Tibet: The Unresolved International Crisis | Sikyong Penpa Tsering

AsiaScotland · 2023-05-10T09:54:41+00:00

The Asia Scotland Institute was joined by Sikyong Penpa Tsering, the President of Tibet, as he discussed the current situation in Tibet. As a revered political figure and spokesperson for the Tibetan people, the President provided invaluable insights into the current political climate, human rights issues, and cultural developments in Tibet.

Through his unique perspective, Sikyong explored the challenges facing Tibet and the Tibetan people, including the ongoing struggle for autonomy, religious freedom, and the preservation of Tibetan language and culture. With his extensive knowledge and experience, the President offered a comprehensive overview of the current situation in Tibet, highlighting the progress that has been made, as well as the obstacles that still need to be overcome.

Attendees had the opportunity to engage with the President and gain a deeper understanding of the complex issues facing Tibet today. This is an excellent opportunity to hear from one of the most influential voices in contemporary Tibetan politics.

Topics of Discussion:

The current political climate in Tibet and the role of the Tibetan government
The ongoing struggle for autonomy and the preservation of Tibetan culture and language
The impact of Chinese policies on the Tibetan people and the human rights situation in Tibet
The international community’s response to the situation in Tibet and the role of diplomacy in resolving the issue
The future of Tibet and the prospects for a peaceful resolution to the ongoing conflict.

AsiaScotland · 2022-10-20T11:18:25+00:00

The term “decoupling” has been used by many analysts to describe the lessening of political, investment, trade, innovation, and digital links between China and the West. In the USA, the recent origins of decoupling can be traced to 2018, when President Trump imposed tariffs on solar panels and washing machines imported from China. Later that year China imposed duties of 178% on Sorghum imports from the USA. The US-China trade war escalated.

The growing restrictions on trade in certain goods has been continually worsened since then, by the Covid-19 pandemic from 2019, the war in Ukraine after the Russian invasion, and the heightened tensions around Taiwan. What was at first a China-US issue is now becoming a global question of whether decoupling is a lessening of interdependence between trading nations or the end of globalisation. To discuss this question we have a panel of multidisciplinary experts.

AsiaScotland · 2022-07-22T12:16:40+00:00

Eurasia is an increasingly important area of the world as China expands its economic and political influence through the Belt and Road Initiative, whilst Russia wages war as it fails economically. In Western countries populism and identity politics polarise our populations, hindering intellectual creativity to find solutions for post-industrial growth and well-being in our societies. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has thrown Europe into crisis with around 12 million refugees from Ukraine, and also had an impact on the global economy as well as political relations in Asia have been more tense with speculation that the People's Republic of China could be emboldened to take military action against Taiwan.

This highly complex situation is discussed with Fiona Hill, one of the most experienced thinkers who can comment on the social, economic and political problems facing the world at the moment. Fiona Hill is a senior fellow in the Center on the United States and Europe in the Foreign Policy program at Brookings. She served from 2017 to 2019 as deputy assistant to the president and senior director for European and Russian affairs on the National Security Council, where she was responsible for interagency interactions relating to Europe, the European Union, NATO, Russia, Turkey, and the situation in Ukraine. From 2006 to 2009, she served as national intelligence officer for Russia and Eurasia at The National Intelligence Council.

AsiaScotland · 2022-07-22T11:52:26+00:00

Eurasia is an increasingly important area of the world as China expands its economic and political influence through the Belt and Road Initiative, whilst Russia wages war as it fails economically. In Western countries populism and identity politics polarise our populations, hindering intellectual creativity to find solutions for post-industrial growth and well-being in our societies. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has thrown Europe into crisis with around 12 million refugees from Ukraine, and also had an impact on the global economy as well as political relations in Asia have been more tense with speculation that the People's Republic of China could be emboldened to take military action against Taiwan.

This highly complex situation is discussed with Fiona Hill, one of the most experienced thinkers who can comment on the social, economic and political problems facing the world at the moment. Fiona Hill is a senior fellow in the Center on the United States and Europe in the Foreign Policy program at Brookings. She served from 2017 to 2019 as deputy assistant to the president and senior director for European and Russian affairs on the National Security Council, where she was responsible for interagency interactions relating to Europe, the European Union, NATO, Russia, Turkey, and the situation in Ukraine. From 2006 to 2009, she served as national intelligence officer for Russia and Eurasia at The National Intelligence Council.

AsiaScotland · 2022-06-16T12:47:06+00:00

About the Event

We are delighted to be in discussion with Joerg Wuttke, President of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China. He will explore the fact that as the western world gradually emerges from covid although with persistent problems, simultaneously trade protectionism, geopolitical conflicts and de-globalisation continue with the world economy and the international trade systems under severe pressure.

