While movements toward forms of regional integration such as an Asia Economic Community have grown more active, destabilizing elements such as the threat of military security issues and human security problems continue to plague the Asian region. This project aims to provide venues for track II discussions of comprehensive security problems in Asia, and to utilize such efforts to strengthen the base of knowledge for promoting the formation of an Asian Security Community.
This year, a research conference was held October 17-19, 2006 in Singapore. Fourteen experts from Asia and other regions, including Professor John Ravenhill from Australian National University, discussed the correlations between regional security problems and their economic causes, and prepared a draft report of their deliberations. Based on this, the Sentosa Roundtable, which was attended by 44 experts, was held December 12-13. The path toward building an Asian Security Community is not an easy one, but this project confirmed the importance of holding track II security discussions to facilitate the process. The completed report was distributed to policymakers, relevant institutions, universities, and research institutes, and the research findings were shared among people at many different levels.