Panelists & PARTICIPANTS

Ferdinand "Bongbong" Romualdez Marcos Jr. is the 17th and current president of the Philippines. He previously served as a Senator of the Republic, Vice-Governor and Governor of Ilocos Norte, and Representative of the Second District of Ilocos Norte.

Gen. Eduardo Año is a Filipino public official and retired general of the Philippine Army who currently serves as the National Security Adviser under the administration of President Bongbong Marcos since 2023. He previously served as Secretary of the Interior and Local Government in the Cabinet of President Rodrigo Duterte from 2018 to 2022, the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines from 2016 to 2017, and the Commanding General of the Philippine Army from 2015 to 2016.

Gilberto Eduardo Gerardo Cojuangco Teodoro Jr. is a Filipino lawyer, politician, and business executive who has served as the 23rd Secretary of National Defense under President Bongbong Marcos since 2023. He served in the same post from 2007 to 2009 under President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

Commodore Jay Tristan Tarriela is currently serving as the Chief of Coast Guard Staff for Human Resource Management (CG-1) and is also the Adviser to the Commandant on Maritime Security Affairs, as well as the Philippine Coast Guard Spokesperson on the West Philippine Sea. He successfully completed his Ph.D. at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) under the GRIPS Global Governance (G-cube) Program in Tokyo as a Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) ASEAN Public Policy Leadership scholar. He has participated in various military and coast guard training programs both in his home country and internationally. Dr. Tarriela holds a graduate degree from the Philippine Merchant Marine Academy Graduate School and a Master of Policy Studies from GRIPS and the Japan Coast Guard Academy. He was among the first batch of participants in the Maritime Safety and Security Program jointly launched by both institutions in 2016.Furthermore, Dr. Tarriela was selected as part of the inaugural cohort of the 2021 Pacific Forum US-Philippines’ Next Generation Leaders’ Initiative. Additionally, he has been chosen as a fellow for the 2021 East-West Center US-Philippines Alliance Fellowship in Washington, DC, USA. Dr. Tarriela has authored opinion-editorial articles for renowned publications such as The Diplomat, The National Interest, and Analyzing War. He also serves as a visiting lecturer at the National Defense College of the Philippines, the Philippine Public Safety College, Ateneo De Manila University School of Government, and the Philippine Merchant Marine Academy Graduate School.

Dr. Jeffrey Ordaniel is President and CEO of WPS Foundation, a Manila-based maritime security research and policy think tank. Concurrently, he is also Associate Professor of International Security Studies at Tokyo International University (TIU) in Japan. He holds a Ph.D. in International Relations and specializes in the study of offshore territorial and maritime entitlement disputes in Asia. His teaching and research revolve around maritime security and ocean governance, ASEAN regionalism, and broadly, U.S. alliances and engagements in the Indo-Pacific. From 2016 to 2019, he was based in Honolulu and was the holder of the endowed Admiral Joe Vasey Fellowship at the Pacific Forum. His current research on maritime security in Asia is funded by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), 2020-2025.

Additional Director General Donny Michael, PTM, TM is an Indian Coast Guard flag officer who currently serves as the Coast Guard Commander (Eastern Seaboard).

Education Japan Coast Guard Academy, 1989 Assignments April 2011: Deputy Director, Personnel Div., JCG HQs. April 2014: Yokohama Coast Guard Office April 2015: Chief, Nemuro Coast Guard Office April 2017: Director, Administration Dept., 11th Regional Coast Guard HQs. April 2018: Director, Education and Training Div., JCG HQs. March 2020: Director, Administration Div., Guard and Rescue Dept., JCG HQs. October 2021: Deputy Commander, 3th Regional Coast Guard HQs. April 2022: Superintendent, Coast Guard School July 2023: Director General, Guard and Rescue Department, JCG HQs. July 2024: Vice Commandant for Operations

Major General Tran Van Luong is Vice Commandant and concurrently Chief of Staff of the Vietnam Coast Guard. With his position, he directly commands the VCG vessels and advisory agencies within the force to maintain security and safety at sea in Vietnam as well as the region

Captain (Ret.) Liu Xiaobo is a senior fellow and director of the Marine Study Center, Grandview Institution, Beijing, China. His research focuses on national maritime security policy, sea power, and the Law of the Sea. Before joining the Grandview Institution, Capt. Liu had served in the PLA Navy for 24 years and had worked as a research fellow in the National Institute for South China Sea Studies.

Dr. Lai Thai Binh is the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to the Philippines. He served as a Deputy Director-General of the East Sea (South China Sea) Institute (Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam), the Deputy Consul-General of Vietnam in Houston, Deputy Director-General and Assistant Director-General at Americas Department in the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Director of the American research division, Director and Deputy Director of the North America division, and as a Vietnam-U.S. relations desk officer. He earned a BA in international economics from Hanoi Foreign Trade University and a Ph.D. in International relations from the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam.

H.E. David Hartman is Ambassador of Canada to the Philippines

Ambassador Dr. Andreas Michael Pfaffernoschke is Ambassador of Germany to the Philippines

Shri Harsh Kumar Jain joined the Indian Foreign Service in September 1993.

Over the course of his diplomatic career, he has served at various positions in the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi and abroad.

He served as India’s Ambassador to Ukraine from 2022-2024, Slovak Republic from 2017-2018, and Kazakhstan from 2014-2017. Prior to this, he served in different capacities at Indian Missions in Moscow (1995-96), Kyiv (1996-98), St. Petersburg (1999-2002), London (2004-07) and Kathmandu (2007-11).

He also served as a Member of the UN Group of Governmental Experts on the Developments in the Field of Information and Telecommunications in the context of International Security during 2012-13.

At headquarters in Delhi, he served as the Head of the BIMSTEC and SAARC Division (2020-21), Global Estate Management Division (2019-20) and e-Governance, Information Technology and Cyber Diplomacy Division (2011-14). He served as desk officer for Afghanistan during 2002-04.

Shri Harsh Kumar Jain holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and Master’s degree in Industrial Engineering. He is married to Smt. Vandana Jain and they have a son.

He speaks Hindi, English and Russian.

He joined the Embassy of India in Manila on 02 August 2024.

Dr. Aaron Jed Rabena is Professorial Lecturer at the Asian Center in the University of the Philippines Diliman. His areas of interests include Strategic Studies, Greater East Asian Geopolitics and Multilateral Politics, Political Risk, Maritime Security, and Chinese Politics and Foreign Policy.

Dr Abe Woo is a non-resident fellow for marine environmental research at WPS. He received his PhD in Natural History Sciences from Hokkaido University. His interest of study includes systematics, taxonomy, and diversity study of marine invertebrates, focusing on the group Echinoderms. Since 2009, he has been actively uncovering the marine biodiversity and systematics of sea cucumbers across the region. He is currently serving as a senior lecturer in the Centre for Marine and Coastal Studies (CEMACS), Universiti Sains Malaysia where he is also actively leading several marine biodiversity research in the Southeast Asian region that includes several taxa of marine invertebrate. At the global front, he is a serving in several UN Decade of Ocean Science Program ECOP co-chairs and also an active contributor to the IOC Sub-Commission for the Western Pacific (WESTPAC) programmes.Dr Woo recently graduated from the Advanced Masters in Sustainable Blue Economy from Unviersity of Trieste, Italy that focuses on science diplomacy through management and development of regional blue economy plans. He is now involved in formulating Malaysia's Blue Economy Blueprint commissioned by the government

Ms. Declaro specializes in research and policy analysis in the areas of defense and security, enterprise technology, cybersecurity and critical infrastructure. She currently serves as a senior program and research associate at the Stratbase Institute, where she develops policy papers, prepares briefing materials and coordinates multistakeholder engagements involving the government, private sector and civil society. Ms. Declaro earned a Bachelor of Arts in international studies from De La Salle University-Manila, where she majored in European studies and minored in sports health. Graduating summa cum laude, she is also a member of the Rizal Honors Society.

Dr. Almut Besold heads the Philippine office of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation (FNF), a German political foundation that has been active in the Philippines since 1986. She holds a doctorate in Arabic studies and previously worked for the FNF in Indonesia/Malaysia and Pakistan.

Professor Anne-Marie Brady FRSNZ is a specialist on the Chinese Communist Party (domestic politics and foreign policy), polar politics, Pacific politics, and New Zealand foreign policy. She is founding and executive editor of The Polar Journal (Taylor and Francis Publishers). She has published ten books and over fifty sole-authored scholarly papers. She has written more than 60 opeds on her research for newspapers such as the New York Times, The Guardian, The Australian, Sydney Morning Herald, The Financial Times, The Diplomat. In addition to her duties at the University of Canterbury, Professor Brady holds a number of honorary roles. She was a Global Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Centre in Washington DC from 2014 to 2025. In 2014 she was appointed to a two-year term on the World Economic Forum's Global Action Council on the Arctic. She is an advisor to the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC).

Dr. Annette Bradford is Education and Policy Advisor at the Yokosuka Council on Asia-Pacific Studies (YCAPS). She recently completed a fellowship with the Japan Foundation Indo-Pacific Partnership Program, researching the implementation of education and training capacity-building activities in the maritime domain. Annette also consults for Oxford EMI, a leading consultancy and training organization for higher education internationalization and English-medium Instruction (EMI) teacher professional development. Annette holds an EdD in Educational Administration and Policy Studies from the George Washington University, an MA in Linguistics from the University of Surrey, and a BA in Modern Languages from the University of East Anglia.