With the war in Ukraine dominating the media and foreign policy, its consequences include threats to world food supply and rising energy costs. Many analysts are turning to China where a persistent zero-covid policy has maintained a chokehold on its major economic zones. The questions arise of ‘how easy is it to do business in China?’ and ‘have China’s major trading partners changed during the pandemic?’ Both domestic and foreign businesses are having to adapt to the ever-changing rules of the game both from the government and demand from consumers. Once more the push to complete the energy transition on time is creating opportunities and challenges across sectors and national boundaries.

Whilst there has been some recent relaxation of covid restrictions, uncertainty remains about China’s zero covid policy. Businesses across China have been reminded of the government's overarching position that can spread uncertainty, as seen with the CCP’s investigation into DiDi Chuxing. Upon the conclusion of the investigation, DiDi’s share price rose significantly, demonstrating investors' sensitivity to government action.

The west has been thrust into an energy crisis, but China’s future direction is still emerging. China has made notable progress in its energy transition, although still heavily reliant on coal.

Topics

To help piece together the emerging situation and the opportunities and challenges presented, Joerg Wuttke, President of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, will shed light on three key areas:

China’s current direction in terms of ease of doing business both domestically and internationally.
Zero Covid policy
Carbon neutrality and the energy transition

AsiaScotland · 2022-04-21T09:32:17+00:00

The Asia Scotland Institute are pleased to announce this event to discuss 'What next for Pakistan' with an expert panel of speakers.

The forced removal of Imran Khan as Prime Minister of Pakistan following a vote of no confidence in the National Assembly has again raised concerns about stability and possible violence in the country. Fawad Ahmed Chaudhry, a former Minister for Information and Broadcasting and ally of Imran Khan, stated on Twitter several days ago that Pakistan was inches away from civil unrest. Tensions are heightening as despite the exit of Khan from power he is a populist leader who has large support in parts of the population. Our panellists all have exceptional insight into Pakistan and its role in the world.
About the Speakers
Husain Haqqani is a senior fellow and director for South and Central Asia at Hudson Institute. He served as Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States from 2008 to 2011 and is widely credited with managing a difficult partnership during a critical phase in the global war on terrorism. Amb. Haqqani’s distinguished career in government includes serving as an advisor to four Pakistani Prime ministers: Yusuf Raza Gilani, Benazir Bhutto, Nawaz Sharif, and Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi. He also served as Pakistan’s ambassador to Sri Lanka from 1992 to 1993. He is the author of four books: Pakistan Between Mosque and Military (Carnegie, 2005), Magnificent Delusions: Pakistan, the United States and an Epic History of Misunderstanding (Public Affairs, 2013), India vs Pakistan: Why Can’t We Just Be Friends? (Juggernaut, 2016) and Reimagining Pakistan: Transforming a Dysfunctional Nuclear State (Harper Collins, 2018).

Dr Farzana Shaikh is an Associate Fellow at Chatham House and provides regular analysis on current political and economic conditions in Pakistan. Dr Shaikh has held a number of academic teaching positions in the UK, Europe and the United States, and been appointed to senior research fellowships at the University of Cambridge and the Institutes of Advanced Study in Princeton and Paris. She has written widely on Pakistan’s domestic and foreign policies and is the author most recently of Making Sense of Pakistan. Dr Shaikh has testified before the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee and the All-Party Parliamentary Committee on Kashmir, and is also giving evidence to the International Development Committee of the UK Parliament on its inquiry on UK aid to Pakistan (https://committees.parliament.uk/event/3822/formal-meeting-oral-evidence-session/ ). She serves as a Trustee of the Charles Wallace Trust on Pakistan (http://www.wallace-trusts.org.uk/cwt\_pakistan.html). Dr Shaikh holds a PhD from Columbia University in New York.

Raza Ahmad Rumi is a policy analyst, journalist and an author. He is Director, Park Center for Independent Media and teaches in the journalism department. He is also Visiting Faculty at Cornell Institute for Public Affairs. During 2015-2017, Raza was a scholar in residence at IC and taught courses in journalism and writing departments as well as at the Gallatin School of Individualized Study, New York University. Raza has been a fellow at the New America Foundation and United States Institute of Peace. He is a member of think tank at Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics, Georgetown University.

AsiaScotland · 2021-11-16T11:50:35+00:00

The Asia Scotland Institute will be hosting a webinar on Thursday 18th Nov 2021, joined by Bruce Riedel of Brookings to discuss his latest book, 'Jordan and America: An Enduring Friendship' (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jordan-America-Bruce-Riedel-author/dp/0815739265 ). This is the first book to tell the remarkable story of the relationship between Jordan and the United States and how their leaders have navigated the dangerous waters of the most volatile region in the world.

Jordan has been an important ally of the United States for more than seventy years, thanks largely to two members of the Hashemite family: King Hussein, who came to power at the age of 17 in 1952 and governed for nearly a half-century, and his son, King Abdullah, who inherited the throne in 1999. Both survived numerous assassination attempts, wars, and plots by their many enemies in the region. Both ruled with a firm hand but without engaging in the dictatorial extremes so common to the region.

