中文讨论会
2014年3月8日 下午 3 点
场所：淑明女子大学
百周年纪念馆 608号室
(백주년 기념관 608호) )
Sookmyung 100 Anniversary Building, Room 608
RSVP: miss.leslie@live.cn
主题
未来中国的国际角色
负责任的大国给灵感的大文化
中国在和平发展的道路上飞速前行着，以其经济实力向世界展示了大国的崛起同时也渐渐成为大家关注的焦点。然而，一个大国不能仅仅在某个领域出类拔萃，应面面俱到。中国在变化，从一个局外人、旁观者到一个参与者，一个可以享受诸多权利同时也承担诸多义务的参与者，这是一个重大的角色转换，但在未来会担当什么样的角色，是否有能力，责任做一个引领世界的大国还待考验。我们将以中国未来的国际角色为主题，从文化，政治 以及军事等多方面深入探讨其中的可能性。
Asia Institute Seminar on the Future of Korean ICT (February 18, 2014)
The Asia Institute joined with Business Korea and Google Korea to hold a seminar on February 18, 2014, concerning the potential for Korea to make full us of its remarkable assets in the ICT field. The two hour discussion will be released as an article in Business Korea within the next two weeks.
Notable in the discussion was the focus on Korea’s expertise in governance in both government and industry and the importance of Korea’s ability to manage people to its rapid rise in ICT. The discussion considered the technological progress of Korea and its institutional history.
Moreover, there was discussion of network neutrality and new potential for Korea to establish itself as a global player in cyberspace.
Participants included Sir Jae-chul (서재철) a senior researcher at the Korea Internet and Security Agency, Sang Hyun Lee (이상현) of Google Korea, Matthew Weigand of Business Korea, Director Sang Hun Lee (이상훈) of the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, Emanuel Pastreich, director of the Asia Institute and Kyung-Seok Chun (전경석), attorney at Kim & Chang.
On February 9, 2014, Director Emanuel Pastreich and Ambassador Kwon Byong Hyon (CEO of Future Forest) traveled to the Korean Minjok Leadership Academy (민족사관고등학교) for a two-hour seminar with a select group of students who have been involved in an intense two-day series of discussions about the response to climate change. The seminar was quite different from most lectures for high school students by experts in that the students had prepared in advance for the discussion and were writing their own concrete proposals for the human response to the threats of climate change facing humanity. It was not a lecture at all.
The twenty so so highly motivated students at KMLA have taken most coursework in English language and displayed a remarkable range of learning. Their instructor, and the organizer of this seminar, Alexander Ganse, holds them to a very high academic standard, demanding careful writing and clear analytic response. The students not only had many thoughtful questions for their guests at this Asia Institute seminar, several made detailed presentations of their own ideas concerning what humanity needs to do next.
A good part of the seminar consisted of a debate among students concerning the merits of varied responses–particularly the virtues and challenges of working with established institutions. Some felt a need to work with traditional organizations while others felt that institutions had to be radically modified.
Ambassador Kwon spoke about his work fighting against the spread of deserts in China in cooperation with youth in China and Korea. He placed emphasis on the central role of youth in the response to climate change.
The most striking part of Ambassador Kwon’s talk was his decision to apologize directly to the students twice. He formally apologized for how he, and his generation had selfishly wasted natural resources and left the future generations with tremendous ecological burdens. He did it one more time at the end of the event, stressing his own sense of responsibility. Such a moment is rare, if unknown, at seminars on climate change, and clearly made a deep impression on those participating.
Pastreich spoke about the challenge of climate change and the importance of being aware of one’s own role in the complex mechanisms that are damaging our environment. He explained the tragedy of Oedipus, the Greek King who forces himself to learn the ugly truth about his own actions and confronts a reality that shakes his world to the core. The tragedy of Oedipus, Pastreich suggested, is the tragedy of climate change. We are intimately wrapped up in the horrific process, but we are unaware of what we are doing. He also stressed that Korean youth, more than anyone else, can play a vital role because Korean culture is so frequently emulated in the developing world.
The students will submit final proposals to The Asia Institute based on their project.
According to an article that came out on March 9, 2013 in the Boston Globe the Commander of the U.S. Forces Pacific Admiral Samuel J. Locklear III met privately with security and foreign policy specialists at Harvard and Tufts on March 7 and March 8 before making a public statement declaring that climate change is the greatest security threat of our age and that it “is probably the most likely thing that is going to happen . . . that will cripple the security environment, probably more likely than the other scenarios we all often talk about.’’
The timing for the consultations with high level figures in the security field is significant in that March 7 was the exact date on which Director Pastreich’s article “On Climate, Defense Could Preserve and Protect, Rather Than Kill and Destroy,” which suggests that the military must be reinvented from the ground up to respond to the challenge of climate change came out on the front page of the popular political blog “Truthout.”
This article was in fact the first such article in a major media outlet to make a systematic argument for a comprehensive restructuring of the military in response to climate change.
THE UNITED STATES RE-BALANCING IN EAST ASIA:
ADOPTING A 100-YEAR TIME-FRAME
DATE: WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26, 2014
TIME: 12:00-1:30 PM
LOCATION: INSTITUTE FOR POLICY STUDIES (1112 16TH ST NW #600 @ L STREET)
There has been much debate on what exactly the phrase “re-balancing” means for the role of the United States in East Asia. Some speculate that we are witnessing the beginning of a Cold War with China, whereas others hope for a greater level of economic engagement with the region as a whole. Unfortunately, few discussions about the United States and its relationship with East Asia take a long-term perspective. Critical questions such as climate change, demographic shifts in the region, and the exponential evolution of technology have been left out of the debate on the American role. This seminar will take a broader view of “re-balancing” while addressing a range of innovative policies that could ensure a long-term and cooperative U.S. presence in the East Asian region. Event is hosted by the Asia Institute and Foreign Policy in Focus.
Panelists:
Lawrence Wilkerson, Former Chief of Staff to the U.S. Secretary of State
Visiting Professor, College of William and Mary
Alexis Dudden
Professor of Japanese history
Department of History
University of Connecticut
Daniel Garrett
Former diplomat
Senior Associate, The Asia Institute
Moderator:
John Feffer, Co-Director of Foreign Policy in Focus at the Institute for Policy Studies
Senior Associate, The Asia Institute