The 2015 Crawford School PhD conference focuses on the prospects, issues and impacts in one of the most important areas of policy for Australia and its neighbours: the dynamics of groupings within the Asia Pacific.

The ‘Australia in the Asian Century’ White Paper (2012) forecast that the scale and pace of Asia’s rise in the coming decades would continue to be extraordinary. In addition to being the most populous region in the world, the White Paper noted that the Asia Pacific had the potential to become the globe’s biggest economic zone, the biggest consumption zone and the home to the majority of the world’s middle class. Together with that background, many Asia-Pacific countries are now members, or are seeking to become members, of a host of existing or developing regional/international groupings. This presents exciting opportunities and challenges for Australia and its neighbours.

The conference provides a forum for students, academics, business interests, and policymakers to consider the issues at play in these bilateral and multilateral relationships: What dynamics, constraints and levers operate at the local, national, and regional levels? What are the domestic and wider international implications for governments, and the non-government and private sectors? Will efforts towards future regional cooperation be compatible with existing regional arrangements?

For the first time, the conference welcomes the participation and contribution of the National Security College, adding an important perspective on security and strategic analysis.

Register via Eventbrite (registration is free).

View the conference website for the program and more information.