Justice Antonio T. Carpio was sworn in as member of the Supreme Court of the Philippines on October 26, 2001. He served in the Supreme Court for 18 years, retiring on October 25, 2019 upon reaching the compulsory retirement age of 70. Justice Carpio retired with a zero backlog of cases. Justice Carpio obtained his law degree from the College of Law of the University of the Philippines where he graduated valedictorian and cum laude in 1975. He was conferred a Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, by the Ateneo de Davao University in 2009, by the University of the Philippines in 2020, and by the Ateneo de Manila University in 2021. On October 29, 2011, as Guest Speaker at the 50th Founding Anniversary of the Ateneo de Davao College of Law, Justice Carpio launched his advocacy to challenge the validity of China’s nine-dashed line before a tribunal under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Ever since, he has been giving lectures all over the country on the invalidity of China’s nine-dashed line. In 2015, the Department of Foreign Affairs sponsored Justice Carpio on a world lecture tour on the West Philippine Sea dispute. Justice Carpio presented the Philippines’ perspective on the dispute before think-tanks and universities in 30 cities covering 17 countries. In May 2017, Justice Carpio published the book titled The South China Sea Dispute: Philippine Sovereign Rights and Jurisdiction in the West Philippine Sea.

Ms. Atsuko Kanehara is the Research Director for the Canon Institute for International Studies and Senior Fellow for the Sasakawa Peace Foundation.  She was former Professor of International Law at Sophia University and former President of the Japanese Society of International Law.Member of the Governing Board of IMO International Maritime Law Institute.Concurrently, she is Policy Adviser for the Japan Coast Guard and member of the Committee on Submarine Cables and Pipelines under the International Law Association.She delivered lectures at The Hague Academy of International Law in 2017, entitled “Reassessment of the Acts of the State in the Law of State Responsibility―A Proposal of an Integrative Theoretical Flamework of the Law of State Responsibility to Effectively Cope with the Internationally Harmful Acts of Non-State Actors,” which was published in Recueils des cours, Vol. 399 (2019).Her principal recent publications in English are: “How to Ensure the Safety of the Japan Coast Guard While Maintaining Its Nature as A Police Organ When It Conducts Missions In Collaboration with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force under the Control Guidelines,” Japan Review, Vol 6, No. 2 (2024); “Refining Japan’s Integrative Position on the Territorial Sovereignty of the Senkaku Islands,” International Law Studies, Vol. 97 (2021); ”The Use of Force in Maritime Security and the Use of Arms in Law Enforcement under the Current Wide Understanding of Maritime Security,” Japan Review, Vol. 3, No. 2 (2019).

Dr. Asyura SALLEH works with the Global Maritime Crime Programme at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime as an Associate Programme Officer where she oversees regional forums on maritime crime. She is also formerly a Special Advisor on Maritime Security at Yokosuka Council on Asia Pacific Affairs (YCAPS), Adjunct non-Resident Vasey Research Fellow at the Pacific Forum, and Co-Founder and Advisor of the Global Awareness & Impact Alliance (GAIA). Her previous policy experience lies in her work for the Stable Seas and Brunei Prime Minister’s Office. Dr. Asyura gained a Masters in War Studies from King’s College London and earned a doctorate in International Relations from the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Singapore. She has also been nominated as one of top 40 Women in Power in Malaysia by the Prestige Magazine in 2024. Dr. Salleh has a research interest in maritime security in the Asia Pacific, with a focus on transnational maritime crime and maritime governance.

Aristyo Rizka Darmawan is a lecturer in international law at the Faculty of Law Universitas Indonesia. Currently he is a Ph.D Scholar at the School of Regulation and Global Governance at the Australian National University. His research focuses on the intersection between international law of the sea, foreign policy and maritime security in the Asia Pacific with particular focus on the South China Sea.He obtained his Master’s Degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, United States and Bachelor of Law from Universitas Indonesia. He is also a former Visiting Fellow with the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University

Bec Strating PhD FAIIA is the Director of the La Trobe Centre for Global Security and a Professor of International Relations at La Trobe University, Melbourne. She has extensive experience working in the academia-policy-public engagement nexus in the fields of international diplomacy and security. Her research focuses primarily on Asian regional security, maritime disputes, and Australian foreign and defence policy. She is the author of ‘Girt by Sea: reimagining Australia’s Security’ with Professor Joanne Wallis (La Trobe University Press/Black Inc, 2024), which was launched by Foreign Minister Penny Wong in April 2024. She is the co-editor of 'Blue Security in the Indo-Pacific' (Routledge, 2024) and 'The Politics of Global Ocean Regions' (Palgrave, 2025). Bec currently leads the DFAT-funded “Blue Security” network focused on maritime security issues in the Indo-Pacific. She is a non-resident fellow at the National Bureau of Asian Research, an affiliated researcher at Georgetown University, a member of the East West Centre Council on Indo-Pacific Relations, an expert affiliate at the Australian National University’s National Security College, and President of the Women in International Security-Australia’s steering committee. She serves on the editorial boards of Contemporary Security Policy, Australian Journal of International Affairs and Journal of Maritime and Territorial Studies.

Dr. Benjamin Blandin is an expert in maritime security and a Non-Resident Research Fellow at the Yokosuka Council on Asia-Pacific Studies (YCAPS), the Korea Institute of Maritime Strategy (KIMS), and Stratbase. He holds MSc degrees in Business and Political Science (Geostrategy, Geopolitics), as well as a PhD in Political Science. Before his academic career, he worked as a Senior Consultant in strategy for leading firms, including Accenture, Deloitte, Capgemini, and Airbus Defence and Space.

Bill Hayton is an Associate Fellow with the Asia-Pacific programme at Chatham House and the editor of the academic journal 'Asian Affairs'. He is the author of four books on Asia including The South China Sea: the struggle for power in Asia and The Invention of China. Bill worked for the BBC for 22 years until January 2021. He was the BBC’s reporter in Vietnam in 2006-7 and was seconded to the public broadcaster in Myanmar in 2013-14. In 2019 he received his PhD from the University of Cambridge for work on the history and development of the South China Sea disputes. He is a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.

Hu Bo is research professor & director of the Center for Maritime Strategy Studies, Peking University, and director of SCSPI. He received his PhD in Politics from the School of International Studies at Peking University and has extensive experience in policy analysis and consulting. His areas of specialization include maritime strategy, international security, and Chinese diplomacy. He has written three books and more than 50 journal articles and book chapters on topics related to China’s maritime strategy and policy. His most recent books published are as follows: China’s Maritime Power in 2049 (China Development Press, 2015), China’s Sea Power in the Post Mahan Era (Ocean Press, 2018), and Chinese Maritime Power in the 21st Century (Routledge, 2019).

Brad GLOSSERMAN is Senior Adviser at Pacific Forum, in Honolulu Hi, where he served for 13 years (2004-2017) as executive director. From 2017 until 2025, when it closed, he was Deputy Director of and Visiting Professor at the Center for Rule-making Strategies, Tama University. He was for 10 years a member of The Japan Times editorial board and writes a weekly column on geopolitics and technology. Brad is co-author, with Gil Rozman, of Japan’s Rise as a Regional and Global Power 2013-2023: A Momentous Decade (Routledge, 2024), author of Peak Japan: The End of Grand Ambitions (Georgetown UP, 2019) and co-author (with Scott Snyder) of The Japan-South Korea Identity Clash (Columbia UP 2015). His newest book, “Tech-gemony: Navigating the New National Security Economy” (with David Lee), which examines the geopolitics of high-technology, will be published this year by Hurst.

Brian Harding is a leading expert on U.S.-Southeast Asia relations and East Asia regional security with nearly twenty years of experience in government and think tanks in Washington, DC. He is currently a research fellow at the Southeast Asia Peace Institute, a senior fellow (non-resident) at Sasakawa USA, and a senior advisor at the U.S.-Philippines Society.From 2020 to 2025, Brian led a major expansion of programming in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands at the U.S. Institute of Peace, including the establishment of new offices in the Philippines, Vietnam, and Papua New Guinea. In the Philippines, USIP collaborated with the Government of the Philippines and non-government partners on initiatives to deepen U.S.-Philippines alliance coordination on regional security challenges and to sustain peace in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.Previously, Brian was deputy director of the Southeast Asia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and director for Asia policy at the Center for American Progress (CAP). From 2009 to 2013, he served in the Office of the Secretary of Defense as country director for Asian and Pacific security affairs, managing defense relations with key U.S. partners in Southeast Asia and Oceania.Brian holds degrees from Middlebury College and The George Washington University, has studied in Indonesia and Japan, and was a Fulbright research fellow in Indonesia. 

Brin Isaac is the Executive Secretary of the Philippine International Law of the Sea Academy (PHILSEA). She leads a team in performing secretariat functions and liaising with natural and juridical persons in relevant organizational matters across domestic and international platforms to foster partnerships, enhance visibility, and further engage in industry discussions. She implements and maintains a robust compliance framework to ensure that the organization adheres to its standards and regulations.Aside from her PHILSEA role, she is a dedicated scholar, currently pursuing a Master of Arts (MA) in Philippine Studies at the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman, specializing in Foreign Relations. Her academic pursuit is complemented by practice experience, including her role as a Project Associate for the Gas Policy Development Project and previous work at the Embassy of India Manila.Brin's passion for maritime affairs is evident in her contributions to PHILSEA and her recognition as “Best Delegate” at the 2022 ASEAN-China Young Leaders Summit. She proactively engages in global policy discussions as a Young Leader of the Pacific Forum's Young Leaders Program. She was also competitively selected by the United States Embassy in the Philippines as a Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) Academic Fellow on Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Economic Empowerment at the University of Connecticut (UConn) for Fall 2025.

