senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and as a member of the Board of Governors of the American Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan. A 20-year U.S. Air Force veteran, Mr. Stokes was the team chief and senior country director for the People’s Republic of China, Taiwan and Mongolia in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs. He holds a B.A. from Texas A&M University and a M.A. from Boston University and the Naval Postgraduate School.

Dr. Joyce Juo-yu Lin is the current Director of the ASEAN Studies Center at Tamkang University and professor of the University’s Department of Diplomacy and International Relations, and is a specialist in Southeast Asian political and economic issues. She has researched and written academic papers focusing on the possibility of a free trade agreement between China and ASEAN, as well as the motivations behind pursuing a free trade agreement, and the possibility of US influence in this area. Prior to her current positions, Dr. Lin was a Southeast Asia correspondent for the China Times, and was a visiting researcher at Georgetown University. She was also the CNAPS visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution. Dr. Lin holds a B.A., M.A. and Ph.D from the National Taiwan University.

Dr. Shelley Rigger is the Brown Professor and Assistant Dean for Educational Policy at Davidson College focusing on East Asian politics. She has written two books analyzing Taiwan’s domestic politics, Politics in Taiwan: Voting for Democracy (Routledge 1999) and From Opposition to Power: Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party (Lynne Rienner Publishers 2001), and has published articles concentrating on the national identity issue in Taiwan-China relations, and other related topics. Her current research studies include the effects of cross-strait economic interactions on Taiwan people’s perceptions of mainland China. Dr. Rigger earned her bachelor’s degree at Princeton University, and holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University.

Dr. Edward McCord is a Professor of History and International Affairs and Director of the Taiwan Education and Research Program at GW. He lived and studied for five years in Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China, and is currently working on a major book-length project that examines militia organizations in Republican China (1911-1949). Professor McCord’s research centers on the history of Chinese military-civil relations in the modern era. Prior to joining GW, he was the Assistant Professor of History at the University of Florida. He has experience teaching Chinese history at the Foreign Service Institute and the Smithsonian Institution’s Campus on the Mall program. Professor McCord has a M.A. and Ph.D. in history from the University of Michigan.