On May 14, The German–Southeast Asian Center of Excellence for Public Policy and Good Governance (CPG), the Konrad–Adenauer–Stiftung (KAS) Regional Programme Political Dialogue Asia in Singapore, and the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam will present a seminar on ASEAN Security Connectivity: Regional Solutions to Regional Security Challenge. The seminar will be held in room 221 of the Thammasat University Faculty of Law, Tha Prachan campus. Students, ajarns, and staff are welcome to attend and may register at this link.

As the CPG website explains, the event is intended

to discuss the future of security cooperation within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) against the backdrop of ASEAN inaction in confronting most recent security-relevant challenges. A perceived and real reluctance by ASEAN to meaningfully engage in the management of security challenges, such as the Rohingya situation, the South China Sea disputes, and the management of water resources, increasingly risks ASEAN security irrelevance; in the eyes of ASEAN’s partners as well as its own members. Over several conferences, ASEAN Security Connectivity Working Group discussed relevant issues and devised options for the medium-term future of cooperation within the ASEAN Political-Security Community.

Attendees will be welcomed by, among others, Mr. Christian Echle, Director of the KAS Regional Programme Political Dialogue Asia, Singapore. Mr. Echle studied German literature, history and sociology at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany; the University of Gothenburg, Sweden; and The University of Freiburg, Germany.

His work focuses on social media and political communication.

Among speakers will be Dr. Sriprapha Petcharamesree, Lecturer and Chair of PhD Program, Institute of Human Rights and Peace Studies, Mahidol University, Thailand. She will speak on Migration and its Security Implications in ASEAN.

As its website indicates about The Institute of Human Rights and Peace Studies (IHRP),

• Our focus remains on social and political realities at the community, national and international levels. The IHRP is committed to the advancement of human rights and peace by educating human rights and peace practitioners, promoting outreach programs to community and international organizations, and conducting cutting edge research on important issues.

Vision :

• Institute of Human Rights and Peace Studies plays a leading role in academic enquiry and practical wisdom in human rights and peace building.

Mission :

• Promoting learning excellence in human rights and peace and engaging communities in the transformation towards just peace…

Dr. Sriprapha coauthored a book in the collection of the TU Library. It is A Human Rights Approach to Development: Resource Book. It is shelved in the General Stacks of the Pridi Banomyong, Tha Prachan campus.

Dr. Sriprapha earned a PhD in Political Science-Southeast Asian Studies at the University of Paris X-Nanterre. Her research and expertise involve migration, including statelessness and citizenship; ASEAN/Southeast Asia studies (politics, economy, and society); business and human rights; ASEAN human rights regime; human rights and international relations; and other human rights-related issues.

Among other human rights organizations, she is assocated with the Auschwitz Institute for Peace and Reconciliation in New York, USA. Its website states that the vision and mission of the Auschwitz Institute for Peace and Reconciliation are as follows:

Our Vision

The Auschwitz Institute for Peace and Reconciliation is building a world that prevents genocide and other mass atrocities.

Our Mission

Through education, training, and technical assistance, we support States to develop or strengthen policies and practices for the prevention of genocide and other mass atrocities. We also encourage and support the cooperation of States through regional and international networks to advance prevention.

She explained to an interviewer at the institute:

I always believe that one of the most effective and sustainable ways to prevent mass atrocities is to move towards human rights and peace through the promotion and strengthening of education. The mainstreaming of human rights and peace education will ensure that there is greater knowledge of peoples’ rights and that governments are more sensitive to people who are vulnerable to various threats. The existence of more knowledge on these rights, especially in relation to specific issues, will contribute to the alleviation of human rights concerns through better fact-based and grounded policy responses, advocacy, and the capacity of rights-holders and duty-bearers to undertake their commitments. By internalizing human rights through education, various institutions and peoples may eventually be able to adequately respond to or avert serious human rights crises and develop policies and mechanisms to ensure the promotion, protection and eventual full realization of human rights.