Bryce Barros is an Associate Fellow at GLOBSEC's GeoTech Center, where his research focuses on the convergence of Indo-Pacific, Euro-Atlantic, and emerging technologies with security. He previously served in the U.S. Senate as National Security Advisor on foreign policy and defense, supported the Defense Innovation Unit as a contractor, analyzed China and Taiwan’s roles in the Transatlantic relationship at the German Marshall Fund, and researched strategic trade controls and sanctions at Kharon.Bryce is a Council on Foreign Relations Stephen M. Kellen Term Member, a Truman National Security Project Fellow, a National Committee on U.S.-China Relations member, and a Pacific Forum Young Leader. He holds degrees from Norwich University and Texas A&M University, is an honorary graduate of the Republic of China (Taiwan) Military Academy, and speaks Mandarin, Japanese, and Portuguese. He currently resides in Taiwan. He has lived and worked in both Taiwan and China for six years.

Carissa currently serves as a program and research associate at the Stratbase Institute, where she conducts policy research and analyzes sectoral trends in defense and security.Carissa has held key roles in institutions focused on governance, diplomacy and social development. As a project officer for a non-profit organization, she led flagship campaigns on women’s health and empowerment in collaboration with foreign embassies. During her internship focused on the public sector, she facilitated strategic planning workshops and supported the alignment of governance frameworks with national government agencies.Carissa earned a bachelor’s degree in diplomacy and international relations specializing in East and Southeast Asian studies from Ateneo de Manila University, graduating cum laude.

Mr Carl Baker is executive director at Pacific Forum. He works on issues related to foreign and security policy and is engaged in promoting security cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region. Current focus areas include multilateral security architecture, nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and nuclear security. Previously, he was on the faculty at the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies and an adjunct professor at Hawaii Pacific University. Previously, he was on the faculty at the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies and an adjunct professor at Hawaii Pacific University. A graduate of the U.S. Air War College, he also holds an M.A. in public administration from the University of Oklahoma and a B.A. in anthropology from the University of Iowa.

Chong Ja Ian is an associate professor of political science at the National University of Singapore, where he teaches and conducts research in international politics and security. Chong is a non-resident scholar at Carnegie China, Carnegie’s East Asia-based research center on contemporary China, where he examines U.S.-China dynamics in Southeast Asia and the broader Asia-Pacific. He received his PhD from Princeton University in 2008. His research covers the intersection of international and domestic politics, with a focus on the externalities of major power competition, nationalism, regional order, security, contentious politics, coercive diplomacy, and state formation.He was a 2019-20 Harvard-Yenching Visiting Scholar, 2013 Taiwan Fellow, 2012-13 East-West Center Asia Fellow, and a 2008-9 Princeton-Harvard China and the World Fellow. Chong’s current research examines how non-leading state behavior collectively intensifies major power rivalries. He has concurrent projects investigating how states react to sanctions on third parties by trade partners, and the characteristics of foreign influence operations.Chong is the author of External Intervention and the Politics of State Formation: China, Indonesia, Thailand, 1893-1952 (Cambridge, 2012), and a recipient of the 2013 International Security Studies Section Book Award from the International Studies Association. He has published in the China Quarterly, European Journal of International Relations, International Security, Security Studies, and Pacific Affairs, among other outlets.

Clara Schröder is a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism student at Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences. She has taken on the role of Communications Intern at Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) Philippines for the period of September to December 2025.

Collin Koh is senior fellow at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies which is a constituent unit of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, based in Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He has research interests on naval affairs in the Indo-Pacific, focusing on Southeast Asia. Collin has published several op-eds, policy and academic journal articles, as well as chapters for edited volumes covering his research areas. He has also taught at Singapore Armed Forces professional military education and training courses. Besides research and teaching, Collin contributes his perspectives to various local and international media outlets and participates in activities with geopolitical risk consultancies.

Daniela Braun is the KAS Country Director Philippines since May 2023. In this capacity, she oversees the programs of KAS’ oldest office in Asia. Previously, Daniela worked as Policy Advisor for International Politics and Security Affairs at the Division Analysis and Consulting of Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung in Berlin. Before KAS, Daniela held different positions at the German Council on Foreign Relations, the German Bundestag and the Berlin Office of the German Marshall Fund.She holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Bonn and M.A. from the Freie University Berlin. She also studied in Warsaw, Poland, at the American University in Washington D.C. and as a Fox International Scholar at Yale University in New Haven.

Dr. Denis Suarsana has been the Director of the Indonesia office of Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) in Jakarta since 2022. From March to August 2025, he acted as the Interim Director of the KAS Australia and the Pacific office in Canberra. Previously, Mr. Suarsana was Deputy Director Strategy and Digitalization at the German Employers’ Association (BDA) in Berlin. From 2016 to 2018, he worked as a Policy Advisor at the German Federal Foreign Office. He holds a doctorate in economics and studied political science and European studies in Germany, Poland and the United Kingdom. His most recent publications include International Perceptions of Germany’s and Europe’s Competitiveness (2025), De-Risking, but where to? The Emerging ASEAN countries as an alternative to China (2024) as well as The Economic Race in Southeast Asia – and why Europe is falling behind (2024). 

Since he founded The Stratbase Group in 2004, Prof. Victor Andres "Dindo" Manhit has provided top-level strategic analysis and thought leadership on global issues in the Philippines.He is the President of Stratbase Institute, an independent, international think tank based in the Philippines. In the age of geopolitical uncertainties and technological advancements, Stratbase ADR Institute gives equal importance to the interdependent nature of states, sectors, and stakeholders for its strategic analyses and policy initiatives in a multi-polar world.As a public policy analyst and geo-strategist, he thinks beyond politics for his political risk assessment that is also data-driven. With his extensive experience in legislation and policy making including serving as Undersecretary of the Department of Education, Deputy Secretary of the Philippine Senate and being Chief of Staff of a Senate President, he continues to help Stratbase’s clients and partners understand the interplay between business and government and the impact of legislative, regulatory, and geo-politics on their strategic initiatives.Professor Manhit obtained his Master’s Degree in Public Administration and Bachelor’s Degree in Philippine Studies (Major in Political Science and History) from the University of the Philippines. A member of Phi Gamma Mu International Honors Society Beta Chapter.

Edcel Ibarra is an assistant professor at the Department of Political Science, University of the Philippines Diliman, and the managing editor of the Philippine Political Science Journal. He is also Young Leader and US-Philippines Alliance Next Generation Leader at the Pacific Forum. In 2025, he was an exchange scholar at the Study of the US Institutes for Scholars on US Foreign Policy at the University of Delaware sponsored by the US Department of State. Edcel was previously the officer-in-charge of the Strategic, Territorial, and Maritime Issues Section of the Foreign Service Institute, the in-house think tank of the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs. In 2024, he was awarded the Aileen San Pablo Baviera Prize by the Graduate Research and Development Network on Asian Security at the Australian National University. Edcel obtained his master's in international studies and bachelor's in political science, magna cum laude, from the University of the Philippines Diliman.

Eerishika Pankaj is the Director of the Organisation for Research on China and Asia (ORCA) and is the Convenor of ORCA's Global Conference on New Sinology (GCNS). She is also an Editorial and Research Assistant to the Series Editor for Routledge Series on Think Asia; a 2020 Young Leader of Pacific Forum’s Young Leaders Program;  a Quad Think Tank Leader of the U.S. State Department’s Leaders Lead on Demand program; a Member of the Indo-Pacific Circle and a Council Member of the WICCI’s India-EU BusinessCouncil. Eerishika is the co-editor of the book 'The Future of Indian Diplomacy: Exploring Multidisciplinary Lenses' and of the Special Issues on 'The Dalai Lama’s Succession: Strategic Realities of the Tibet Question' as well as 'Building the Future of EU-India Strategic Partnership'. Primarily a China and East Asia scholar, her research at ORCA focuses on Chinese elite/party politics, the India-China border, water and power politics in the Himalayas and India's engagements with China in various regions. She is also an Indo-Pacific scholar, with a large published body of work on Quad, maritime security, trade and supply chains. She focuses on East and Southeast Asian maritime security discourse in connection to Chinese policymaking and foreign policy.

Elina Noor is a senior fellow in the Asia Program at Carnegie where she focuses on developments in Southeast Asia, particularly the impact and implications of technology in reshaping power dynamics, governance, and nation-building in the region.Previously, Elina was director of political-security affairs and deputy director of the Washington, D.C. office at the Asia Society Policy Institute. Prior to that, Elina was an associate professor at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Honolulu. She spent most of her career at the Institute of Strategic and International Studies Malaysia, where she last held the position of director, foreign policy and security studies. Elina was also formerly with the Brookings Institution’s Project on U.S. Relations with the Islamic World.Between 2017 and 2019, Elina was part of the Global Commission on the Stability of Cyberspace. From 2021 to 2023, she served on the International Committee of the Red Cross Global Advisory Board on digital threats during conflict. She currently serves on the United Nations Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters.Elina read law at Oxford University. She obtained an LL.M (Public International Law) from the London School of Economics and Political Science, University of London, graduating with distinction at the top of her class. A recipient of the Perdana (Malaysian Prime Minister’s) Fellowship, she also holds an MA in security studies from Georgetown University, where she was a Women in International Security Scholar.

Mr Erick Nielson C Javier is a Defense Research Officer of the National Defense College of the Philippines, specializing in defense industrial development, small state deterrence and the future of warfare. Previously, he served as a Defense Analyst in the Office of Strategic Studies and Strategy Management, Armed Forces of the Philippines from 2015-2021.Mr Javier completed his Master of Arts in Political Science, Major in Global Politics at the Ateneo de Manila University in 2017. He also completed the 30th Executive Course on National Security from NDCP on December 2024. He was a member of the Young Leaders Program of Pacific Forum International, and is part of the Young Strategists’ Forum 2023 cohort of the United States German Marshall Fund.