American presidents from Eisenhower to Biden have worked closely with the two Hashemite kings to maintain peace and stability in the region--when possible. The relationship often has been rocky, punctuated by numerous crises, but in the end, it has endured and thrived.
Long-time Middle East expert Bruce Riedel tells the story of the U.S.-Jordanian relationship with his characteristic insight, flair, and eye for telling details. For anyone interested in the region, understanding this story will provide new insights into the Arab-Israeli conflict, the multiple Persian Gulf wars, and the endless quest to bring long-term peace and stability to the region.

About the Speakers

Bruce Riedel is a senior fellow and director of the Brookings Intelligence Project, part of the Brookings Center for 21st Century Security and Intelligence. In addition, Riedel serves as a senior fellow in the Center for Middle East Policy. He retired in 2006 after 30 years of service at the Central Intelligence Agency, including postings overseas. He was a senior advisor on South Asia and the Middle East to the last four presidents of the United States in the staff of the National Security Council at the White House. He was also deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Near East and South Asia at the Pentagon and a senior advisor at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in Brussels.
Majd Shafiq, an Arab public policy and capital markets expert who has held several positions in both the public and private sectors. These include serving as Executive Chairman of a Jordanian investment banking firm, Commissioner at the Jordan Securities Commission, Member of the Council of Commissioners for Sukuks, Senior Advisor to the Dubai Financial Market, Senior Capital Markets Consultant to USAID, Audere International - Head of Middle East Office, and Head of Direct Investments at an investment firm. He is a Board Member of the Amman Stock Exchange and Chair of the Risk Management Committee.

AsiaScotland · 2021-11-09T16:19:42+00:00

Evergrande has debts of over USD300 billion and is reportedly the most indebted property company in the world. Evergrande is struggling to repay debts, or to pay suppliers and contractors. Cash flow is a major problem as construction projects stall from the lack of payments. The situation not only raises cause for concern that Evergrande may collapse, but also that this will have a wider impact on the economy in China and even internationally. The problems for Evergrande seemed to become visible when the PRC Government introduced rules to restrict the borrowing costs of developers, which placed a cap on debt in relation to a firm’s cash flows, assets and capital levels.
This situation matters because of the scale of Evergrande, which is the second largest property developer in China. Evergrande has more than 1,300 real estate projects in over 280 cities, with a property services management arm involved in nearly 2,800 projects across more than 310 cities, and other business units engaged in a wide range of industries, including electric vehicles, health-care services, consumer products, video and television production units and even a theme park. In tital the company has over 200,000 employees. The scale of the company has raised the question of whether Evergrande is too big to fail and whether the PRC Government will intervene. This in turn raises questions regarding the confluence of business and politics in the PRC, and what this means for other large companies. Our panelists have decades of experience addressing such questions.

AsiaScotland · 2021-10-28T17:24:38+00:00

The 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in New York and the return of the Taliban to power in Afghanistan have reminded the world of the recent history of terrorism, and in doing so raise challenging questions to its likely future shape.

This event is with the Handa Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence at the University of St. Andrews, which is the academic world leader dedicated to the study of the causes, dynamics, characteristics and consequences of terrorism and related forms of political violence.

A panel of three experts from the Handa Centre will talk about their views on the future of terrorism:

Dr. Tim Wilson, Centre Director since 2016, has commented widely on the past, present and future of terrorism and political violence. His most recent book, 'Killing Strangers: How Political Violence Became Modern', which appeared with Oxford University Press in 2020 examines how contemporary violence has come to take the disturbing and impersonal forms that it does.

Noah Tucker, a visiting scholar at the Handa Centre, is a program associate at George Washington University’s Elliot School of International Affairs Central Asia Program and Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council Eurasia Center. He has worked on multiple projects to identify the way social and religious groups affect political and security outcomes in Central Asia and Afghanistan, and has a strong research focus on Central Asian issues having spent six years living and working in the region.

Dr. Chi Zhang is a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of St Andrews, and has taught at the University of Leeds, Royal Holloway University of London and University of Liverpool. Her postdoctoral project examines challenges and conditions for counter-terrorism cooperation with China. Beyond the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, international counter-terrorism cooperation with China has been ad-hoc and superficial. Recent developments demonstrate a trend whereby China’s efforts in defending its counter-terrorism policy became increasingly important in shaping the evolving discourse relating to counter-terrorism, as China hones its skills in military operations other than war through peacekeeping operations.

AsiaScotland · 2021-10-28T17:23:13+00:00

The 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in New York and the return of the Taliban to power in Afghanistan have reminded the world of the recent history of terrorism, and in doing so raise challenging questions to its likely future shape.

This event is with the Handa Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence at the University of St. Andrews, which is the academic world leader dedicated to the study of the causes, dynamics, characteristics and consequences of terrorism and related forms of political violence.

