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Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected multiple facets of human life worldwide. While the economic and the health sectors directly feel the brunt of the pandemic, other issue areas such as the environment and the cyberspace are similarly experiencing the effects of the crisis. These have severely impacted the vulnerable groups in different ways. The extraordinary public health emergency has compounded some of the existing problems confronting states and societies in Asia, requiring urgent responses in a post-COVID-19 environment.
The 5th NTS-Asia Consortium Annual Conference recognises the need to generate conversations on these issues with the aim of finding possible solutions to address them. The Conference brings together its members to share their perspectives on lessons learnt drawn from experiences in three Asian sub-regions namely Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Northeast Asia.
About the Speakers
Day 1: Tuesday, 13 April 2021 (10.30am to 12.30pm SGT)
Theme:Crisis Impact on Inequality and Vulnerable Groups
Dr Mallika Joseph is a Senior Fellow at Women in Security, Conflict Management and Peace (WISCOMP) and Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Policy Research (CPR), New Delhi. Until recently, she served as Policy Adviser, and Regional Coordinator for the Asia Pacific at The Hague based Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC). She is part of many global and regional networks working on the security sector, human security, countering violent extremism, conflict prevention, regional architectures and global governance.
Ms. Michelle Andrina is a quantitative researcher who is interested in the issues of children, labor, poverty, and public policy. Her previous research with the SMERU Research Institute includes child labor in agriculture, the livelihood of low-income families, and the parenting program evaluation. She is currently pursuing her master’s degree in public policy at the School of Government and Public Policy (SGPP) Indonesia. She obtained her bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in economics from the University of Indonesia.
Dr Jyoti M. Pathania is Senior Fellow & Chairperson Outreach Committee at Centre for Land Warfare Studies, (CLAWS) New-Delhi. Founding Editor – Online Indian Journal of Peace and Conflict Resolution and Podcaster – “Indian Conflict Resolution”
An academician with more than twenty years of teaching and research experience in various universities in India and abroad. She earned her doctorate in Political Science; M.Phil., M.A., degrees in “International Studies”, from School of International Studies/Jawaharlal Nehru University, New-Delhi; awarded Master Degree in Advanced studies in “Peace and Conflict Resolution Studies”, from European University Center for Peace Studies, Austria.
Third rank position holder from Delhi University, Recipient of Prof. Randhir Singh Award; Prof NN Aggarwal Memorial Award, and was also awarded by the Indian Chief of Army Staff. She has contributed in various journals and newspapers, both in India and abroad; authored a Book – India and Pakistan, Confidence Building Measures (2012). Upcoming Book – Deep State Continuum: Pakistan, & Implications on India.
Ms. Margareth Sembiring is a PhD candidate and an Associate Research Fellow at the Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS Centre), S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Her research focuses on climate change governance and climate mitigation, especially in low carbon transition, in Southeast Asia. She is actively involved in the management of the NTS-Asia Consortium Secretariat where she is currently serving as the manager.
Day 2: Wednesday, 14 April 2021 (10.30am to 12.30pm SGT)
Theme: Cybersecurity and Transnational Crimes
Dr Zhou Zhanggui is a Research Fellow of the Centre for Non-Traditional Security and Peaceful Development Studies, Zhejiang University, based in China. He is also the executive director of Digital and Non-Traditional Security Research Institute under Zhejiang Association of Security Technology and Protection. He serves as the Distinguished Professor of Tarim University since 2016. He is the founding director of the Overseas Safety and Security (OSS) International Collaboration Mechanism and leading the secretariat OSS International Collaboration Center to research and consult on risk assessment of Chinese Overseas Investment Projects.
He served as the Program Officer at UNIDO-ICSHP under United Nations Industrial Organization from 2005 to 2011, in charge of overseas renewable energy programs. Since 2005, he has participated as a core UNIDO consultant to implement a series of field studies on aid projects in high risk areas such as Haiti, Sierra Leone, Liberia and other African Countries.
He serves as an adviser to a number of Chinese Security Industry Associations at national and provincial levels. His research areas and published books are mainly in transboundary water conflicts, energy security, climate change, overseas interest protection and digital security.
Ms. Nimmi Tharuka Jayathilake is the new Programme Officer of the Regional Centre for Strategic Studies (RCSS). She has a B.A. (Hons.) in English from the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka and M.A in South Asian Studies from the UNESCO Madanjeet Singh Institute for South Asian Regional Cooperation, Pondicherry University, India. She worked at the Centre for Human Security Studies, Hyderabad, India in 2019.
Dr Danzi Liao is an Associate Professor at Zhejiang University of Finance and Economics, a researcher at the Center for Non-traditional Security and Peace Development, Zhejiang University, and a special researcher at Zhejiang Digital Security Research Institute(Hangzhou, China). 2010-2011 American University visiting scholar, 2020-2021 MIT Sloan School of Management visiting scholar. Books include: “Civil Defense from the Perspective of Non-traditional Security”, “Introduction to Non-traditional Security”. Main articles include: “A Review of the Key Legal Dynamics of Chinese Military Involvement in Domestic Disaster Relief (MI/DDR)”, “China’s National Non-traditional Security Threat Management”, “40 Years of China’s Non-traditional Security Research”, “Network Security Challenges and Governance, “Smart City Public Safety”, “Urban Community Safety”, etc.