Ervine Jules Beltran Sape is the Founding Executive Director of the Philippine International Law of the Sea Academy Inc. (PHILSEA). He leads a team of young Filipino ocean professionals in developing law of the sea capacity-building training programmes for Philippine law schools, universities, and colleges to address gaps in interpreting, applying, and enforcing the modern rule of international law of the sea. He trains Filipino law deans, law professors, law lecturers, law students, court attorneys, solicitors, and law enforcement officers to correctly interpret, properly domesticate, and effectively enforce the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), with areas of interest in islands, rocks, maritime boundary delimitation, and Marine Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ).Granted full scholarships from National University of Singapore Centre for International Law (NUS CIL), Korea Maritime Institute (KMI), and Chinese National Marine Data and Information Service (NMDIS), he holds a Diploma in International Law of the Sea awarded by the Korea Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF) and is an alumnus of the Singapore Academy of International Law (SAIL) and International Ocean Institute (IOI) China. In 2023 he was competitively selected by the United States Embassy in the Philippines as an Academic Fellow on Sustainability and Environment under the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) Programme hosted by the East-West Center (EWC) in the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa (UH Mānoa). Since 2021, he has been a Member of the Teaching and Researching International Law in Asia (TRILA) Programme managed by the NUS CIL.

Dr Euan Graham joined ASPI as a Senior Analyst in July 2023. During his career, Euan has developed a deep knowledge of Australia’s regional security environment, working for think tanks in Australia, Singapore and the UK, where he previously worked for the British foreign office, including time on the ground in North Korea and Southeast Asia. Before joining ASPI, Euan was based in Singapore, at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, where he was closely involved in organising the annual Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual summit of defence ministers from across the Indo-Pacific region.He has published extensively, on a broad range of defence and security topics, including as a regular contributor for The Strategist since 2013. He has published two solo-authored books: Japan’s Sea Lane Security 1940–2004: A Matter of Life and Death? (2005) and Australia’s Security in China’s Shadow (2023).

François-Xavier BONNET is a geographer, Research Associate at the Institute for Contemporary Southeast Asia (Irasec). As a UNESCO consultant, he has worked in Cambodia, among other places, on the production of geography textbooks. He lives in the Philippines and his research focuses on the geopolitics of the Philippines: Muslim terrorism and guerrilla warfare, the peace process in Mindanao on the one hand, and maritime disputes in the South China Sea and China's growing influence in the Philippines on the other. He has published, among others: “Geopolitics of Scarborough Shoal”, Les Notes de l’IRASEC n°14 - IRASEC’s Discussion Papers #14, 2012 https://irasec.com/Geopolitics-of-Scarborough-Shoal. This research will be updated in 2025. “Charting submarine routes in Southeast Asia”, Hérodote, n° 176, La Découverte, 1st Quarter 2020.

Atty. Fretti Ganchoon is a Senior State Counsel at the Philippines' Department of Justice and the head of its Legal Staff - Maritime Group. She is also the Department's alternate permanent representative to the National Maritime Council and the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea. A recognized maritime and international law expert, Atty. Ganchoon serves as a resource person in various maritime forums, technical meetings and government hearings. She holds a Master of Laws degree in International Maritime Law with Distinction (IMO IMLI) and teaches admiralty (FEU) and international law (UA&P) to Philippine law students, including law practitioners (MCLE).

Dr. Gaurav Saini is the Co-founder of the Council for Strategic and Defense Research (CSDR), a leading New Delhi think tank focused on foreign policy, defense, and strategic affairs. At CSDR, he leads on project design and implementation, crafting frameworks that explore India’s foreign policy evolution, assess technological impacts on national security, analyze internal security challenges, and examine India’s relations with East Asia, Europe, and the Indo-Pacific. His expertise extends to designing annual geopolitical assessments, scoping defense industry collaborations, facilitating Track 1.5/2 dialogues, and leading multi-stakeholder research programs.With a PhD in International Politics from Jawaharlal Nehru University, focusing on India’s strategic culture toward China (1998-2014), Dr. Saini has been an Emerging Quad Think Tank Leader and a European Union exchange fellow.Dr. Saini has written extensively on global policy debates, addressing themes such as India-Australia defense and security partnerships, Indian foreign policy transitions, the Quad’s strategic resilience, US-India relations amid global shifts, India-Europe defense cooperation, the Global South’s geopolitical rise, India’s counter-terrorism doctrines, India-China dynamics within the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, India’s military manufacturing advancements, Brazil-India defense synergies, and China’s engagements in the Indo-Pacific.

Georgi Engelbrecht joined International Crisis Group (crisisgroup.org for more information on our work) early 2020 and has since worked on a variety of issues related to the Mindanao peace process and conflict prevention in the South China Sea. Before that he was assigned with the International Monitoring Team (IMT) in Mindanao as European Union representative and Head of the Southcentral Mindanao office of Nonviolent Peaceforce in Maguindanao and Sarangani. He served as focal point for International Humanitarian Law in the IMT under five Heads of Mission with Major General rank. He is a German national and studied international relations/international law with a Master’s degree in International Law from the University of Turin, Italy and Diplomatic Studies from the University of Malta, and Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from the School of International Studies, University of Dresden.

Hafiizh Hashim holds a PhD in politics from the University of Bristol, UK. He is currently a Lecturer in the Academy of Brunei Studies, Universiti Brunei Darussalam. His main area of research focuses on ASEAN, specifically on comparative study of Southeast Asia’s security policy, the nexus between security and economic development and the international political economy. Recent publications include: Brunei Darussalam’s Economic Diversification Drive: An Assessment of the Socioeconomic and Geopolitical Challenges. Overcoming Path Dependence in Bruno Jettin and Abdul Khaled (eds.) Brunei Darussalam’ Economic Transition in a Shifting Global Asia (2025);

Dr. Vu Hai Dang is an Expert at the Diplomatic Academy of Viet Nam. His area of expertise includes international law, law of the sea, and international environmental law with a geographical focus on Southeast Asia and the South China Sea. He has experience working in the fields of private practice, civil service, diplomacy, and academia.

Jul. 2025              Deputy Director, International Strategy Division, Administration Department, Japan Coast Guard HeadquartersMay. 2022       JICA Long-term Expert (dispatched to Philippine Coast Guard)Apr. 2021        Staff, Security Division, Guard and Rescue Department, Japan Coast Guard Headquarters.Apr. 2020        Deputy Chief, Administration Division, Administration Department, 8^th Regional Coast Guard. HeadquartersApr. 2019　　　　Commanding Officer, PS TAKACHIHO, Tanegashima Coast Guard Station, Kagoshima Coast Guard Office, 10^th Regional Coast Guard Headquarters.Apr. 2018        1^st Gunnery Officer, Yokohama Coast Guard Office, 3^rd Regional Coast Guard Headquarters.Oct. 2016        Section Chief, International Education and Training Section, Education and Training Division, Japan Coast Guard Headquarters.Apr.2015         Staff, International Education Training Section, Education and Training Division, Japan Coast Guard Headquarters.Apr.2013         Commanding Officer, PC YUGIRI, Oita Coast Guard Office, 7^th Regional Coast Guard Headquarters.

Dr Hugh Tuckfield is Founder and Executive Director of the Indo-Pacific Studies Center (IPSC), an Australia-based think tank focused on strategy, security, and governance across the Indo-Pacific. A political theorist by training, he leads IPSC programs on AUKUS and the QUAD, regional risk, and executive education, including the State of the Indo-Pacific initiative and the Emerging Leaders Forum. His research and commentary span cross-Strait dynamics, maritime security, critical technologies, and democratic governance. He has held fellowships at Oxford University and the WZB Berlin Social Science Center, and serves on the Advisory Board of the Amity Centre for BRICS Studies (India). He has published widely on Indo-Pacific affairs.Hugh holds a PhD in Government and International Relations, a Master’s in Human Rights and Democratization, an LLB (Law), and a Bachelor of Economics. At the Manila Dialogue, he contributes a region-first perspective on strategic competition, economic statecraft, and practical pathways to a secure, free, and prosperous Indo-Pacific.

Dr. Hunter Marston is an Adjunct (Non-resident) Fellow with the Center for Strategic & International Studies Southeast Asia Program. His research focuses on great power competition in Southeast Asia, Indo-Pacific security and alliances, and U.S. foreign policy. He is also an Adjunct Research Fellow at La Trobe Asia and an Associate with 9DashLine. He was a 2021 nonresident WSD-Handa Fellow at the Pacific Forum in Honolulu and the recipient of a Robert J. Myers Fellows Fund from the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs. Previously he was a Senior Research Assistant for the Center for East Asia Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution and a researcher with the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) Southeast Asia program. He holds a PhD in International Relations from the Australian National University’s Coral Bell School of Asia-Pacific Affairs as well as a MA in Southeast Asia Studies and Masters in Public Administration from the University of Washington. In 2012 he was a Harold Rosenthal Fellow in International Relations in the U.S. Embassy in Myanmar. His writing has appeared in Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Contemporary Southeast Asia, International Relations of the Asia-Pacific, The New York Times, and The Washington Post.

Nguyen Thi Lan Huong is Director of the Center for International Law, East Sea Institute, Diplomatic Academy of Viet Nam (DAV) since 2022. She was Deputy Director of the Center for International Cooperation, East Sea Institute, DAV from 2020 to 2022.Her research field is Public International Law and the Law of the Sea. She got her bachelor in International Relations, specialised in International Law in the Institute of International Relations in Viet Nam (2007); LLM in International and European Law in the University of Nice-Sophia Antipolis (France) (2011) and PhD in International Law in the Diplomatic Academy of Viet Nam (2023).