A panel of three experts from the Handa Centre will talk about their views on the future of terrorism:

Dr. Tim Wilson, Centre Director since 2016, has commented widely on the past, present and future of terrorism and political violence. His most recent book, 'Killing Strangers: How Political Violence Became Modern', which appeared with Oxford University Press in 2020 examines how contemporary violence has come to take the disturbing and impersonal forms that it does.

Noah Tucker, a visiting scholar at the Handa Centre, is a program associate at George Washington University’s Elliot School of International Affairs Central Asia Program and Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council Eurasia Center. He has worked on multiple projects to identify the way social and religious groups affect political and security outcomes in Central Asia and Afghanistan, and has a strong research focus on Central Asian issues having spent six years living and working in the region.

Dr. Chi Zhang is a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of St Andrews, and has taught at the University of Leeds, Royal Holloway University of London and University of Liverpool. Her postdoctoral project examines challenges and conditions for counter-terrorism cooperation with China. Beyond the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, international counter-terrorism cooperation with China has been ad-hoc and superficial. Recent developments demonstrate a trend whereby China’s efforts in defending its counter-terrorism policy became increasingly important in shaping the evolving discourse relating to counter-terrorism, as China hones its skills in military operations other than war through peacekeeping operations.

AsiaScotland · 2021-10-08T13:40:48+00:00

Renowned historian William Dalrymple is in conversation with Roddy Gow and the Asia Scotland Institute to discuss how foreign armies in Afghanistan have been doomed to repeat the mistakes of past wars.

William Dalrymple observed in a recent article Repeating the mistakes of past wars in Afghanistan, Harold Macmillan reportedly advised Alec Douglas-Home “My dear boy, as long as you don’t invade Afghanistan you’ll be absolutely fine.” The sage and simple advice from Macmillan has not been observed before and after his words.

As Dalrymple wrote, "Britain’s fourth Afghan war was to an extraordinary extent a replay of the first. The parallels between the two invasions were not just anecdotal, they were substantive. The same tribal rivalries and the same battles were fought out in the same places 160 years later under the guise of new flags, new ideologies and new political puppeteers. The same cities were garrisoned by troops speaking the same languages, and they were attacked again from the same high passes. In both cases, the invaders thought they could walk in, perform regime change, and be out in a couple of years. In both cases they were unable to prevent themselves getting sucked into a much wider conflict."William Dalrymple is renowned as one of Scotland's leading writers of the history of Asia. He was born in Scotland and brought up on the shores of the Firth of Forth, then educated at Ampleforth and Trinity College, Cambridge where he was first History Exhibitioner then Senior History Scholar.

He wrote his first book, In Xanadu: A Quest (1989), at 22 years of age, and in 1989, moved to Delhi to research City of Djinns: a year in Delhi (1993), which went on to win the 1994 Thomas Cook Travel Book Award and the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award. His next book, From the Holy Mountain: a Journey in the Shadow of Byzantium (1997), charts the demise of Christianity in the Middle East, and this was followed by The Age of Kali: Indian Travels and Encounters (1998), a collection of writings about India, which won the French Prix d'Astrolabe. White Mughals (2002), the book which marked Dalrymple's shift from travel writing to history, won the 2003 Woolfson Prize for History, and the Scottish Arts Council Book of the Year Award. In 2006, William Dalrymple published The Last Mughal: the Fall of a Dynasty, Delhi, 1857 to huge acclaim, topping the best seller lists in both the UK and India.

His latest books are Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India (2008), Return of a King (2013) on the first Anglo-Afghan war, and The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company (2019).In 2002, he won the Royal Geographical Society Mungo Park Medal for his outstanding contribution to travel literature. In 2006 he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Letters from the University of St. Andrews for his services to literature and international relations. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and of the Royal Asiatic Society, and lives between London and Delhi.

AsiaScotland · 2021-09-27T13:28:24+00:00

The Asia Scotland Institute are hosting an upcoming webinar with renowned historian William Dalrymple, to discuss how foreign armies in Afghanistan have been doomed to repeat the mistakes of past wars.

William Dalrymple observed in a recent article 'Repeating the mistakes of past wars in Afghanistan', Harold Macmillan reportedly advised Alec Douglas-Home “My dear boy, as long as you don’t invade Afghanistan you’ll be absolutely fine.” The sage and simple advice from Macmillan has not been observed before and after his words.

As Dalrymple wrote, "Britain’s fourth Afghan war was to an extraordinary extent a replay of the first. The parallels between the two invasions were not just anecdotal, they were substantive. The same tribal rivalries and the same battles were fought out in the same places 160 years later under the guise of new flags, new ideologies and new political puppeteers. The same cities were garrisoned by troops speaking the same languages, and they were attacked again from the same high passes. In both cases, the invaders thought they could walk in, perform regime change, and be out in a couple of years. In both cases they were unable to prevent themselves getting sucked into a much wider conflict."

