YCAPS Fellow Gives Talk at UK’s Foreign Office, Produces New Policy Brief

YCAPS Fellow Scott Edwards visited the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) last week, where he discussed his ongoing work on the UK-Southeast Asian relationships. The event was the inaugural launch of the Southeast Asian Policy Network (SEAPolUK), a new initiative bringing academics and policymakers together.

Scott spoke specifically on maritime issues in the region, and drew upon an upcoming report he contributed to produced between Kings College London, La Trobe University, and Kyushu University. He focused in on the nature of maritime issues, problems of coordination between extra-regional partners working in the maritime domain, the need to cohere approaches domestically, and the need to learn from Southeast Asia’s experiences.

Scott’s coauthor Robert Yates (University of Bristol) also presented on the broader patterns of the UK-Southeast Asian relationship. This drew upon a YCAPS supported event in Bangkok and subsequent policy-facing document which can be found here. Scott and Rob also produced a short-form document for the discussions through University of Bristol’s Policy Bristol.

The report lays out priority areas the UK Government should focus in on, as well as some of the current perceptions of the UK’s lack of consistency.