Regional cooperative mechanisms for peace and security has become a key priority for the 21st century, as witnessed by the establishment of new – and strengthening of existing – fora and institutions. The question, however, remains as to whether regional institutions are functioning at optimal level to address the various security challenges.
With the intention to investigate into those policy decisions that are required now to ensure sustainable bi-regional cooperation on peace and security in the future, the 8th Asia-Europe Roundtable (8th AER) identified a set of policy directives relevant to improve future security and conflict management cooperation between Asia and Europe.
In direct follow-up to the 8th AER, the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) and its partners in the Europe-Asia Policy Forum (EUforAsia) will be organising a briefing on ‘Improving Regional Security Architectures through an Asia-Europe Strategic Partnership’. Hosted by the European Policy Centre, this EuforAsia briefing will be held on 13th December 2011, from 14h00 – 15h30 at the Residence Palace, Brussels.
The briefing will investigate prospects for inter-regional cooperation in managing conflicts where Asian and EU countries share common concerns. Speakers will include Alistair Macdonald, ASEM Counsellor in the European External Action Service, Justin Davies, Director of C2M Solutions, and Sunai Phasuk, Thailand Senior Researcher in Human Rights Watch.
The publication from the 8th AER, titled ‘The Future of an Asia-Europe Strategic Partnership in Conflict Transformation’ will be launched at the briefing. The 8th AER was organised by ASEF, the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) and the Singapore Institute of International Affairs (SIIA) with the support of the Europe-Asia Policy Forum (EUforAsia) which is funded by the European Commission.