Adm. Dennis C. Blair meets with Gen. Chi Haotian, China’s Minister of National Defense, in Beijing. U.S. Ambassador Joseph W. Prueher is in the center.

Welcome to the Fall 2000 issue of Asia-Pacific Defense FORUM. 

Inside, you’ll find articles on regional multinational conferences, training and exercises. Some of these events are long established, others are more recent. The article on the "Multilateral Military Law Conference in Manila" is an extremely important piece on a gathering that really touches upon every type of military operation with which any or all of us might become involved. We who wear the uniforms of our countries and command the weapons our taxpayers provide are entrusted with great responsibility. We must exercise it under the legal framework of our individual nations and international treaties and laws.

Conferences and training concerning such highlighted tasks as peacekeeping skills and explosive ordnance disposal techniques not only promote better understanding and allow us all to improve our techniques, but build habits of cooperation and confidence among our armed forces. Most significantly, we face an especially broad array of new challenges regarding questions of rules of engagement and operating procedures at the multinational level. My recent visit to the Department of Peacekeeping Operations at United Nations headquarters was enlightening. Not only are there challenges in ensuring all our troops are properly trained for compliance with the ever-changing requirements of complex military situations, there are challenges in the very planning and coordination of these missions as they are proposed and approved by the United Nations.

The good news is that this time in history is one in which we can take advantage of our peace and prosperity to work these issues out and enhance our regional cooperation. RIMPAC is a terrific multinational maritime exercise; the next step is the planned TEAM CHALLENGE multinational exercise that will also incorporate major air and ground forces. East Timor taught us many hard-learned lessons from the real world; the more we rehearse and test our techniques in training beforehand, the better we will be able to perform together in any future multinational missions.

Thank you for your continued interest in FORUM. As the French writer Victor Hugo once put it, "There is one thing stronger than all the armies in the world, and that is an idea whose time has come." I am interested in your ideas and comments about how to improve security and security relationships in the Asia-Pacific region as well. For those of you with access to the world wide web, I encourage you to engage in dialogue about regional cooperation on the Asia-Pacific Area Network (APAN) at http://www.apan-info.net, not just with the U.S., but with all those who log on with an earnest desire to make their countries and the surrounding world a better place.

Or you are welcome to write here in care of FORUM. As the Nobel Prize winner from Sri Lanka, writer Arthur C. Clarke, has stated, "Every revolutionary idea seems to evoke three stages of reaction. They may be summed up by the phrases: (1) It’s completely impossible. (2) It’s possible, but it’s not worth doing. (3) I said it was a good idea all along."