- Speaker: Surin Pitsuwan, ASEAN Secretary-General
- Moderator: Akashi Yasushi, Chairman, International House of Japan
- Commentators: Kuroyanagi Yoneji, Professor, Daito Bunka University ;
- Fujiwara Kiichi, Professor, University of Tokyo
- Date & Time: Friday, October 22, 2010, 10:30 am-12:00 pm
- Venue: Iwasaki Koyata Memorial Hall, International House of Japan
- Admission: 1,000 yen (Students: 500 yen, IHJ Members: Free)
- Language: English/Japanese (simultaneous translation provided)
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) enters the second decade of the 21th century facing challenges from within and without. Internally, all eyes are fixed on the upcoming election in Myanmar next month, the border spat between Thailand and Cambodia, and the ambitious plan to create a unified ASEAN community housing 550 million people. Meanwhile, the increasing influence of ASEAN has made it a new political and economic jigsaw piece in the re-alignment of the global power structure, a strategic wedge with China more aggressively asserting itself on one side of the Pacific and the United States on the other. Having embraced the challenge of steering the organization and expanding its role in the effort to build peace and prosperity in the region and perhaps the world, Dr Surin Pitsuwan, former Foreign Affairs Minister of Thailand and current Secretary General of ASEAN, will talk about ASEAN today.
Surin Pitsuwan
Received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in the field of Political Science. Worked as a columnist for the Nation and the Bangkok Post 1975-92 and taught at the Faculty of Political Science at Thammasat University from 1978 to 1983. Dr. Surin Pitsuwan served as Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs (1992-95) and Minister of Foreign Affairs (1997-2001). Upon leaving the foreign affairs portfolio in mid-2001, he was a member of the Commission on Human Security of the United Nations until 2003. He was nominated by the Royal Thai Government and endorsed by ASEAN leaders as ASEAN Secretary-General.