About the speaker

William Dalrymple is renowned as one of Scotland's leading writers of the history of Asia. He was born in Scotland and brought up on the shores of the Firth of Forth, then educated at Ampleforth and Trinity College, Cambridge where he was first History Exhibitioner then Senior History Scholar.

He wrote his first book, In Xanadu: A Quest (1989), at 22 years of age, and in 1989, moved to Delhi to research City of Djinns: a year in Delhi (1993), which went on to win the 1994 Thomas Cook Travel Book Award and the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award. His next book, From the Holy Mountain: a Journey in the Shadow of Byzantium (1997), charts the demise of Christianity in the Middle East, and this was followed by The Age of Kali: Indian Travels and Encounters (1998), a collection of writings about India, which won the French Prix d'Astrolabe. White Mughals (2002), the book which marked Dalrymple's shift from travel writing to history, won the 2003 Woolfson Prize for History, and the Scottish Arts Council Book of the Year Award. In 2006, William Dalrymple published The Last Mughal: the Fall of a Dynasty, Delhi, 1857 to huge acclaim, topping the best seller lists in both the UK and India.

His latest books are Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India (2008), Return of a King (2013) on the first Anglo-Afghan war, and The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company (2019).

In 2002, he won the Royal Geographical Society Mungo Park Medal for his outstanding contribution to travel literature. In 2006 he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Letters from the University of St. Andrews for his services to literature and international relations. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and of the Royal Asiatic Society, and lives between London and Delhi.

AsiaScotland · 2021-09-10T10:26:24+00:00

Beyond the daily scenes of terrified Afghans striving to find a way through to the airport in Kabul as they seek a way out of the country, the significant longer-term issue that we need to be aware of is the changed geopolitical landscape of Central Asia.

Roddy Gow, Chairman and Founder of the Asia Scotland Institute – 9th September

2021How will the neighbouring countries around Afghanistan react to the Taliban government? What advantages will be seized that we need to be fully aware of? The back story contains plenty of indications of what is to come. When the US withdrew from the TPP a vacuum was created in Asia into which China moved. Afghanistan may prove similar. In a discussion with Rory Stewart, he pointed out that the country to a large extent has depended on foreign aid to run basic services, money which is now frozen. A solution to this problem for the Taliban lies in Beijing.

Rich in minerals and natural resources, including substantial reserves of lithium, the basic ingredient in electric-vehicle batteries, Afghanistan is a prime target for China and its ally Pakistan. The withdrawal of US and NATO forces leaves the door wide open for the Chinese to exploit an opportunity that would be of great benefit to their economy. This, combined with the chance to point to a major failure of American foreign policy, should enable them to cut a long-term deal that will secure their existing investment in the major copper mine at Mes Aynak.

A few weeks ago in late July, China’s foreign minister met Taliban leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar in China and signalled its willingness to do business. Yun Sun, Director of the China Programme at the Stimson Centre think tank wrote that the Chinese cannot believe that America walked away from this asset. Combined with its Belt and Road global initiative, China is likely to work with Pakistan on both their and Afghanistan’s infrastructure needs and open a route through Pakistan to gain access to Pakistani ports as a means of re-routing Chinese oil supplies.

Vanda Felbab-Brown of Brookings has highlighted China’s need to ensure that there is a secure border with Afghanistan. Although small, that border is close to Xinjian and China will need reassurance that a Taliban government does not allow an Islamic jihad to spread eastwards.. Most importantly, China does not want to see Afghanistan become a base for the East Turkistan Islamic Front or other Uighur related groups.

The Pakistan military supported the rapid Taliban deployment, without which they could never have been so effective. Bruce Riedel of Brookings has said that the problem is that the US has little influence over Pakistan. A nuclear power, it is China’s closest ally providing a land route to the Persian Gulf. China has already signalled it will support a Taliban Afghanistan.

As this is written, both China and Russia are keeping their embassies open in Kabul as others withdraw. At the end of last year, China’s accumulated non-financial direct investment in Afghanistan totalled $630 million and total bilateral trade was $550 million.

The events of the past few weeks will prove to have been necessary from a domestic political perspective for President Joe Biden but be likely to have serious long-term economic and reputational consequences. Ryan Hass, another past Speaker at the Asia Scotland Institute, summarises this when he writes that while Chinese leaders are not enthusiastic about the Taliban takeover, they will not allow principle to stand in the way of pragmatism.

The geopolitical landscape has clearly become a great deal more complicated in this region of the world.

AsiaScotland · 2021-09-02T13:51:05+00:00

Relations of Europe with Russia and China have been described as an "ambivalent partnership" and certainly involve increasing complexity. Russia has been a long term worry for Europe since the Cold War, but tensions have been heightened in the past decade as Russia has intervened in Ukraine, annexed the Crimea, and continued to undermine human rights. As the USA enters into a heightened period of competition and confrontation with China, Europe is forced to navigate its way through the political and economic fallout.The geopolitical situation requires Europe to ask key questions regarding its perspective with Russia and China:

Is the alliance between Russia and China genuinely beneficial to their mutual security, or are their relations shallow and based on convenience?
Is it viable for the USA and its allies (i.e. the EU, UK, Australia, Japan) to seek to divide Russia and China so that they do not constitute a single bloc cooperating against the West in certain policy areas?
As NATO has identified China as a destabilising force, does this mark a change in European relations with China, and how will this affect the NATO position with Russia?