Dr Ian Storey is Senior Fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore. He specializes in regional security issues with a focus on Southeast Asia’s relations with the major powers and maritime security, especially the South China Sea dispute. Since joining ISEAS in 2007 he has been the chief editor of the academic journal Contemporary Southeast Asia. Prior to ISEAS, Ian held academic positions at the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, Hawaii, and at Deakin University, Australia. Ian received his PhD from the City University of Hong Kong, his Masters degree from the International University of Japan and his BA (Hons) from the University of Hull, England. He is the author of Putin’s Russia and Southeast Asia: The Kremlin’s Pivot to Asia and the Impact of the Russia-Ukraine War (2025) and Southeast Asia and the Rise of China: The Search for Security (2011).

Irene Chan is a Singapore-based policy researcher and program manager with over a decade of experience in research coordination, policy analysis, and stakeholder engagement across China and Southeast Asia. She specializes in Chinese foreign policy, Southeast Asian geopolitics, and the regional implications of Beijing's expanding influence.Irene has worked with leading institutions including RSIS, Business China, and Carnegie China, where she led research initiatives, facilitated Track II dialogues, and produced policy-relevant analysis bridging academic research and strategic decision-making. Her work involves close collaboration with diplomats, scholars, and business leaders throughout the Indo-Pacific.At the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, Irene strengthens the organization's regional engagement through research on China–Southeast Asia relations and the Belt and Road Initiative, while building partnerships with think tanks and institutions across the region.Fluent in English and Mandarin, she combines analytical depth with extensive field experience and a commitment to advancing nuanced understanding among Canada, Southeast Asia, and China in an increasingly complex Indo-Pacific environment.

Isabel Sofia Santiago is the Operations Officer for the Disaster Risk Reduction Enhancement at the Local Level (DRREALL) Program at Expertise France. She is also currently working on an independent research with her colleagues on the role of metalworking using the technique repoussé (pukpuk) in the Philippines.She was previously with Asia Society Philippines as a Project Assistant for a project that focused on assessing Chinese investments in the Philippines. She is also affiliated with the Yokosuka Council on Asia-Pacific Studies as a Grant Writing Team Member.Her research focus is on Philippine culture, Philippine fashion and textiles, geoeconomics, regional security and maritime issues.Isabel graduated with a degree in Diplomacy and International Relations with a specialization in East and Southeast Asian Studies at the Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines. She also completed J.F. Oberlin University's Reconnaissance Japan program in Tokyo, Japan.

Jane CHAN is a Senior Fellow and Coordinator of the Maritime Security Programme at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) in Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. Her main research interests include maritime security issues in Southeast Asia, law and order at sea, regional maritime cooperation and confidence-building measures, and regional boundary delimitation and territorial disputes. She is an affiliated faculty at the Singapore Arm Forces (SAF)-NTU Academy (SNA).

Jeffrey Payne is an Assistant Professor at the Near East South Asia (NESA) Center for Strategic Studies. He pilots the Center’s maritime security programming, including its ongoing series devoted to the Indian Ocean Region and wider Indo-Pacific. In addition, he leads engagements on China’s interests throughout the NESA Center area of responsibility.Professor Payne conducts analysis on Chinese foreign policy, Indo-Pacific Regional affairs, and maritime security. He is particularly interested in the intersection of maritime security and strategic competition in the Indian Ocean, as well as in how technology and information can assist in furthering security cooperation. His work informs United States Combatant Commands, the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and interagency efforts inside the United States government. Professor Payne takes part in United States government efforts relating to Maritime Domain Awareness and helps facilitate internal discussions across bureaucratic seams existing in the Indian Ocean. He has presented before international conclaves, security forums, and defense institutions in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and East Asia.

Ms. Jennifer Anson is the National Security Coordinator for the Republic of Palau. She has been in the position since the establishment of the office in 2021. Prior to that, Ms. Anson established the Anti-Human Trafficking Office under the Ministry of Justice. Ms. Anson is also the head of the National Central Bureau of INTERPOL for Palau.

Dr. Jeremy Gatdula is a lawyer specializing in international law, constitutional law, and the philosophy of law. He is the Dean of UA&P Law School, as well as Legal Counsel of the University of Asia and the Pacific. He is an opinions columnist for BusinessWorld and Of Counsel at Belgica Aranas Baldueza Dela Cruz and Associates.On scholarship from the Cambridge Overseas Trust, Jemy read international law at the University of Cambridge. Upon the invitation of the US State Department, he attended the Study of US Institutes (SUSI) program, focusing on constitutional law and political thought. He received his Doctor of Juridical Science degree from San Beda College, where his dissertation work focused on the natural law, the Philippine Constitution, and the limits of judicial power.He lectures on international law, international trade law, philosophy of law, and constitutional law for various governmental and academic institutions, including the Philippine Judicial Academy, the National Defense College, Congress, and the Integrated Bar of the Philippines. He has authored, co-authored, or edited books and articles on public international law, international economic law, and natural law.He continues to work on various issues relating to international law, international trade, national security and the law on armed conflict, and the Constitution.

Jerome Jogno is a program manager at Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) Philippines. He manages the foundation's youth empowerment portfolio, social media accounts, and website. He has ten years of experience building partnerships and orchestrating impactful conferences and events. He holds a master's degree in Philippine Studies, specializing in Philippine Development Studies from the University of the Philippines Diliman and a bachelor's degree in Consular and Diplomatic Affairs from De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde, where he excelled as a scholar, graduating with honors.

John Hemmings is Senior Advisor at the Pacific Forum and a Deputy Director for Geopolitics at the Council on Geostrategy. He specializes in alliances and strategic competition, with a particular focus on the Indo-Pacific, Japan, AUKUS, the FVEY, NATO, and other security groupings. Prior to assuming this role, Dr Hemmings worked at the US Department of Defense regional center, the Daniel K. Inouye Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies, where he led efforts on defense industry, lectured on geopolitics in the Indo-Pacific region and on occasion provided briefings for Special Operations Command Pacific, US Pacific Fleet, and US Indo-Pacific Command. In the UK, he has given evidence to two separate Parliamentary UK Defence Committee inquiries on the Indo-Pacific and provided bespoke briefings across the UK government – to include the Cabinet office, the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office, and Ministry of Defence. His analysis and commentary have featured on various media, including the BBC, the Financial Times, Fox News, CNN, and the Telegraph newspaper. His research has been published by various policy and academic journals. He gained his PhD in international relations from the London School of Economics in 2017.

John F. Bradford is a Japan Foundation Indo-Pacific Partnerships Fellow, the Executive Director of the Yokosuka Council on Asia-Pacific Studies (YCAPS) and an adjunct senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS). He has previously held research positions with the Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellow in Jakarta and Tokyo. His research focuses on Asian security with special attention given to maritime issues and cooperative affairs. Before becoming a full-time community builder and researcher, he spent more than twenty-three years as a U.S. Navy officer. His naval service history included command of a ballistic missile defense-capable Aegis destroyer and assignment at the 7th Fleet Regional Cooperation Coordinator and Country Director for Japan in the Office of the Secretary of Defense (Policy). John holds a PhD from King's College London. As an Olmsted Scholar, he studied in the Department of Political Science at Gadjah Mada University in Indonesia and completed an MSc (Strategic Studies) from RSIS. He is also a graduate of Japan’s National Institute of Defence Studies and the US Naval War College and Cornell University. He is particularly proud of the training he received as a midshipman aboard the Royal Malaysian Navy ship KD Rahmat.

Jonathan Berkshire Miller is an internationally recognized expert in security, defence, and geo-economics, with a distinguished career advising governments, multinational corporations, and international organizations on geopolitical risk, strategic foresight, and global policy development. He has held a variety of positions in the private and public sector. Currently, he is co-founder and Principal of Pendulum Geopolitical advisory, a global consultancy based in Ottawa. He is also a senior fellow at the Ottawa-based Macdonald Laurier Institute. He is also concurrently a senior fellow with the Japan Institute of International Affairs (JIIA) and senior fellow on East Asia for the Tokyo-based Asian Forum Japan. Miller also is the Director and cofounder of the Council on International Policy. He also holds appointments as Canada’s ASEAN Regional Forum Expert and Eminent Person (EEP) and as a Responsible Leader for the BMW Foundation. Previously, he was an international affairs fellow with the Council on Foreign Relations, based in Tokyo. Other former appointments and roles include terms as a Distinguished Fellow with the Asia-Pacific Foundation of Canada, and Senior Fellow on East Asia for the EastWest Institute. Miller also held a fellowship on Japan with the Pacific Forum CSIS from 2013-16, and has held a number of other visiting fellowships on Asian security matters, including at JIIA and the National Institute of Defense Studies. In addition, Miller previously spent nearly a decade working on economic and security issues related to Asia with the Canadian federal government and worked both with the foreign ministry and the security community.

Julius Elstermann is Advisor to the Secretary General, Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS)

Katsuya "Kats" Yamamoto, retired as Rear Admiral from the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF), joined the Sasakawa Peace Foundation in 2023. Kats graduated from the Japan National Defense Academy and earned a Master of Policy Studies degree from the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies. He studied as a military student at the U.S. Coast Guard Training Center and at the PLA National Defense University. He was a surface warfare officer, serving onboard various destroyers including as the commanding officer, and served onshore as Chief of the International Policy Planning at the Joint Staff Office, Director of the National Security & Strategic Studies Office at the JMSDF Staff College and Director of Education at the National Institute for Defense Studies. Kats served abroad as Defense/Naval Attaché to China (2008 to 2011) and President of the Naval Attaché Corps in Beijing, and International Military Professor of the U.S. Naval War College (2016 to 2018). He is Board member of the Japan-America Society of Southern New England, and Visiting Fellow of the Philippine Public Safety College.

