The East Asian International Relations (EAIR) Forum, established in August 2014 at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), aims to provide a platform for Malaysia-based academics, researchers, and policy practitioners to interact with renowned scholars and experts in International Relations and East Asian Studies on contemporary research and policy issues affecting Malaysia’s security and wellbeing as a sovereign nation. To enable as open a debate as possible, discussions are held under the Chatham House Rule. Past speakers include Amitav Acharya (American University), Alice Ba (Delaware), Aileen Baviera (UP Diliman), Nick Bisley (La Trobe), Brian Bridges (formerly Lingnan), Vannarith Chheang (Cambodian Institute of Strategic Studies), Don Emmerson (Stanford), Paul Evans (UBC), Jurgen Haacke (LSE), Ian Hall (ANU), Hiro Katsumata (Kanazawa), Yuen Foong Khong (NUS), David Lampton (Johns Hopkins), Satu Limaye (East-West Center in Washington), Tosh Minohara (Kobe), Victor Sumsky (MGIMO), Takashi Terada (Doshisha), Fei-Ling Wang (Georgia Tech), Makmur Keliat (University of Indonesia), T.V. Paul (McGill), David Shambaugh (George Washington), Lee Jones (Queen Mary), Zhang Feng (ANU), John Brandon (Asia Foundation), Aries A. Arugay (UP Diliman), Timothy J. Colton (Harvard), Michael Magcamit (Musashi), Bill Hayton (Chatham House), Huong Le Thu (Australian National University), David Martin Jones (King’s College London), Greg Moore (Monash), He Kai (Griffith), Eunjung Lim (Ritsumeikan), Chanintira na Thalang (Thammasat) and Evelyn Goh (ANU).
EAIR Forum
2024
American Geostrategic Perceptions and Misperceptions of Southeast Asian Strategies
Dr. John Lee; Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute, Washington D.C.
18 October 2024
The China Factor in Vietnam’s Grand Strategy
Dr. Bich Tran; Postdoctoral fellow, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore
23 August 2024
The Rise of AI and Its Geopolitical Implications
Dr. Brian Wong; Assistant Professor in Philosophy Hong Kong University
16 August 2024
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Practices of Assertive Diplomacy
Dr. Dylan M.H Loh; Assistant Professor at the Public Policy & Global Affairs programme at Nanyang Technological University
29th July 2024
U.S.-China Power Struggle and Its Ripple Effects in Brazil
Prof. Dawisson Belém Lopes; Professor of International and Comparative Politics, Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG)
14th June 2024
Weaponisation of Economics and Restoring the Global Economic Order
Prof. Shiro Armstrong; Professor of Economics Crawford School of Public Policy, College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University
13th June 2024
Navigating South China Sea Tensions: Strategies for Regional Stability
Dr. Toshi Yoshihara; Senior Fellow, Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, Washington D.C.
4th June 2024
Reassessing Interdependence with China: The Evolution of Australian Economic Statecraft
Dr. Darren Lim; Senior Lecturer, School of Politics and International Relations, Australian National University
17th April 2024
Nepal’s Outlook on the Indo-Pacific in the midst of India-China Rivalry
Dr. Pramod Jaiswal; Research Director, Nepal Institute for International Cooperation and Engagement
21st March 2024
Making “Asian” IR Theories: Inspiration from Chinese Proverbs
Shintaro Hamanaka; Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Developing Economies – Japan External Trade Organization (IDE-JETRO)
23rd February 2024
2023
Authoritarianism in Thailand and the China Factor
Enze Han, Associate Professor Department of Politics and Public Administration, The University of Hong Kong
30th November 2023
Assessing the State of US-China Strategic Competition
Carla Freeman, Senior Expert in the China Program, United States Institute of Peace (USIP); and
Andrew Scobell; Distinguished Fellow for China, United States Institute of Peace (USIP)
23rd June 2023
Why do emerging market democracies support or mobilize against China? Southeast Asia, Xinjiang, and the South China Sea
Alvin Camba; Assistant Professor, Josef Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver; and
Stephanie Kam; Research Fellow (China Programme), Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
15th May 2023
China’s Digital Silk Road in Southeast Asia: Opportunities and Risks
Dr. Ilaria Carrozza; Senior Researcher at the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO); 10th May 2023
Middle Powers in the Changing International Order: Malaysia and Turkey in Comparative Perspectives
Yalkun Uluyol; 17th April 2023
MAFDC Forum on the South China Sea 2023
Sumathy Permal; Dr. Carl Thayer; Dr. Sato Yoichiro; Dr. Hu Bo; Richard Heydarian; Dr Collin Koh; Aristyo Darmawan; Dr Yan YAN; Cdr Mohd Rulashari Shah & Fikry A. Rahman (Discussants); 10th April 2023
China’s power in Asia: rising, falling, or remaining steady?