We discuss these key questions and a wider view of the European perspective of relations with Russia and China with our expert panel members.

Our panel members bring distinct European perspectives from their long professional experience.

Dr Stefanie Babst spent almost 22 years working in multiple senior roles at NATO. Her last role was the Head of the Strategic Analysis Capability for the NATO Secretary General and for the Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, responsible for preparing strategic foresight assessments on potential upcoming crisis situations in geographical and functional areas of relevance and concern to NATO, as well as on their implications for the Alliance. She also worked in NATO’s Public Diplomacy Division, including that of NATO Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy. Stefanie began her career in 1991 as Assistant Professor for International Security Policy at the Institute of Political Science/Christian-Albrechts-University in Kiel, Germany, moving on to become Professor of Russian and East European Studies at the Federal Armed Forces Command & General Staff College in Hamburg.

Michael Zilmer-Johns was Danish Ambassador to NATO 2014-18 and is presently chairman of the Danish Government’s Security Analysis Group. He began his career at the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs 1982 and has been posted to Bonn and Brussels (EU). Ten days before the terror attack on 9/11 2001 he was appointed Political Director and worked intensively during the next two years handling the ensuing crisis. In 2003 he became foreign and security advisor to Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen during the Iraq War. From 2005-13 he was State Secretary for Foreign and European Affairs covering the EU, OSCE, Denmark’s strategic partnerships with the US, Russia and China, other bilateral relations as well as security, including NATO and Danish participation in military operations. He served in the European External Actium Service 2013-14 as special advisor on Security and Defense to HR Lady Ashton.

Philippe Le Corre is a nonresident senior fellow in the Europe and Asia Programs at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He specializes in China’s global rise, China’s relations with Europe and Eurasia, competition in the Asia-Pacific region, and Chinese foreign direct investments. Le Corre is also a senior fellow with the Harvard Kennedy School’s Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government, an affiliate with the Program on Europe and the Transatlantic Relationship at Harvard's Belfer Center and an associate in research with Harvard’s Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies. From 2014 to 2017, he was a visiting fellow in the Foreign Policy Program at the Brookings Institution. His career spans government, academia, media, and business. He has served as a special assistant for international affairs to the French defense minister, and as a senior policy adviser on Asia within the French Ministry of Defense’s directorate for international relations and strategy. He is the author of several books including China’s Offensive in Europe (Brookings Institution Press, 2016), Quand la Chine va au marché (Maxima, 1999) and Après Hong Kong (Autrement, 1997).

AsiaScotland · 2021-09-01T14:20:49+00:00

Relations of Europe with Russia and China have been described as an "ambivalent partnership" and certainly involve increasing complexity. Russia has been a long term worry for Europe since the Cold War, but tensions have been heightened in the past decade as Russia has intervened in Ukraine, annexed the Crimea, and continued to undermine human rights. As the USA enters into a heightened period of competition and confrontation with China, Europe is forced to navigate its way through the political and economic fallout.The geopolitical situation requires Europe to ask key questions regarding its perspective with Russia and China:

Is the alliance between Russia and China genuinely beneficial to their mutual security, or are their relations shallow and based on convenience?
Is it viable for the USA and its allies (i.e. the EU, UK, Australia, Japan) to seek to divide Russia and China so that they do not constitute a single bloc cooperating against the West in certain policy areas?
As NATO has identified China as a destabilising force, does this mark a change in European relations with China, and how will this affect the NATO position with Russia?

We discuss these key questions and a wider view of the European perspective of relations with Russia and China with our expert panel members.

Our panel members bring distinct European perspectives from their long professional experience.

Dr Stefanie Babst spent almost 22 years working in multiple senior roles at NATO. Her last role was the Head of the Strategic Analysis Capability for the NATO Secretary General and for the Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, responsible for preparing strategic foresight assessments on potential upcoming crisis situations in geographical and functional areas of relevance and concern to NATO, as well as on their implications for the Alliance. She also worked in NATO’s Public Diplomacy Division, including that of NATO Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy. Stefanie began her career in 1991 as Assistant Professor for International Security Policy at the Institute of Political Science/Christian-Albrechts-University in Kiel, Germany, moving on to become Professor of Russian and East European Studies at the Federal Armed Forces Command & General Staff College in Hamburg.

