The Crisis with Russia
OVERVIEW
This edition is a collection of papers commissioned for the 2014 Aspen Strategy Group Summer Workshop. On the occasion of the 30th year anniversary of the Aspen Strategy Group (founded in 1984), the Summer Workshop in Aspen, Colorado convened a nonpartisan group of preeminent U.S.-Russia policy experts, academics, journalists, and business leaders. The group's policy discussions were guided by the papers found in this volume, whose scope ranges from exploring the history of the U.S.-Russia relationship, current developments in the Sino-Russian relationship, the NATO and European responses to Russian aggression in Eastern Europe, energy considerations, areas of potential U.S.-Russia cooperation, and finally, the broader question of U.S. national security and interests in the European region.
If SAARC Stumbles: Go for Sub-regional Alternatives
Synopsis
The SAARC continues to stumble along in its difficult path to forge regional integration. South Asian countries should instead go for bilateralism and sub-regionalism targeting East Asia.
Western Muslim Converts and Violent Extremism: Issues and Strategies
Synopsis
The number of Muslim converts in the West involved in violent extremism is an emerging issue. Increased community intervention and supportive counselling for converts may be helpful in countering radicalism.
Putting A Price on Carbon: From Lima to Paris 2015
Synopsis
The 20th session of the UNFCCC Conference of Parties in Lima now underway until 12 December 2014 will discuss how to put a price on carbon. The question is how can a carbon price bring us closer to our emission targets?
Securing ASEAN’s Cyber Domain: Need for Partnership in Strategic Cybersecurity
Synopsis
The ASEAN region cannot afford a security lapse as the digital domain is supposed to propel its development. ASEAN should lead in forging partnership in strategic cybersecurity.
Fixing Global Finance: Unfinished Business
The 2008 financial crisis was hugely damaging. The focus of reform has been on increasing banks’ required capital. Together with the other measures taken, this makes a repetition of 2008 less likely. However, the crisis also taught us that financial markets do not work as well as we thought. Financial innovation has made the markets more volatile, short-term focused and more pro-cyclical. Not much has been done to address this issue. This paper suggests that the government-guaranteed banking sector should be separated much more clearly from the rest of the financial sector, which should be more explicitly identified as a risky sector. This separation would change the way the financial sector is managed (with conservative management returning to the banking sector). Such beneficial changes would reduce the size of the financial sector, which currently attracts too many of our best brains.
The South China Sea Disputes: Singapore as an “Honest Broker”?
Synopsis
Singapore has talked about being an honest broker between China and Southeast Asian claimants of the South China Sea. Can and should Singapore play such a role?
President Jokowi’s ‘Ordinary’ Style: Simplicity and the ‘Wealth of Poverty’?
Synopsis
Indonesia’s recently-elected President Joko Widodo has captured the attention of the world media by his manner of dress and unassuming character. But this simple self-presentation has a long history in Southeast Asia, where assuming an ordinary character is also a form of cultural capital that carries huge symbolic power.
PM Modi in Fiji: India’s Strategic Foray in the South Pacific
Synopsis
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s just concluded visit to Fiji marks the beginning of a strategic Indian approach to the South Pacific. Beyond reconnecting with the Indian diaspora, Delhi is looking to forge a development partnership with the Pacific islands.
Sino-Japan Ties: Progress at the APEC Summit?
Synopsis
While the visual impact of the meeting between Xi Jinping and Shinzo Abe was uninspiring, the communiqué regarding the disputed East China Sea islets is a positive step. The test of success, however, will be to see what effect it has on the two countries’ rhetoric and behaviour.