EWCA Blog

Source: East-West Wire

Clinton:  ‘America’s future linked to future of Asia Pacific Region’

Secretary of State lays out principles that ‘define America’s engagement and leadership in the region’

HONOLULU (Jan. 14) – In a policy speech delivered Tuesday at the East-West Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton outlined U.S. goals for multilateral engagement in the region. “America’s future is linked to the future of the Asia Pacific region, and the future of this region depends on America,” Clinton said.

(To view a video of Secretary Clinton’s speech, visit http://www.vimeo.com/8744420. To read the full text of the speech, visit http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2010/01/135090.htm. To view high resolution press images, visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/eastwestcenter/sets/72157623075594361)

The speech came at start of what had been scheduled to be Clinton’s fourth trip to the Asia Pacific region as America’s top diplomat. However, she later postponed the remainder of her trip and returned to Washington due to the devastating earthquake in Haiti.

Clinton spoke at the East-West Center in observance of the 50th anniversary year since the Center was founded by Congress to promote better understanding and relations between the peoples and nations of the U.S., Asia and the Pacific.

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Source: East-West Center News

HONOLULU (Jan. 10) — On Tuesday, Jan. 12, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will deliver a major policy address on the U.S. vision for Asia-Pacific multilateral engagement at the East-West Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. Although attendance is by invitation only, the speech will be streamed live online at EastWestCenter.org at 2 p.m. Hawaii Standard Time.

Secretary Clinton’s address comes at the start of an eight-day Pacific trip that, in addition to Hawaii, will take her to Papua New Guinea, New Zealand and Australia.

The State Department has said that the East-West Center was chosen as the venue for Secretary Clinton’s policy address in commemoration of the 50^th anniversary year of the Center’s founding by Congress to strengthen relations and understanding among the peoples and nations of Asia, the Pacific, and the United States.

Links:

• For more information on the Center’s history and 50^th year commemorations, visit EastWestCenter.org

Two-week professional workshop in Indonesia during May

will focus on “Internal Conflicts in the Asia Pacific Region”

Applications are being accepted through Jan. 1 for the third annual Summer Institute in International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and Human Rights. Organized by the Asian International Justice Initiative – a collaboration between the East-West Center and the University of California-Berkeley War Crimes Studies Center ­– Summer Institute 2010 will be held in partnership with the Indonesian National Human Rights Commission in Bali, followed by an optional field trip to Aceh, Sumatra.

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Dr. Chia Siow Yue of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, and Dr. Michael G. Plummer (RSI 88, 89; IEP 95; VPRE 96; Wash 07; USAPC 08) of the East-West Center conducted the first comprehensive study of the potential of the ASEAN Economic Community along with a group of researchers from the region. The study was undertaken at the request of the ASEAN Secretariat and prepared through the ASEAN-US Technical Assistance and Training Facility, a joint program of the U.S. Agency for International Development and U.S. Department of State.

At the ASEAN-US Leaders Meeting, Surin Pitsuwan, Secretary-General of ASEAN, presented a copy of "Realizing the ASEAN Economic Community" to President Barack Obama.

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Source: East-West Center’s News Center

HONOLULU (Nov. 14) – President Barack Obama’s selection of Honolulu as the site for the annual APEC Leaders Meeting in November 2011 means that Hawai‘i will both open the U.S. year of hosting APEC with an agenda-setting conference, as well as close the year with the huge Ministerial and Leaders meetings.

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The Asian International Justice Initiative
a collaboration between
the University of California Berkeley War Crimes Studies Center and the East-West Center
in partnership with
the (Komnas HAM)
is pleased to announce
THE 3RD ANNUAL SUMMER INSTITUTE IN
INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW AND HUMAN RIGHTS
“Internal Conflicts in the Asia Pacific Region”
Monday, May 10 – Saturday, May 22, 2010
Bali / Aceh, Indonesia

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Source: East-West Center News

HONOLULU (Sep. 1) – The East-West Center (EWC) was awarded a three-year grant for $1,398,380 from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to investigate the impact of development-based environmental change on avian flu transmission. The project, “CNH: Coupled Natural-Human Systems and Emerging Infectious Diseases,” will examine the interaction of urbanization, agricultural change, and habitat alteration with outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in poultry in Vietnam.

“Studying the role of societal development in disease transmission is urgent and critical for improving the prediction and control of disease,” stated Jefferson Fox, East-West Center Senior Fellow and member of the team heading up the project. “The outcomes will be useful in designing policies for preventing and managing infectious disease outbreaks in Vietnam and other developing nations.”

Between December 2003 and August 2005, three waves of HPAI in Vietnam have resulted in 45 million bird deaths and 106 confirmed human cases with 52 deaths. As part of the coupled natural-human (CNH) system, people are exposed to infectious diseases from each other and other animals. Previous research suggests that disease outbreaks are associated with environmental changes that occur as societies evolve. However, the mechanisms underlying these outbreaks are not well understood because the CNH interactions are so complex. The findings from this study will help inform the Emerging Infectious Disease (EID) research community about the significance of development-based environmental change and perceived human risks in disease outbreaks.

The project will bring together a diverse multidisciplinary team of specialists from the East-West Center, University of Hawaii at Manoa, and Hanoi University of Agriculture in Vietnam. It will also include the participation of graduate students in an NSF funded IGERT (Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship) in the fields of ecology, conservation, and pathogen biology.

Links:

• Learn more about the EWC-NSF Doctoral Fellowship for Environmental Transitions and Emerging Infectious Diseases
• Download the application form to this EWC-NSF Doctoral Fellowship

By Jeramy Webb (ISI ‘66-’68)
EWCA Brisbane Chapter

Petrol prices are reaching around $1.60 per litre in Australia and in New Zealand, when I was there, they had reached $2 a litre.

Now a lot of politicians around the world want to increase the production of ethanol to reduce dependence on oil and reduce the tax on petrol. But policies are badly misguided. The reasons are pretty clear. Firstly, given the world is inexorably running out of oil there is no better way to push people into substitutes than to let the price push them. Continue Reading »

Our deepest sympathy goes out to all of those affected by the recent tragedies in both Myanmar and China. Our thoughts are with the EWCA alumni and their families, along with everyone in the region and hope for a speedy recovery.

For those who would like to contribute to the relief effort in these areas there are several organizations accepting donations including, but not limited to: Mercy Corps, World Vision, Direct Relief International, and Operation USA. Please see their websites for more information.

By Dr. Noel Kent ( ‘67, ‘74 )

As an EWC alum and someone deeply concerned about climate change, I am wondering if we alumni can push, prod, make some proposals to the Center to focus on the impacts of China/India fossil fuel emissions in the years to come and help stimulate work on new technologies to be shared between our nations. What do you think?