Susannah Patton; Director of the Southeast Asia Program at the Lowy Institute and the Project Lead for the Asia Power Index; 7th March 2023
To Change, Complete or Coexist? US-China Relations since the Bush Administration
Paul Haenle; Maurice R. Greenberg Director’s Chair at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; 10th February 2023
2022
Between the U.S. and China: Nationalism and Public Support for Hedging in the Philippines
Xiaojun Li, Associate Professor of Political Science at NYU Shanghai and University of British Columbia; 6th December 2022
Negotiating Coexistence? Indonesia and Malaysia’s Tacit Understandings vis-à-vis China
Emirza Adi Syailendra, Visiting Scholar at IKMAS; 25th November 2022
Seminar on Indo-Pacific: What’s in a Name?
Prof. Paul Evans, Professor at the University of British Columbia, the HSBC Chair in Asian Research, the 7th POK Rafeah Chair at IKMAS, the co-founder of the Council for Security Cooperation in Asia Pacific (CSCAP), the Canadian Consortium on Human Security, and the Canada-Korea Forum and a Canadian representative on the ASEAN Regional Forum’s Experts and Eminent Persons Group; 12th October 2022
Forum on Malaysia-U.S. Relations in the Biden Era
Prof. Dr. Sufian Jusoh; Assoc. Prof. Dr. Lai Yew Meng; Dan Cintron, Elina Noor; Thomas Daniel; 20th July 2022
MAFDC Forum on the South China Sea
Capt Mohd Yusri bin Yusoff RMN; Assoc. Prof. Dr. Cheng-Chwee Kuik; Mr. Julio S. Amador III; Dr. Tharishini “Tharry” Krishnan; Dr. Bill Hayton; Ms. Sumathy Permal; Prof. Geoffrey Till & Dr. Collin Koh Swee Lean (Discussants); 7th April 2022
Pakistan’s Bilateral and Multilateral Engagements with Southeast Asia under Imran Khan: The Politics of Diversification and Differentiation
Dr Mustafa Izzuddin, Associate Professor and Executive Director of the Nehginpao Kipgen Center for Southeast Asian Studies at the Jindal School of International Affairs, O.P. Jindal Global University; 19th January 2022
2021
Confronting or Engaging the DPRK? “Fire and Fury”, Summit Diplomacy, and Declaration to End the Korean War
Dr. Hoo Chiew Ping; 25th November 2021
China, the UN, and Human Protection: Beliefs, Power, Image
Professor Emeritus Rosemary Foot; 15th November 2021
The Limits of Hedging and South Korea’s Place in the Indo-Pacific
Dr. Andrew Yeo, Professor of Politics and Director of Asian Studies at The Catholic University of America in Washington DC; 9th June 2021
Re-engineering Eurasia: Competing Visions for the Connectivity of the Future
Maria Adele Carrai, Assistant Professor
Global China Studies NYU Shanghai; 28th April 2021
The Myanmar Crisis & ASEAN’s Dilemma
28th April 2021
Myanmar’s foreign policy after the coup: back to negative neutralism?
