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National Security Revisited

  1. SINGAPORE (GMT+8) National security concerns can be both narrowly and broadly defined. What are the issues and threats that should fall within what states consider as national security concerns? The 10th edition of the Asia Pacific Programme for Senior Security National Officers (APPSNO), which coincides with the 20th anniversary of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) and the 10th anniversary of the Centre of Excellence for National Security (CENS), will revisit topics from previous programmes that remain at the forefront of national security concerns.
  1. Bringing together senior national security officers from the Asia Pacific and beyond, participants of this year’s APPSNO will explore such issues under the theme of “National Security Revisited”, which include (i) terrorism; (ii) rapid technological change; (iii) communicating with the public; (iv) the environment; (v) communicable diseases; and (vi) immigration.
  1. More than 70 practitioners and scholars from over 25 countries will meet and discuss challenges such as (i) national identity; (ii) governance and communication; (iii) new trends in radicalisation; and (iv) the future of national security.
  1. Ambassador Ong Keng Yong, Executive Deputy Chairman of RSIS, also said, “Over the years, APPSNO has been a platform for discussions on topics such as resilience, terrorism, complexity, public health, strategic communications, and cybersecurity. It is good that APPSNO has continued to identify topical and pertinent issues to engage and research on.”
  1. APPSNO 2016 will run from 11-15 April 2016, and is organised by CENS, with the support of the National Security Coordination Secretariat (NSCS) in the Prime Minister’s Office, Singapore.
  1. A group of eminent speakers will spearhead the discussions in the week-long programme. Of note are the Keynote Address and Distinguished Alumni Dinner Lecture on 11 April, which will be delivered by Mr Peter Ho and Mr David Irvine respectively. Mr Peter Ho, Chairman of the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Singapore; Senior Advisor in the Centre for Strategic Futures; and Senior Fellow of the Civil Service College of Singapore; will speak on the complexities of national security. Mr David Irvine, former Director-General of Security, Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO); and former Director-General, Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS); will speak on “Balancing Civil Rights and National Security”.
  1. Other speakers include:
  • Jon Barnett, Professor and Australian Research Council Future Fellow, School of Geography, The University of Melbourne, Australia
  • Richard Barrett, Senior Vice President, The Soufan Group; Former Head, United Nations Monitoring Team Al-Qaida and the Taliban; and Former Director, Global Counter Terrorism Operation, MI6; United Kingdom
  • Jarret Brachman, Vice-President, Threat Intelligence Manager, Wells Fargo Bank, United States
  • Michael Chertoff, Executive Chairman and Co-Founder of The Chertoff Group and former Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security; United States
  • Steven Corman, Herberger Professor, Hugh Downs School of Human Communication, Arizona State University; and Director, Center for Strategic Communication; United States
  • Jeffrey Cutter, Director, Communicable Diseases Division, Ministry of Health, Singapore
  • Tobias Eule, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Bern, Switzerland; Research Fellow, London School of Economics, The University of London, U.K.
  • Alberto Fernandez, Coordinator, Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications (CSCC), U.S. Department of State (2012–2015); and Vice-President, Middle East Media Research Institute; United States
  • Caitríona Heinl, Research Fellow, CENS, RSIS, Singapore
  • Shashi Jayakumar, Head of CENS, RSIS, Singapore
  • Kumar Ramakrishna, Associate Professor and Head of Policy Studies, RSIS, Singapore
  • Yoshihide Soeya, Professor, Department of Political Science, Faculty of Law, Keio University, Japan
  • Eneken Tikk-Ringas, Consulting Senior Fellow, Future Conflict and Cyber Security Programme, IISS, United Kingdom