Ms. Shavini De Silva graduated from University of London with a BSc Degree in International Relations and she has a Masters in International Relations from the University of Colombo. She has worked at various non-governmental organizations and think tanks in Sri Lanka and now serves as the Regional Liaison Officer at GPPAC South Asia and Programme Officer of RCSS.
Day 3: Thursday, 15 April 2021 (10.30am to 12.30pm SGT)
Theme: Crisis Response and Sustainable Future
Major General Dipankar Banerjee (Retd) was commissioned into the First Gorkha Rifles, the Indian Army, in 1960 and has served in all of India’s borders and participated in all its wars. He has pursued an active career in strategic research after retirement and has served as the Head or senior faculty of numerous Indian, South Asian and global think tanks over four decades. This included the Regional Centre of Strategic Studies, Colombo, South Asia’s only strategic think tank. He was a Consultant to the United Nations on Conventional Arms Treaty. He is an acknowledged international expert in peace and conflict studies, nuclear and conventional arms proliferation issues, disarmament, confidence building and Responsibility to Protect. He founded the Consortium of South Asian Think Tanks (COSATT) in 2008, which remains the premier strategic studies body in South Asia. He led a major Ford Foundation study project on Non-Traditional Security in Asia in 1999-2002. Banerjee is a leading international consultant on Security and Risk Consultancy.
Dr K S Balakrishnan (Balakrishnan R K Suppaiah) is a Senior Lecturer and a Former HoD at the Department of International and Strategic Studies, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Malaya. He is also the coordinator for a Post-Graduate Program. Previous appointments include serving as Senior Researcher at Institute of international and Strategic Studies (ISIS Malaysia, 1993-1997) and Lecturer at Monash University (KL Campus, 1999-May 2000). He is also active in numerous organisations which include, International Advisory Board Member of R2P, the Asia Pacific Centre for the Responsibility to Protect (Australia, University of Queensland), International Advisory Member of PHISO, Philippines, CSCAP (Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific, National Committee Member, Malaysia. He is often invited to policy related Strategic Dialogues and Meetings/Conferences of the governments and think tanks. His research area include Security Studies, Defence and Foreign Policy issues involving Malaysia’s Foreign and Defence Policy, ASEAN Security and Regionalism, and the Asia Pacific Security. Ministries, Military Colleges, Think tanks, Political parties, NGOs, Media and other Government Agencies have consulted him for evaluation services, guess lectures, panel and as a resource person or subject matter expert. Travelled over 20 countries, he is renown in the strategic studies and international relations research and academic communities of Malaysia and ASEAN. His work has been published as chapters and articles including in the Journal of International Relations of the Asia Pacific (Oxford University Press), Pacific Review (Routledge), Chapters in Routledge Books, ISEAS, MJIR (UM), RSIS (NTU), ISIS Focus, ASEAN-ISIS Monitor, and also in the Journal of Diplomacy and Foreign Relations (Institute of Diplomacy and Foreign Relations, KL). He has received numerous research grants, international scholarship and Visiting scholar/professor grants, conference travel grants. Several Excellent Service Awards/Certificates were given by University of Malaya for annual performances. Some notable scholarship awards in the past were the British Aerospace Scholarship (1991) at the Australian National University (ANU) and as IVP for Policy Studies to US (1995), International University of Japan Scholarship (in absence), 1991 and RSIS, NTU Visiting Fellow Grant (in absence) and PhD sponsorship (Fee Waiver) from University of Malaya (2005-2010), and as KGU-ASEAN Visiting Scholar in Japan.
Mr Arisman is the Executive Director of Center for Southeast Asian Studies (CSEAS), Indonesia. He has 20 years of experience in teaching and research supervision in two public universities in Indonesia. These include a faculty member of the Department of Development Economics, Faculty of Economics and Business, the State Islamic University (UIN) Jakarta; and an Adjunct Lecturer at University of Indonesia. He was a Visiting Lecturer at Prince Songkhla University, Thailand and Western Sydney University, Australia.
Mr Arisman has been involved in various research projects and consultancies to ASEAN, United States Agency for International Development (USAID), European Union (EU), Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA), German Development Agency (GIZ), Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the International Labour Organization (ILO). Awards and grants received include DANIDA Fellowship at Denmark Technical University (DTU), August-September 2019; Professional Fellow at George Washington University, US Department of States Fellowship, July 2019; DKI Jakarta Province Award for the best 15 Research Project, 2012; Ministry of Education Republic of Indonesia Award Scholarship for Outstanding Researcher, 2010; Endeavour Award Scholarship, Fellowship Program at Western Sydney University, Sydney, Australia, AUSAID (March-June 2008).
Ms. Ayodhya Krishani Amarajeewa is a Research Officer with the Regional Centre for Strategic Studies, Colombo, Sri Lanka. She holds a Masters of Arts in Peace and Conflict Studies from the United Nations University for Peace, Costa Rica and a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from the University of Sri Jayawardenapura, Sri Lanka. She is interested in international development, peace, conflict dynamics and international relations.
