Asia Pacific Defense Forum Fall 2002

Dr. James Rolfe, APCSS; Minoru Shibuya, Consul General of Japan in Honolulu; and Mr. Gerald Sumida, Asian Development Bank, address participants.

Brig. Gen. Banaras Khan Jadoon, Pakistan Army, Joint Services Headquarters, addresses the conference.

Marine Lt. Gen. (retired) H. C. Stackpole, President of the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, speaks to participants.

The APCSS experience has been designed to break down barriers and build new relationships that can withstand and overcome the pettiness of politics, the provincialism of culture, the deafness and dumbness of ideology, and the inertia of bureaucracy.

Brig. Gen. Banaras Khan Jadoon
Pakistan Army, Joint Services Headquarters

The Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies (APCSS) hosted its 3rd Biennial Conference 16-18 July 2002 in Honolulu, Hawaii. More than 225 representatives from over 30 Asia-Pacific nations attended.

The conference theme "Enhancing Regional Security Cooperation" focused on Asia-Pacific security issues, including the geopolitical environment, scenarios and foundations for cooperation, the impact of war on terrorism, and military cooperation experiences.

The conference also focused on specific security issues, including medical and biological threats, energy security, weapons of mass destruction, flashpoints, ecological security, transnational violence, information war, and human security.

The following are the key findings from the conference.

• Broad-based conferences are necessary and should continue so participating nations can share ideas and create networks to link military and government officials, particularly those officials who make or execute national security policy, and academics in the Asia-Pacific region. Such conferences are in keeping with the APCSS mission and are the most cost-effective approach to bringing regional leaders together.

• We must all be sensitive to perceptions within the region, particularly issues of sovereignty.

• Tension between sovereignty and transnational threats persists. Threats to a nation’s security include the environment — climate change, water scarcity, disease — and energy.

• People should be the primary focus of all security issues. To create stability in the region, each government should focus on enfranchising and supporting its people. We must also be aware, however, that the 11 September terrorist attacks in the United States have greatly impacted our region’s security.