Kazuki BABA isan Assistant Professor and Research Fellow of Center for Maritime Safety and Security Studies at Japan Coast Guard Academy.He is also a visiting researcher at Ritsumeikan University and Editorial Advisory Board for International Journal of Korean Unification Studies by Korea Institute for National Unification (KINU).His main research discipline is International Relations, fields of interest are Japan-Korea relations, Japan-US-South Korea trilateral relations and Japan-US alliance on Indo-Pacific.

Captain Kentaro Furuya (JCG) is an adjunct professor at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS), a visiting professor at Keio University, and a professor at the Japan Coast Guard Academy. His career spans the realm of Coast Guard service, where he has dedicated himself to ensuring maritime safety and security both at sea and the development of policies onshore. Presently, he has been entrusted with the responsibility of being a faculty member in the Maritime Safety and Security Policy Program at GRIPS. Captain Furuya is responsible for instructing students in matters pertaining to the law of the sea, maritime security, and the formulation of Coast Guard operations.

Laura Del Rosario is Former Under-Secretary or Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, served as Ambassador to India, then Vietnam, Formerly President of Miriam College, currently Senior Foreign Affairs Adviser

Linar Orbista is the Program and Research Manager for Defense and Security of the Stratbase Institute, where she specializes in monitoring and engaging in high-level discussions on geopolitical and geo-economic developments in the Philippines and the broader Indo-Pacific. Her work focuses on delivering strategic insights and fostering multi-stakeholder collaboration to address critical issues shaping the nation’s policy landscape. Linar earned her bachelor's degree in Diplomacy and International Relations with a Specialization in East and Southeast Asian Studies from the Ateneo de Manila University, where she graduated summa cum laude. Her academic research centered on China’s domestic and foreign policies, which continues to guide her analysis of regional security and international affairs.

Marites Dañguilan Vitug, a leading Filipino investigative journalist and author, is editor-at-large for Rappler. She was editor of Newsbreak magazine, a trailblazer in Philippine investigative journalism. She has written nine books, the latest of which is Unrequited Love: Duterte’s Embrace of China co-written with Camille Elemia. Before that, she wrote Rock Solid: How the Philippines Won its Maritime Case against China. It won the National Book Award and was translated into Vietnamese. Marites has a degree in A.B. Broadcast Communication from the University of the Philippines and a diploma in world politics from the London School of Economics. She was a Nieman fellow at Harvard University and a recipient of fellowships from the University of San Diego in California—the Pacific Leadership Fellow; the Rockefeller Foundation Writing Fellowship in Bellagio Center, Lago di Como, Italy; the International House in Tokyo—the Asia Leadership Fellow Program; the Australian National University, University of Kyoto and the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies in Tokyo.

CAPT Mark Asuncion is currently a military professor at the U.S. Naval War College. As a career naval officer, he has extensive experience in political-military affairs, to include military attache tours in Colombia, Mexico, and Libya, NATO policy chief on the U.S. Joint Staff, senior military advisor for East Asia and the Pacific at the U.S. Department of State, and as the Senior U.S. Government Official in Vanuatu. He has extensive operational experience in the Indo-Pacific as the Chief of Strategy and Engagement at the U.S. 7th Fleet, based in Yokosuka, Japan. He holds. BA in Economics from UC Berkeley, an MPA from Harvard University, and a Post-Graduate Diploma from Oxford University.

Dr. Mark Speich is the Secretary General of the Konrad-Adenauer Foundation (KAS). From September 2017 to May 2025, he served as the State Secretary for Federal, European and International Affairs of the State of North-Rhine Westphalia (since 2022 also for Media Politics) as well as the State’s Plenipotentiary to the Federal Government. Prior to this role, he was CEO of Vodafone Foundation and the Vodafone Institute for Society and Communications, Vodafone’s corporate think tank, respectively from 2008 to 2017. Before joining Vodafone, he served as Director of Policy Planning to the CDU/CSU-Parliamentary Party in the German Bundestag and as Director of Programs for the Herbert-Quandt Foundation. In the years 1997 and 1998, he was Personal Advisor to the President of Bonn University. He started his career in the political advisory staff of CDU’s Secretary General in 1995. He was educated at Pembroke College, University of Cambridge (MPhil), and the University of Bonn (Ph.D.) where he read Modern History, Political Science, and Constitutional Law.

Dr. Mateusz Chatys is a senior expert at the Centre for Asian Affairs at the University of Łódź in Poland. He studies the rivalry between China and the United States in Southeast Asia, focusing on the disputes in the South China Sea. His doctoral thesis examined the idea of patron–client relationships in China’s diplomacy with neighboring countries, using its ties with Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Philippines as examples. His current research looks at China’s “gray zone” tactics and how other countries with competing claims—especially the Philippines—have responded since Rodrigo Duterte became president.

Matteo Piasentini is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Political Science, UP Diliman, and a PhD candidate at the same institution. He is also a Nonresident Vasey Fellow at Pacific Forum. His academic work primarily explores the foreign and defense policies of the Philippines, minilateral security cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, and the global arms trade.He has authored peer-reviewed publications on these themes and continues to contribute to the scholarly discourse on Indo-Pacific security dynamics. In parallel, he serves as a coordinator and analyst for the China and Indo-Pacific desk at Geopolitica, a leading Italian think tank, where he contributes policy briefs and analytical papers focusing on Italy’s strategic engagement with the Indo-Pacific.

Mikaela Ordas is a student of International Development at De La Salle University – Dasmariñas. She is currently gaining practical experience as a Programs Intern at the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) Philippines from September to December 2025.

Narushige Michishita is Executive Vice President and Professor at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) in Tokyo. He is also Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council in Washington DC and Director of the Yokosuka Council on Asia-Pacific Studies (YCAPS) Japan. He has previously served as a member of the National Security Secretariat Advisory Board, a global fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington DC, a senior research fellow at Japan’s National Institute for Defense Studies (NIDS), Ministry of Defense, and as an assistant counselor at the Cabinet Secretariat for Security and Crisis Management of the Government of Japan. A specialist in Japanese security and foreign policy as well as security issues on the Korean Peninsula, Michishita is the author of “The US Maritime Strategy in the Pacific during the Cold War,” in Sebastian Bruns and Sarandis Papadopoulos, eds., Conceptualizing Maritime and Naval Strategy: Festschrift for Peter M. Swartz, Captain (USN) retired (Baden-Baden: Nomos, 2020); Lessons of the Cold War in the Pacific: U.S. Maritime Strategy, Crisis Prevention, and Japan’s Role (Woodrow Wilson Center, 2016) (co-authored with Peter M. Swartz and David F. Winkler); and North Korea’s Military-Diplomatic Campaigns, 1966-2008 (Routledge, 2009). He acquired his Ph.D. with distinction from the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Johns Hopkins University.

Through her research, presentations and publications, Dr Natalie Sambhi is committed to helping people gain a more nuanced understanding of Indonesian civil-military relations, Indonesian defence policy and Southeast Asian security.Natalie is Founder and Executive Director of Verve Research, an independent think tank focussed on the relationship between militaries and societies in Southeast Asia. She is also a Senior Policy Fellow at Asia Society Australia and a Non-resident Fellow with the Brookings Institution’s Foreign Policy Program.Natalie works as a lecturer at the Australian War College for Deakin University, convening modules for the Australian Command and Staff College and other programs. She has a PhD from the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, the Australian National University on the Indonesian military’s history. Follow her on Twitter @securityscholar.

Mr. Nicolas Mann serves as the First Secretary of the Political section at the Embassy of Canada to the Philippines

Associate Professor & Senior Researcher, Center for Maritime Safety and Security Studies, Japan Coast Guard AcademySpecialty                                              International Law, International OrganizationsCurrent Research Interests                  International Law, International Organizations, Coast Guards Cooperation  LL.D. Kobe University, Graduate School of International Cooperation Studies, 2003Hague Academy of International Law, 2000LL.M. Kobe University, Graduate School of International Cooperation Studies, 1997B.A. Liberal Arts, Faculty of Social Sciences, International Cristian University, 1995Erasmus Programme, Tilburg University, 1993.Associate Professor (joint-appointment), GRIPS, since 2024Associate Professor & Senior Researcher, Center for Maritime Safety and Security Studies, Japan Coast Guard Academy, since 2023Visiting Associate Professor, Kobe Gakuin University, since 2022. Lecturer, Kobe University, Graduate School of International Cooperation Studies, 2020-2021.Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations, 2006-2009.Cabinet Office, Secretariat of the International Peace Cooperation Headquarters, 2013-2016.Embassy of Japan in Fiji Islands (also accredited to Kiribati, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Nauru), 2010-2013.Embassy of Japan in Ghana (also accredited to Liberia and Sierra Leone), 2007-2010.Foreign Policy Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2005-2007.Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations, 2002-2004.Permanent Mission of Japan to the International Organizations in Geneva, 1997-2000.

Dr. Oktaheroe Ramsi is a Dean in Indonesia Defense University on Defense Strategic Faculty. He is mastering in Defense Strategy as his expertise inline with his under graduate school in Political Science in Indonesia Open University 1997, than he got master degree in International Relations from RSIS - Nanyang Technological University 2010 and he concluded his Doctoral in Indonesia Defense University in 2023 consecutively. Along with his career as an active military members, he oftenly followed some international seminar which focus on International Relation issues in Bratislava, Jakarta, Singapore, Bangkok and some other countries as speakers and participants. It is also developed his insight in civil-military cooperation and rising his opinion about the importance of knowledge that influences state policy, especially tendencies that can trigger tension between countries and how we can choose to cooperate in many things rather than choosing confrontation in international relations conflicts. With this he believes that choosing peace over rivalry is very important in all the reasons that must be chosen. He is awarded the rank of major general in his current position.