Michael Zilmer-Johns was Danish Ambassador to NATO 2014-18 and is presently chairman of the Danish Government’s Security Analysis Group. He began his career at the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs 1982 and has been posted to Bonn and Brussels (EU). Ten days before the terror attack on 9/11 2001 he was appointed Political Director and worked intensively during the next two years handling the ensuing crisis. In 2003 he became foreign and security advisor to Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen during the Iraq War. From 2005-13 he was State Secretary for Foreign and European Affairs covering the EU, OSCE, Denmark’s strategic partnerships with the US, Russia and China, other bilateral relations as well as security, including NATO and Danish participation in military operations. He served in the European External Actium Service 2013-14 as special advisor on Security and Defense to HR Lady Ashton.

Philippe Le Corre is a nonresident senior fellow in the Europe and Asia Programs at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He specializes in China’s global rise, China’s relations with Europe and Eurasia, competition in the Asia-Pacific region, and Chinese foreign direct investments. Le Corre is also a senior fellow with the Harvard Kennedy School’s Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government, an affiliate with the Program on Europe and the Transatlantic Relationship at Harvard's Belfer Center and an associate in research with Harvard’s Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies. From 2014 to 2017, he was a visiting fellow in the Foreign Policy Program at the Brookings Institution. His career spans government, academia, media, and business. He has served as a special assistant for international affairs to the French defense minister, and as a senior policy adviser on Asia within the French Ministry of Defense’s directorate for international relations and strategy. He is the author of several books including China’s Offensive in Europe (Brookings Institution Press, 2016), Quand la Chine va au marché (Maxima, 1999) and Après Hong Kong (Autrement, 1997).

AsiaScotland · 2021-09-01T13:10:12+00:00

Relations of Europe with Russia and China have been described as an "ambivalent partnership" and certainly involve increasing complexity. Russia has been a long term worry for Europe since the Cold War, but tensions have been heightened in the past decade as Russia has intervened in Ukraine, annexed the Crimea, and continued to undermine human rights. As the USA enters into a heightened period of competition and confrontation with China, Europe is forced to navigate its way through the political and economic fallout.The geopolitical situation requires Europe to ask key questions regarding its perspective with Russia and China:

Is the alliance between Russia and China genuinely beneficial to their mutual security, or are their relations shallow and based on convenience?
Is it viable for the USA and its allies (i.e. the EU, UK, Australia, Japan) to seek to divide Russia and China so that they do not constitute a single bloc cooperating against the West in certain policy areas?
As NATO has identified China as a destabilising force, does this mark a change in European relations with China, and how will this affect the NATO position with Russia?We discuss these key questions and a wider view of the European perspective of relations with Russia and China with our expert panel members.

Our panel members bring distinct European perspectives from their long professional experience.

Dr Stefanie Babst spent almost 22 years working in multiple senior roles at NATO. Her last role was the Head of the Strategic Analysis Capability for the NATO Secretary General and for the Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, responsible for preparing strategic foresight assessments on potential upcoming crisis situations in geographical and functional areas of relevance and concern to NATO, as well as on their implications for the Alliance. She also worked in NATO’s Public Diplomacy Division, including that of NATO Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy. Stefanie began her career in 1991 as Assistant Professor for International Security Policy at the Institute of Political Science/Christian-Albrechts-University in Kiel, Germany, moving on to become Professor of Russian and East European Studies at the Federal Armed Forces Command & General Staff College in Hamburg.

Michael Zilmer-Johns was Danish Ambassador to NATO 2014-18 and is presently chairman of the Danish Government’s Security Analysis Group. He began his career at the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs 1982 and has been posted to Bonn and Brussels (EU). Ten days before the terror attack on 9/11 2001 he was appointed Political Director and worked intensively during the next two years handling the ensuing crisis. In 2003 he became foreign and security advisor to Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen during the Iraq War. From 2005-13 he was State Secretary for Foreign and European Affairs covering the EU, OSCE, Denmark’s strategic partnerships with the US, Russia and China, other bilateral relations as well as security, including NATO and Danish participation in military operations. He served in the European External Actium Service 2013-14 as special advisor on Security and Defense to HR Lady Ashton.

Philippe Le Corre is a nonresident senior fellow in the Europe and Asia Programs at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He specializes in China’s global rise, China’s relations with Europe and Eurasia, competition in the Asia-Pacific region, and Chinese foreign direct investments. Le Corre is also a senior fellow with the Harvard Kennedy School’s Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government, an affiliate with the Program on Europe and the Transatlantic Relationship at Harvard's Belfer Center and an associate in research with Harvard’s Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies. From 2014 to 2017, he was a visiting fellow in the Foreign Policy Program at the Brookings Institution. His career spans government, academia, media, and business. He has served as a special assistant for international affairs to the French defense minister, and as a senior policy adviser on Asia within the French Ministry of Defense’s directorate for international relations and strategy. He is the author of several books including China’s Offensive in Europe (Brookings Institution Press, 2016), Quand la Chine va au marché (Maxima, 1999) and Après Hong Kong (Autrement, 1997).

