6 June 2023

Asia-Pacific Regional Security Assessment 2023


The Asia-Pacific Regional Security Assessment examines key regional security issues relevant to the policy-focused discussions of the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia’s premier defence summit. The dossier is launched each year at the Dialogue and the issues analysed within its covers are central to discussions at the event.

This edition of the Asia-Pacific Regional Security Assessment, publication of which coincides with the 20th Shangri-La Dialogue, is the tenth in the series. Among its highlights are analyses of the challenges posed by not only various dimensions of China's growing power and increasingly active posture in the Asia-Pacific, but also the impact of the war in Ukraine on the regional balance of power. Topics covered in the volume's chapters include US-China relations and the growing threat to Taiwan; Asia-Pacific naval capabilities and operations; the progress of China's Belt and Road Initiative over the decade since it was launched; Japanese security and defence policy under Prime Minister Kishida Fumio; and the conflict in Myanmar and the international responses it has provoked. Authors this year are drawn exclusively from IISS experts.

In this launch of the Asia-Pacific Regional Security Assessment 2023, chaired by Dr Lynn Kuok, co-editor of the dossier, authors discuss key regional security challenges and respond to questions from the audience. It was held in-person for those attending the Shangri-La Dialogue and also online to allow for other interested colleagues and friends to join in. We trust that the analyses provided in the Asia-Pacific Regional Security Assessment will contribute to important, timely and policy-relevant discussions at the Dialogue and beyond.

Dr Euan Graham is Shangri-La Dialogue Senior Fellow for Indo-Pacific Defence and Strategy at IISS-Asia in Singapore, and is responsible for furthering research within the IISS on defence and security in northeast Asia and the western Pacific. He previously served with the UK government for seven years as a research analyst in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, variously covering the Korean Peninsula, Japan and Southeast Asia. He has written and commented widely for international media on a range of Asia-Pacific security issues.

Nick Childs is Senior Fellow for Naval Forces and Maritime Security, IISS. He is responsible for the Institute's analysis of naval forces and maritime security, and for the data on sea power capabilities published in The Military Balance. Before joining the IISS, Nick worked at the BBC for more than three decades, including as world affairs correspondent, and as defence and Pentagon correspondent.

Meia Nouwens is Senior Fellow for Chinese Security and Defence Policy, IISS. She works on Chinese defence analysis, China's defence industry and innovation, as well as China's regional strategic affairs and international relations. She leads the Institute's research on China's Digital Silk Road, and was a co-lead of the China Security Project with the Mercator Institute for China Studies. Prior to commencing at the IISS, she worked for the European External Action Service as a policy officer in Taipei, and as a trade analyst in the EU's delegation to New Zealand.

Robert Ward is Japan Chair and Director of Geo-economics and Strategy, IISS. He researches and writes extensively on strategic issues related to Japan, including its contemporary security and foreign policies. He also leads the Institute's Geo-economics and Strategy research programme, which focuses on a range of issues including global economic governance, rules and standards setting, and how economic coercion impacts policy at a national and corporate level. Before joining the IISS, Robert was editorial director at The Economist Intelligence Unit.

Dr Shona Loong is Associate Fellow with the IISS. Her research focuses on conflict transformation, peacebuilding and the politics of international development. She works on the IISS Myanmar Conflict Map, which is a platform for tracking, visualising and analysing reports of violence in Myanmar. She is based at the University of Zurich as a senior researcher and lecturer in political geography.

Dr Lynn Kuok is Shangri-La Dialogue Senior Fellow for Asia-Pacific Security at IISS-Asia and co-editor of the Asia-Pacific Regional Security Assessment. She is a visiting professor at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and is a Council Member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Geopolitics. Her work examines the international relations and international law of the Asia-Pacific, focusing on Southeast Asia and the South China Sea dispute, as well as European engagement in the Indo-Pacific. She is also conducting research on the interplay between international law and power more broadly.

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