She has coauthored articles on such subjects as How the Asia-Pacific can lead the way on migrants and refugees; The Andaman Sea refugee crisis a year on: is the region now better prepared?; The Andaman Sea refugee crisis a year on: what happened and how did the region respond?; and The Bali Process can do a lot more to respond to forced migration in our region.

At the CPG event on May 14, she will speak on Migration and its Security Implications in ASEAN.

There will also be a presentation on Water Resource Security in Mainland Southeast Asia by Dr. Vannarith Chheang, Lecturer at the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Dr. Vannarith is a public policy, geopolitical, and geoeconomic analyst, and government relations specialist with expertise in knowledge communication and policy engagement. He earned a Ph.D. in Asia Pacific Studies from Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, Japan and a Graduate Certificate in Leadership from the East-West Center based in Honolulu, Hawai‘i, USA.

Dr. Vannarith coauthored a book in the TU Library collection. Security Outlook of the Asia Pacific Countries and its Implications For The Defense Sector is shelved in the General Stacks of the Pridi Banomyong Library. He also cowrote Selected Works on Contemporary Perspective on Cambodia and the Asia-Pacific which is available for download on his website, as is his coauthored ebook, Cambodian Economy as well as his book, Tourism and Regional Integration in Southeast Asia.

As an article in China Daily Asia Weekly observed in 2011, Dr. Vannarith was born in a very modest family. He is quoted as stating:

Education is the key to unlocking your potential. You don’t know who you are until you have the opportunity to educate yourself.

During the Cambodian civil war from 1979 to 1992, his village in Stoung District, Kampong Thom Province experienced violence. Yet his mother was determined that he would be educated:

She dropped out of primary  school and always regretted it. But my mother loved education and wanted us to study. She believed that education and knowledge is the only key to get out from poverty – it was a very strong dream, vision and wisdom… I used to go to campus on an empty  stomach because I didn’t have enough money to buy breakfast. That was when I decided that, in order to survive, I had to get a scholarship.

Dr. Vannarith will speak on Water Resource Security in Mainland Southeast Asia. Last year he wrote in The Khmer Times,

Water resource security – which involves the sustainable use and protection of water systems, the mitigation against floods and droughts, and the sustainable development of water resources – is one of the emerging key regional issues in Southeast Asia. The Mekong River, running across six countries, provides critical resources sustaining the livelihood and food security of millions of Chinese, Burmese, Laotian, Thai, Cambodian, and Vietnamese. However, mismanaging this trans-boundary water resource and other related resources has been a source of tensions between the riparian countries. Conflict over the use of water resources is getting more complex in the Mekong region as upstream and downstream countries are not legally bound to cooperate and manage the resources in a fair and sustainable manner.

Seven years ago at The Stimson Center, a nonpartisan policy research center working to protect people, preserve the planet, and promote security & prosperity, he offered  Cambodian Perspective on Mekong River Water Security:

Water scarcity is getting more serious in the region, as it is driven by population growth, urbanization, industrialization, energy demand and climate change. It is noted that as the economic and strategic value of water is increasing so does competition to get access to this scarce resource. In our Mekong region, competition to get access to and, in theory, optimize the use of the common river is accelerating. Four of the six countries sharing the Mekong River-Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam-have created the intergovernmental Mekong River Commission (MRC) to manage this transboundary water resource in a sustainable and fair manner. However, national sovereignty remains a challenge for this inter-governmental organization to agree on any binding policy or principle to guide the management of the river.

Another speakers will be Dr. Do Thanh Hai, Senior Fellow at the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam.

Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam (DAV) is a public university located in Hanoi, Vietnam and an administrative unit under management of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam. DAV is regarded as an elite training ground for future diplomats, leaders, civil servants, journalists and business executives in Vietnam. It carries out strategic research and forecasts on world affairs, international relations, political and economic affairs, security, national defence, law, culture and foreign policies of different nations and regions. Dr. Do earned a PhD from the Australian National University.

Among his publications is Vietnam and the South China Sea: Politics, Security and Legality (Routledge, 2017) which may be obtained by the TU Library Interlibrary Loan (ILL) service.

(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)