Dr Peter K. Lee is a Non-Resident Fellow in the Foreign Policy and Defence Program at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. He is currently a research fellow in the Center for Regional Studies at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, a think tank based in Seoul, Korea. His recent publications cover US foreign and defence policy, Australia-Korea relations, AUKUS, and Korean security.Previously, Dr Lee was a research fellow in the Foreign Policy and Defence Program at the United States Studies Centre and also a Korea Foundation research fellow at the University of Melbourne. Dr Lee received his PhD in strategic studies from the Australian National University, and his Master of International Relations and a Bachelor of Arts with First Class Honours in political science from the University of Melbourne.

Pratnashree Basu is an Associate Fellow with the Strategic Studies Programme. She covers the Indo-Pacific region, with a focus on Japan’s role in the region. Her work also covers maritime geopolitics in the Indo-Pacific, with a particular emphasis on the East and South China Seas. Her research explores the geostrategic dimensions of a rules-based maritime order. She is a Japan Foundation Indo-Pacific Partnership Program (JFIPP Research Fellow 2024); a Sasakawa Peace Foundation and German Marshall Fund for the US Young Strategists Forum Fellow (2025); a Fellow of the Daniel K. Inouye Asia Pacific Centre for Security Studies (2021 and 2023); and a US Department of State IVLP Fellow (2017).With a decade of policy research experience, her research has been published in books, monographs, and peer-reviewed journals. Besides her regular research at ORF, she also contributes to online and print platforms like The Hindu Business Line, The Lowy Interpreter, The Hindu, 9DashLine, The Diplomat, and East Asia Forum, among others.

Dr Rahman Yaacob is a Research Fellow at the Southeast Asia Program, Lowy Institute. He is also a Non-Resident Fellow at the Korea Institute for Maritime Strategy (KIMS). His research focuses on Southeast Asian defence policy and relations with major powers.

Renato Cruz De Castro is a distinguished professor at the Department of International Studies, De La Salle University, Manila, and holds the Dr. Aurelio Calderon Chair in Philippines-American Relations. He is an adjunct faculty at the National Defense College of the Philippines (NDCP), where he handles the module International Security Studies. (ISS). He was a visiting fellow at the National Institute for Defense Studies (NIDS) of the Japanese Ministry of Defense in the summer of 2018. He was a visiting researcher at the Japan Institute of International Affairs (JIIA) from June to August 2017. From September to December 2016, he was based in the East-West Center in Washington D.C. as the U.S.-ASEAN Fulbright Initiative Researcher from the Philippines. He is an alumnus of the Daniel Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies (DIAPCSS) in Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.A. In 2009, he became the U.S. State Department ASEAN Research Fellow from the Philippines and was based in the Political Science Department of Arizona State University.

Riho Aizawa serves as a research fellow at the National Institute for Defense Studies (NIDS), under Japan’s Ministry of Defense, specializing in U.S. foreign and security policy toward China and military coercion in the Indo-Pacific region. Until 2023, she also served as both speechwriter and policy advisor in the Ministry of Defense’s Indo-Pacific Policy Division, supporting senior officials in shaping Japan’s regional defense initiatives toward ASEAN and the Pacific Islands Region.She collaborates with Japanese and international think tanksーincluding the Japan Institute of International Affairs (JIIA), the Nakasone Peace Institute, and the National Bureau of Asian Research (NBR)ーon projects related to Indo-Pacific security, with a particular focus on the Taiwan Strait. She was a visiting scholar at the Hudson Institute in Washington, D.C. in 2024, and earlier served as a policy research fellow at the Edwin O. Reischauer Center for East Asian Studies at Johns Hopkins SAIS, as well as a research intern at the Hudson Institute.Aizawa holds a Master's degree from the Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University (2023), a Master's degree from the Graduate School of Gakushuin Women’s College (2020), and a Bachelor's degree from Gakushuin Women’s College (2016).

Ristian Atriandi SUPRIYANTO (Andi/Ristian) is a lecturer with the Department of International Relations and researcher at the ASEAN Study Center, FISIP, Universitas Indonesia (UI). He is also a research fellow with the Indonesia Sinology Forum (FSI), Jakarta, and PhD scholar at the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University. Ristian obtained a Master of Science in Strategic Studies from the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University (RSIS-NTU) in Singapore and a Bachelor of Social Science in International Relations from UI. Before joining UI, he worked for the Maritime Security Programme at RSIS-NTU. Andi comments and writes numerous works on sea power, maritime security, strategic studies, and international relations. His works include “Naval Modernisation in Southeast Asia: Problems and Prospects for Small and Medium Navies” (Palgrave, 2018) with Geoffrey Till. Submitted in March 2025, Ristian's doctoral thesis is titled “Competing over America in the Cold War: Australia-Indonesia Relations, 1945-1978.”

RADM Rommel Jude Ong (Ret) served in the Philippine Navy until his compulsory retirement.in 2019. His last posting was as Vice Commander, during which he chaired various committees covering naval diplomacy, naval modernization, basing and infrastructure development, and career managementprogram for the uniformed and civilian personnel. Earlier in his career he has successfully commanded three (3) commissioned naval vessels, and later the Naval Intelligence Security Force, the Naval TaskForces 11 and 80, Director of the Fleet Marine Warfare Center, and the Naval Forces West, which has operational jurisdiction over the West Philippine Sea. He has also occupied senior staff positions such as the Assistant Chief of Staff for Naval Operations (N3), the Assistant Deputy Chief for Joint Operations (AJ3)and the Naval Inspector General. While he was still in the active service, he has written four (4) naval manuals focusing on the following subjects: naval decision-making process, naval exercises, naval operations, and protocols of the naval inspector general service. He is currently affiliated with the Ateneo School of Government (ASOG) as a Professor of Praxis and Senior Research Fellow.RADM Ong is a graduate of the Philippine Military Class of 1987. He completed his GSC-equivalent training at the US Naval War College and his Senior ExecutiveCourse on National Security (MNSA-equivalent) at the National Defense College of the Philippines. Hecompleted his Masters in Development Management at the Asian Institute of Management.

Dr. Hall is the Executive Director of University of the Philippines Center for Integrative and Development Studies, UP's policy research unit. She is a Professor of Political Science at University of the Philippines Visayas and UP Scientist III, with an established research and publication portfolio on security, civil-military relations, and gender/rebel integration in the army. She earned her Masters and PhD from Northeastern University, USA on a Fulbright-Hayes scholarship. She is a member of the Executive Board of the Asian Political and International Studies Association; former President of the Philippine Political Science Association; current editor of International Science Perspectives; and current member of the Philippine Commission on Higher Education Technical Panel for Political Science.

Sasha B. Chhabra is a visiting research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research in Taipei. An expert in US-Taiwan relations, cross-strait affairs, and Chinese influence operations, his research encompasses Taiwan's strategic diplomacy and foreign communications. He has advised national political campaigns in the United States and has worked in non-profit, media, and government sectors. He is a frequent media commentator and columnist, whose work has been published in newspapers such as the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post, and regularly contributes to Taiwanese media, including the Taipei Times and CommonWealth Magazine. In addition to Mandarin Chinese, he speaks Italian, French, Spanish, and Portuguese, and is conversational in Uyghur.

Sandra Kreuzberger is a Master of Arts student at the University of Rostock, majoring in Political Science with a focus on Area Studies. She has assumed the position of Programs Intern at the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) Philippines for the period of September to December 2025.

Saya KIBA is an Associate Professor at Kobe City University of Foreign Studies and a member of the Expert Panel on Ministry of Defense Capacity Building, Japan. Her major fields of interest are Southeast Asian studies, civil-military relations, security sector governance, and defense cooperation. She has experience as a practitioner, working in the Embassy of Japan in the Philippines and the Embassy of Japan in Thailand. She serves as a reservist of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Forces. Her recent works include a co-edited book, Pathways for Irregular Forces in Southeast Asia: Mitigating Violence with Non-state Armed Groups (Routledge, 2022).

Sophie Wushuang Yi holds a PhD in Chinese studies (international relations) from King’s College London, where she specialised in Sino-US relations, military and strategic studies, and South China Sea geopolitics. She is currently a postdoctoral teaching fellow at Schwarzman College, Tsinghua University, and a research fellow at the Marine Studies Center of the Grandview Institution. Sophie also has extensive professional experience, having served as an economist assistant at the United Nations Resident Coordinator Office in Beijing. She earned her bachelor’s degree in international politics and security studies from the University of Sheffield and pursued graduate studies in economics at SOAS, as well as China in comparative perspectives at the London School of Economics (LSE).

Ms. Sophiya Navarro is the Program Manager for Security and Innovation at the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) Philippines.She is the editor of several KAS publications and has authored articles for KAS, Rappler, the Ateneo de Manila University - School of Government (ASOG), and 9DashLine, covering various topics on security and governance.Sophiya holds a Bachelor’s degree in Diplomacy and International Relations with a specialization in East and Southeast Asian Studies, as well as a Minor in Literature (English) from the Ateneo de Manila University, where she graduated with honors in 2018 under a full scholarship.

2003. Graduated from the Faculty of Policy Management, Keio University.2005. Completed the Master’s Program at the Graduate School of Media and Governance, Keio University.2009. Withdrew from the Doctoral Program at the Graduate School of Media and Governance, Keio University, after completing the required coursework.

