By Giorgi Mamisashvili
Researchers affiliated with YCAPS attended and presented at the International StudiesAssociation conference held in San Francisco last week.
Ryan Ashley (Research Fellow - Japan/Southeast Asia Relations) chaired a panel on
“Lateral Thinking: Tri- and Mini-Laterals in the Indo-Pacific”, where he also presented
“Yen-Backed Security: Japan, Southeast Asia, and Asia’s Quiet Security Realignment” – a
paper that drew upon his recently completed Ph.D. at the University of Texas
Scott Edwards (Free and Open Indo-Pacific Fellow) presented on two panels, with papers on “Practices of trusting in multilateral climate negotiations” and “Trusting as normal? Adjusting ASEAN’s diplomatic practices in response to COVID-19”. Ryan and Scott will be collaborating in the future based on discussions at the conference.
Kei Koga – who has previously written for YCAPS projects – also attended, presenting on“Alignments in a Multiple Balance of Power: Japan, Technology Coalitions, and Rule-making”
and “Securing Regional Order in Southeast Asia: ASEAN, Regional Autonomy, and Great
Power Competition”. Sam Baron (Research Fellow – Policy Research) made the trip up to
San Francisco from Los Angeles to discuss ongoing projects with attendees from both inside
and outside of YCAPS, including the newly announced “Indo-Pacific Maritime GENIE
(Governance Expanded Network for Innovation and Education)” with various participants
from partners La Trobe also in attendance of ISA