The growing economic and political power of Asian nations is transforming the world.  Over the coming decades, the Asia-Pacific will be the world’s economic engine, helping millions in the region to find new prosperity.  At the same time, security challenges — from great power conflict to resource scarcity — have the potential to undercut the region’s many gains.  As the region changes, Asia-Pacific societies will need to find new ways to work together in the interests of peace and prosperity.

Recognizing that peace and security in Asia can best be achieved through regional cooperation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is investing $68 million over seven years in a new Asia Security Initiative. This initiative will help Asian policy research institutions strengthen their capacity to work with their counterparts across the globe to develop new ideas for fostering peace and security. It will also support a new mid-career fellowship program, the Asia Security Emerging Leaders Program, to nurture a new generation of leaders who will cooperate to overcome the security challenges of tomorrow.

To learn more about the Asia Security Initiative, watch video of the launch event.

The Asia Security Challenge: Why Asia, Why Now?

The growing economic and political power of Asian nations, home to more than half of the world’s 7 billion people, is transforming the globe. The Chinese and Indian economies are expected to grow larger than the U.S. economy by 2050, and the countries of the Pacific Rim now account for over half of the world’s Gross Domestic Product. Together, Asia-Pacific societies have achieved world-changing technological innovation — the microchip that runs each Apple iPod is the product of American and Indian programming, Taiwanese manufacturing, Korean testing, and Chinese installation.

Although economic cooperation and trade ties are deep, growing disputes between states are creating complex security challenges that threaten the region’s continued prosperity. Eleven of the Fortune 500 are headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, one of the world’s most vibrant cities. Yet, only 30 miles away a narrow demilitarized zone separates 1 million armed North Korean troops from 600,000 South Korean troops and 30,000 U.S. troops. How Asia-Pacific governments work together to prevent conflict on the Korean Peninsula — and in the many other places in the Asia-Pacific where conflict remains possible — will determine whether the region’s 3.8 billion people continue to benefit from peace and prosperity.

At the same time that Asian countries navigate shifting state-to-state relationships, transnational issues further challenge their ability to provide security for their own populations. For instance, in Southeast Asia, the Mekong River is a lifeline for agriculture, commerce, and travel in Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, and Vietnam. Yet in an era of increased demand for water resources, institutions, regional mechanisms, and policies to manage access to these resources are underdeveloped. Constructive national and regional responses to this type of challenge could help avoid conflict and, thus, promote regional stability and security.

The Asia Security Initiative

In 2009, the MacArthur Foundation created the Asia Security Initiative (ASI) network of 27 institutions from around the world. With the Foundation’s support, over the next three years these institutions will develop their policy research capacity and recommend policies on the most important security challenges facing Asia-Pacific nations.

• Regional Security Cooperation: The ASI network will advise policymakers on how to better use multilateral institutions, bilateral relationships, and alliances to prevent conflict, manage differences, and foster peace and security.
• Northeast Asia: The ASI network will develop actionable plans for international cooperation to decrease tensions over North Korea and Taiwan and between Northeast Asian nations.
• Internal Challenges: The ASI network will recommend international cooperation to help Asia-Pacific nations manage internal challenges, including, for example, competition over scarce resources, natural disasters, or outbreaks of violent conflict.

Policy research institutions in the Asia-Pacific will work together to take on these challenges and make recommendations to advance solutions. The MacArthur Foundation will help these institutions build capacity and collaborate across borders.

Over the next seven years, the Foundation will focus its institutional investments in three areas:

• New research positions, including the establishment of new faculty and research positions
• Improved communications and IT infrastructure, including the installation of videoconferencing facilities and an online collaborative forum for policy research
• Enhanced outreach, including the development of virtual and hard-copy academic and policy-relevant publications and Web portals

Investments in these areas will help regional policy research institutions lead advances in security policy research and forge productive relationships throughout the region and the world.

The Asia Security Emerging Leaders Program

The current generation of Asia-Pacific leaders has built for the region a robust international dialogue where none previously existed. The Asia Security Emerging Leaders Program will build on these strengthened ties between Asia-Pacific nations by helping to develop a new generation of leaders committed to working across borders to manage future security challenges. In 2010, the MacArthur Foundation will begin this program, which will provide year-long fellowships for mid-career leaders in academia, government, non-government organizations, the private sector, and media to work together to undertake policy research on Asian security challenges.

For More Information on the Asia Security Initiative

For additional information on the initiative, please contact Matthew Shannon Stumpf, Program Officer, International Peace and Security, at +1 (312) 516-1556 or mstumpf at macfound.org.  Also please see our Grantmaking Guidelines.