BIPSS organized a round table on “The Asia Pacific Region: Issues and Concerns”

Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies (BIPSS) organized a roundtable discussion on “The Asia Pacific Region: Issues and Concerns”. The roundtable was held on the 23rd August in the conference room of BIPSS. Discussion in the roundtable highlighted the current and emerging security issues of the Asia Pacific.

Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies (BIPSS) organized a roundtable discussion on “The Asia Pacific Region: Issues and Concerns”. The roundtable was held on the 23rd August in the conference room of BIPSS. Discussion in the roundtable highlighted the current and emerging security issues of the Asia Pacific.

The President of BIPSS, Major General ANM Muniruzzman ndc, psc, (Retd), presided over the session and delivered the opening remarks. General Munir emphasized on developing regional cooperation to effectively deal with the transnational challenges.

Professor James (Jim) Veitch was the key speaker at the occasion. Professor Veitch is a faculty member of the School of Government, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand (NZ). He is presently the Non-ASEAN Co-Chair of the Council for Security Cooperation in Asia Pacific (CSCAP) and is also the co-chair of CSCAP NZ.

The roundtable included an array of issues. Main discussion centered on the Dawn of the Asia Pacific Century, Climate Change and Security in the Asia Pacific Region, the Emerging Security Architecture in the Asia Pacific Region and Rise of China as Global Power: Strategic Implications in the Asia Pacific Region. Nevertheless, the talks in the roundtable were not confined to the stated topics only, but extended to the concern of nuclear proliferation, military buildup in the region, global and regional politics.

The speakers at the discussion also opined on humanitarian issues; food and energy security, migration, human trafficking and pandemic. The roundtable was attended by former ambassador and government officials, academics, researchers, who shared knowledge and observations.

Issues Discussed at the Round Table

The major discussion points are,

• New Zealand s economy; politics, foreign policy, security and society and its involvement the other countries of the world.
• Issues of regional integration and threats to security of the Asia Pacific region.
• Climate change especially global warming, earthquake and its impact in the region as well as in Bangladesh .
• Religious militancy and the risks of spreading radicalism in Bangladesh and some other countries like Indonesia, Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, the Persian gulf etc.
• The growing crisis of energy in the world and how this region will cope with it, use of nuclear energy- the up side and the down side.
• The condition of Muslim community in India and how it impacts to the rise of Islamic radicalism there.
• The Maoist movement in some parts of India and extremist (communist) activities in Bangladesh and the risk of spreading terrorism in the region due to the movement.
• The Western point of view about Islamic countries and Iran nuclear issue.
• Two nuclear powers-India and Pakistan of South Asia and how they impacts in the region.
• The emerging security architecture of the region.
• China and India as rising global powers and their relation with the other countries of the region, particularly the strategic implications of Rise of China.
• The scope of Muslim renaissance in this region and possibility of spreading religious violence.
• Disease security, how HIV/AIDS is becoming a threat to the human security in this region. The lack of capacity in
• the region in coping with pandemic situation.
• Separatist movement in some countries of the region and how the insurgencies cause intra-state and inter-state
• instability and its impact in the region.
• Some other issues like human trafficking, refugee problem etc.
• Regional cooperation, how it will help to solve the regions above mentioned problems.