 A part-time lecturer at Waseda University (2007~2023), Keio University (2009~2023), and the University of Tokyo (2009~2023). 

2023. Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Maritime Safety and Security Studies, Japan Coast Guard Academy, since 2023.

 Majority: Chinese foreign policy, international relations, and the diplomatic history of East Asia.

Atty. Teodoro Jose S. Matta, MNSA is the Executive Director of the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development Staff. A member of the Philippine Bar, he holds a Philosophy degree from the University of the Philippines, a Juris Doctor from San Sebastian College of Law, and a Master in National Security Administration degree from the National Defense College of the Philippines. Formerly the Provincial Legal Officer of Palawan, he brings extensive expertise in law, security, and policy-making to the implementation of the province’s Strategic Environmental Plan. Beyond his professional work, he is a passionate photographer of Palawan’s flora and fauna.

Ms. Tonette de Jesus is the Senior Program Manager for Governance and Foreign Relations at the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) Philippines. Prior to her work at KAS, she was a Political Economy Consultant for the Philippine Governance Advisory Team at the World Bank Office in the Philippines, Program Manager for the Asian Development Bank-Asian Institute of Management Knowledge Hub, and Research Officer at the International Rice Research Institute. She has authored chapters for and edited international and regional security publications. Her opinion pieces as an international development practitioner have been featured in Rappler and the 9DashLine. After earning her bachelor’s degree in Management Economics (Merit Scholar) from the Ateneo de Manila University and a brief stint in the corporate world, Tonette pursued her master’s degree in International Political Economy and Development, specializing in International and Development Economics, from Fordham University, where she received the Matteo Ricci Award for Outstanding Scholastic Achievement.

Dr Tricia Yeoh is Associate Professor of Practice at the University of Nottingham Malaysia’s School of Politics and International Relations. She is also Senior Fellow at the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, Senior Visiting Fellow at ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore and Senior Adjunct Research Fellow at Monash University Malaysia. She was recently a 2024/25 Atlantic Council Millennium Leadership Fellow. She is former CEO of the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) Malaysia, where she served up to September 2024.She was a Southeast Research Group (SEAREG) Fellow 2020/21 and has won several awards including the 2017 Distinguished Alumni Award for Monash University Malaysia, the Postgraduate Award Prize 2020/21 from the University of Nottingham and the Malaysia Australia Alumni Council Female Alumnus of the Year Award 2023. She writes and speaks widely on federalism, comparative politics and public policy in Malaysia. She has previously worked in the Chief Minister's Office of the Selangor State Government. Dr Yeoh holds a PhD in Political Science from the School of Politics, History and International Relations at the University of Nottingham Malaysia. Her writings can be found at www.triciayeoh.com

Dr. Van T. Pham initiated the founding and manages the South China Sea Chronicle Initiative (SCSCI), the first non-profit, non-governmental research initiative in Vietnam that is dedicated to promoting a fact-based and multidimensional understanding of the South China Sea disputes. The SCSCI has been striving for innovation in Vietnam, including the first Vietnam-based study led by Pham since 2019 to utilise technology for systematically tracking and promoting transparency of activities at sea. Their efforts have been featured on various expert platforms, research publications and media worldwide. The SCSCI continues to advocate for maritime transparency, fact-based understanding and rules-based collaborative solutions.Dr. Pham holds a Ph.D in natural science from Technische Universität Braunschweig in Germany. She is the author or co-author of several book chapters and articles in major newspapers and professional forums, focusing on legal aspects and developments of the South China Sea disputes. Her interdisciplinary approach combines scientific thinking with legal analysis to contribute to understanding of important regional maritime issues.

Vina Nadjibulla joined the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada as Vice-President, Research & Strategy in November 2023.In this role, she leads the Foundation’s research and programmatic activities focused on Canada’s engagement with the Indo-Pacific region. This includes overseeing APF Canada's research agenda, fellowship programs, education and capacity-building initiatives, and regional programming through the Indo-Pacific Initiative. She also plays a key role in strategic planning, stakeholder engagement, and advancing the Foundation’s public policy impact.Vina is a frequent commentator on Canadian foreign policy and Indo-Pacific affairs, with a particular focus on Canada’s evolving relationships with China and India, and the region’s broader security, trade, and geopolitical dynamics.As an international security and peace-building expert, Vina has more than two decades of experience in diplomacy, political analysis, and advocacy.  She has worked with international organizations, governments, think tanks, and philanthropic institutions across Canada, the U.S., China, and Central Asia on issues ranging from conflict resolution and human rights to strategic risk and multilateral diplomacy.She is also an Adjunct Professor at the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs at the University of British Columbia and a Senior Research Fellow at The Soufan Center in New York.Vina holds a Master’s degree in International Affairs from Columbia University and is fluent in English, Russian, and Farsi, with intermediate proficiency in Mandarin. She is a Canadian citizen, born in the former Soviet Union, raised in Afghanistan, and educated in the United States.

Dr. Wondeuk Cho is currently an assistant professor of Department of Indo-Pacific Studies at the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security, Korea National Diplomac Academy. He is also a visiting professor at Yonsei University. His main research topics consist of international relations of the Indo-Pacific region-esp. Southeast Asia and South Asia including India. He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a M.A. degree from Texas A&M University. He has been teaching at GSIS and Underwood International College, Yonsei University since 2019 and was a lecturer at Carroll University in Wisconsin.

CHOE Wongi is a professor of Indo-Pacific Studies and serves as the Head of the Center for ASEAN–Indian Studies at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy (KNDA).

PROFESSOR YOICHIRO SATO holds a BA (Law) from Keio University, MA (International Studies) from University of South Carolina, and Ph.D (Political Science) from University of Hawaii. He currently teaches at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University. He also held other positions including a lecturership at Auckland University, professorship at the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies (APCSS) of the U.S. Department of Defense, and a visiting senior research fellow at Yusof Ishak Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS). His most recent works include Handbook of Indo-Pacific Studies (co-edited with Barbara Kratiuk, Jeroen Van den Bosch, and Aleksandra Jaskólska, Routledge, 2023), Alliances in Asia and Europe: The Evolving Indo-Pacific Strategic Context and Inter-Regional Alignments (co-edited with Elena Atanassova-Cornelis and Tom Sauer, Routledge, 2023), and Security Order and Strategic Alignment in Europe and the Asia-Pacific: Times of Global Power Shifts (co-edited with Elena Atanassova-Cornelis and Tom Sauer, Routledge, 2025). He is active in media and foreign policy circles, appearing and having written for and been quoted, in more than 30 media and think tank outlets globally, including BBC, Al Jazeera, and Bloomberg.

BIO　YAMASHITA YuichiroM.A. in Security StudiesApr. 2025        Senior Research Officer, Administration Department, Japan Coast Guard HeadquartersApr. 2024             Commanding Officer, SHIMODA Coast Guard OfficeApr. 2022             Commanding Officer, WAKAYAMA Coast Guard OfficeCaptain of the Port, WAKAYAMA-SHIMOTSUMar. 2020            Commanding Officer, AOMORI Coast Guard OfficeCaptain of the Port, AOMORIApr. 2019             Director, Administration Department, 6^th Coast Guard Regional HeadquartersApr. 2018             Director, System Management & Processing Office, Japan Coast Guard HeadquartersApr. 2015             Director for Info-Communications Planning & Coordination, Japan Coast GuardHeadquartersNov. 2013                  Chief Communication Officer, Patrol Vessel AKITSUSHIMA, Yokohama Coast Guard OfficeApr. 2010                  Deputy Director, International & Crisis Management Division, Japan Coast Guard HeadquartersJun. 2008                   Special Assistant for Director, Personnel Division, Japan Coast Guard HeadquartersJun. 2007                   Chief, Guard Division, 2^nd Regional Coast Guard HeadquartersApr. 2005                  Guard & Rescue Division, KUSHIRO Coast Guard OfficeApr. 2003                  Intelligence Officer, Special Office, Guard & Rescue Department, Japan Coast Guard HeadquartersApr. 2001                  Graduated School for International Security Studies, National Defense AcademyApr. 1999                  Chief, Special Office, Guard & Rescue Department, Japan Coast Guard Headquarters

Mr. Don McLain Gill is a geopolitical analyst, author, and lecturer at the Department of International Studies, De La Salle University, Manila. He is also a non-resident fellow at the Stratbase ADR Institute, a visiting senior fellow at the Impact and Policy Research Institute (IMPRI), and a non-resident fellow at the USANAS Foundation. He specializes in Philippine foreign policy, Indo-Pacific geopolitics, and India-Southeast Asia security relations. He has written several books, book chapters, peer-reviewed international journal articles, newspaper columns, and commentaries for renowned international affairs publishers. He is also regularly invited as reviewer by various scopus-indexed journals on international security. He attained his Masters of Arts (MA) with Distinction in International Relations at Oxford Brookes University, United Kingdom.

Patrick Zoll reports on Indo-Pacific geopolitics, focusing on the strategic rivalry between China and the United States, from his base in Taipei. He is a correspondent for Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ), Switzerland’s leading daily newspaper for international affairs.Previously, Patrick served as NZZ’s correspondent in Japan, covering Northeast Asia, and in Australia, reporting on Australasia, including the South Pacific. He also worked as an editor at the paper’s headquarters in Zurich, overseeing coverage of Asian affairs.Patrick studied international relations in Geneva and Moscow. His career spans diverse roles across journalism, public relations, and international organizations. Before joining NZZ, he worked for various media outlets, spent seven years as a freelance PR copywriter for companies of all sizes, and served two years with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the World Health Organization (WHO) in Jerusalem.