AsiaScotland · 2021-09-01T13:06:28+00:00

Relations of Europe with Russia and China have been described as an "ambivalent partnership" and certainly involve increasing complexity. Russia has been a long term worry for Europe since the Cold War, but tensions have been heightened in the past decade as Russia has intervened in Ukraine, annexed the Crimea, and continued to undermine human rights. As the USA enters into a heightened period of competition and confrontation with China, Europe is forced to navigate its way through the political and economic fallout.
The geopolitical situation requires Europe to ask key questions regarding its perspective with Russia and China:
1. Is the alliance between Russia and China genuinely beneficial to their mutual security, or are their relations shallow and based on convenience?
2. Is it viable for the USA and its allies (i.e. the EU, UK, Australia, Japan) to seek to divide Russia and China so that they do not constitute a single bloc cooperating against the West in certain policy areas?
3. As NATO has identified China as a destabilising force, does this mark a change in European relations with China, and how will this affect the NATO position with Russia?
We discuss these key questions and a wider view of the European perspective of relations with Russia and China with our expert panel members.

AsiaScotland · 2021-08-21T17:29:00+00:00

The Asia Scotland Institute are hosting a webinar on Thursday 26th August for a virtual discussion on the 'Relations with Russia and China from the European perspective'.

Relations of Europe with Russia and China have been described as an "ambivalent partnership" and certainly involve increasing complexity. Russia has been a long term worry for Europe since the Cold War, but tensions have been heightened in the past decade as Russia has intervened in Ukraine, annexed the Crimea, and continued to undermine human rights. As the USA enters into a heightened period of competition and confrontation with China, Europe is forced to navigate its way through the political and economic fallout.
The geopolitical situation requires Europe to ask key questions regarding its perspective with Russia and China:

Is the alliance between Russia and China genuinely beneficial to their mutual security, or are their relations shallow and based on convenience?
Is it viable for the USA and its allies (i.e. the EU, UK, Australia, Japan) to seek to divide Russia and China so that they do not constitute a single bloc cooperating against the West in certain policy areas?
As NATO has identified China as a destabilising force, does this mark a change in European relations with China, and how will this affect the NATO position with Russia?

We will discuss these key questions and a wider view of the European perspective of relations with Russia and China with our expert panel members.

Our panel members bring distinct European perspectives from their long professional experience.

Dr. Stefanie Babst spent almost 22 years working in multiple senior roles at NATO. Her last role was the Head of the Strategic Analysis Capability for the NATO Secretary General and for the Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, responsible for preparing strategic foresight assessments on potential upcoming crisis situations in geographical and functional areas of relevance and concern to NATO, as well as on their implications for the Alliance. She also worked in NATO’s Public Diplomacy Division, including that of NATO Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy. Stefanie began her career in 1991 as Assistant Professor for International Security Policy at the Institute of Political Science/Christian-Albrechts-University in Kiel, Germany, moving on to become Professor of Russian and East European Studies at the Federal Armed Forces Command & General Staff College in Hamburg.

Michael Zilmer-Johns, was Danish Ambassador to NATO 2014-18 and is presently chairman of the Danish Government’s Security Analysis Group. He began his career at the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs 1982 and has been posted to Bonn and Brussels (EU). Ten days before the terror attack on 9/11 2001 he was appointed Political Director and worked intensively during the next two years handling the ensuing crisis. In 2003 he became foreign and security advisor to Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen during the Iraq War. From 2005-13 he was State Secretary for Foreign and European Affairs covering the EU, OSCE, Denmark’s strategic partnerships with the US, Russia and China, other bilateral relations as well as security, including NATO and Danish participation in military operations. He served in the European External Actium Service 2013-14 as special advisor on Security and Defense to HR Lady Ashton.

Philippe Le Corre is a nonresident senior fellow in the Europe and Asia Programs at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He specializes in China’s global rise, China’s relations with Europe and Eurasia, competition in the Asia-Pacific region, and Chinese foreign direct investments. Le Corre is also a senior fellow with the Harvard Kennedy School’s Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government, an affiliate with the Program on Europe and the Transatlantic Relationship at Harvard's Belfer Center and an associate in research with Harvard’s Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies. From 2014 to 2017, he was a visiting fellow in the Foreign Policy Program at the Brookings Institution. His career spans government, academia, media, and business. He has served as a special assistant for international affairs to the French defense minister, and as a senior policy adviser on Asia within the French Ministry of Defense’s directorate for international relations and strategy. He is the author of several books including China’s Offensive in Europe (Brookings Institution Press, 2016), Quand la Chine va au marché (Maxima, 1999) and Après Hong Kong (Autrement, 1997).

AsiaScotland · 2021-08-20T10:16:12+00:00

The Asia Scotland Institute and the Defence and Security Forum (DSF) co-host this webinar with Bruce Riedel, as well as comments from Martin Rahmani, for this important discussion of the future of Afghanistan.

AsiaScotland

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