Andrea Passeri; 17th March 2021;
South Korea between the United States and China: Why Countries Don’t Want to Choose Sides
Dr. David C. Kang, University of Southern California Dornsife Director, the USC Korean Studies Institute
2020
The End of the Global Maritime Fulcrum? Defense and Foreign Policy in the Second Jokowi Administration
Dr. Evan A. Laksmana; Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Indonesia; 25 February 2020
U.S. Grand Strategy in the Age of Great Power Competition: From Assertion to Implementation
Dr. Colin F. Jackson; U.S. Naval War College; 21 January 2020
2019
Technology Offsets in International Defence Procurement: The Case of Southeast Asia
Dr. Kogila Balakrishnan; Business Development (East Asia), WMG, University of Warwick; 3 December 2019
The Evolving EU-ASEAN Relations in the Age of Uncertainty
Dr. Frederick Kliem; S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), NTU; 21 November 2019
Why is China “Sitting on the Fence” on the North Korean Nuclear Negotations? Explaining China’s “Loud Silence”
Dr. Lee Seong-hyon; Center For Chinese Studies The Sejong Institute; 14 November 2019
China and the World in the New Era
Prof. Shen Dingli; Fudan University’s Institute of International Studies, China; 13 November 2019
Great Power Strategies in Muslim Southeast Asia: Indonesian and Malaysian Public Perceptions of the U.S., China, and Japan
Dr. Guido Benny; Taylors University; 5 September 2019
US-China Relations: A View from China
Dr. Ruan Zongze; China Institute of International Studies (CIIS); 20 June 2019
China’s Rise and U.S. National Security Interests
Professor Thomas J. Christensen; Columbia University; 17 June 2019
The Evolving PRC-DPRK Relations: Insights from New Data on Bilateral Interactions
Bonnie Glaser; Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS); 30 May 2019
Territorial Disputes, Gray Zone Challenges and Great Power Influence in East & Southeast Asia
Lyle J. Morris; RAND Corporation; 30 April 2019
Japan-China Relations in An Era of Growing US-China Competition
Professor Kawashima Shin; University of Tokyo; 13 March 2019
East Asia’s Strategic Responses to the Rise of China, 2011-16
Professor Chung Jae Ho; Seoul National University; 11 February 2019
2018
Hedging or Not Hedging? Reassessing the Security Practices of Southeast Asian States
Professor Jürgen Haacke; London School of Economics and Political Science; 4 September 2018
Analyzing China’s Influence in the Developing Asia
Professor Evelyn Goh; Australian National University; 15 August 2018
The Southern Thailand Conflict: Complexities, Obstacles and Opportunities
Dr. Chanintira na Thalang; Thammasat University; 30 July 2018
The ‘Indo-Pacific’: What’s in a Name?
Professor Donald K. Emmerson; Stanford University; 5 June 2018
US-China Relations in the New Eras of Trump and Xi
Professor David M. Lampton; John Hopkins University; 31 May 2018
PyeongChang Winter Olympics and Inter-Korean Relations
Dr. Eunjung Lim; Ritsumeikan University; 7 March 2018
Myanmar’s Rohingya Crisis: Causes and International Responses
Dr. Lee Jones; Queen Mary University of London; 13 February 2018
Cambodia’s Worldview and Major Power Politics
Dr. Vannarith Chheang; Cambodian Institute for Strategic Studies (CISS); 12 February 2018
Political Survival and China’s Crisis Behavior: Three Maritime Cases
Dr. He Kai; Griffith University; 29 January 2018
The North Korea Issue and Its Impact on Sino-US Relations in the Xi-Trump Era
Dr. Greg Moore; University of Nottingham; 23 January 2018
2017
UK’s Strategy in Asia Post-Brexit
Professor David Martin Jones; King’s College London; 19 December 2017
Vietnam-China-US Triangle: Navigating the Challenges in the Xi–Trump Era
Dr. Huong Le Thu; Australian National University; 18 December 2017
The Modern Origins of China’s South China Sea Claims
Bill Hayton; Chatham House; 5 October 2017
Small Powers and the Security Utility of Trade: The Cases of Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Taiwan
Dr. Michael Magcamit; Musashi University; 22 August 2017
A Trump ‘Reset’ with Russia? Implications for East Asia
Professor Timothy J. Colton; Harvard University; 14 June 2017
When Populists Perform Foreign Policy: The Case of the Philippines under Duterte
Dr. Aries A. Arugay; University of the Philippines; 25 May 2017
US-Southeast Asian Relations in a New Administration
John J. Brandon; The Asia Foundation; 22 May 2017
China’s South China Sea Policy After the Arbitration Ruling
Dr. Zhang Feng; Australian National University; 18 May 2017
The Rise of China, Southeast Asia and State Transformation
Dr. Lee Jones; Queen Mary University of London; 26 April 2017
Assessing China’s Future
Professor David Shambaugh; George Washington University; 21 April 2017
Soft Balancing and the Future of Asian Order in the Trump Era
Professor T.V. Paul; International Studies Association President (2016-2017), McGill University; 5 April 2017
Indonesian Foreign Policy under Jokowi and the Idea of Maritime Fulcrum
Dr. Makmur Keliat; University of Indonesia; 22 March 2017
2016
Cambodia’s Foreign Policy: Determinants of a Small State’s Survival Strategy
Dr. Vannarith Chheang; Cambodian Institute for Strategic Studies; 14 December 2016
India-ASEAN Engagement Under Modi
Professor Baladas Ghoshal; Society for Indian Ocean Studies; 28 October 2016
Quo Vadis Pax Americana? The Emerging Power Shift in Asia and the Lessons of History
Professor Tosh Minohara; Kobe University; 27 October 2016
RCEP, TPP, AIIB and Strategic Regionalism in Asia: Great Power Competition and the Future of the ASEAN-Plus Framework
Professor Takashi Terada; Doshisha University; 29 September 2016
Russia-ASEAN Relations Under Putin: The Changing Global and Regional Contexts
Professor Victor Sumsky; MGIMO University; 19 September 2016
International Politics: The Rules of the Game
Professor Khong Yuen-Foong; National University of Singapore; 14 July 2016
The United States and China in an Era of Uncertainty
Professor David M. Lampton; Johns Hopkins University; 28 June 2016
Australia and the South China Sea Disputes
Professor Nick Bisley; La Trobe University; 18 May 2016
2015
ASEAN between China and the United States: Issues and Prospects
Professor Donald K. Emmerson; Stanford University; 10 December 2015
China’s Hard Choice: Between the Korean Bombs and United States
Professor Fei-Ling Wang; Georgia Institute of Technology; 24 November 2015
Prawns and Whales: The Politics of Inter-Korean Relations
Professor Brian Bridges; formerly Lingnan University; 14 September 2015
Myanmar’s Foreign Policy under President U Thein Sein: Non-Aligned Once More?
Professor Jürgen Haacke; London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE); 13 August 2015
Can Asia Challenge Chinese Dominance and Avoid Europe’s Past?
Professor Amitav Acharya; American University; 12 August 2015
East Asian Transitions and Its Institutional Dimensions: The United States, China and ASEAN
Professor Alice D. Ba; University of Delaware; 8 June 2015
Dilemmas in Getting China Right: Canadian Policy and the Evaporating Middle Power Role
Professor Paul Evans; University of British Columbia; 5 February 2015
ASEAN’s Leadership in East Asian Community Building
Dr. Hiro Katsumata; Kanazawa University; 5 January 2015
2014
India’s Unavoidable Entanglements in East Asia
Dr. Ian Hall; The Australian National University; 9 December 2014
The South China Sea as a Complex Maritime Security Domain
Professor Aileen Baviera; University of the Philippines; 31 October 2014
East-Asia and the United States: A View from Washington
Dr. Satu Limaye; East-West Center in Washington; 25 August 2014