East-West Center in the News

(2012-06-10) "Here in Malaysia, as well as in the US and Indonesia, people are thinking about identities and their connections -- politically, economically or globally.

"Encouraging this conversation around shared languages, arts and culture will help to foster empathy and increase one's sense of belonging to each other.

"It will also increase the possibilities for collaboration, whether in schools, universities, non-profit or governments," she said here yesterday.

... "One thing I really found delightful was the number of women represented in schools and universities. It's something that a lot of people and countries can take as an example (of a place) where women's voices are heard and their careers are supported.

"I was also impressed by the dialogue within the Islamic community, where there was an intellectual emphasis on using Islam not only to reach back to the past, but thinking forward to develop a role for strong civil Islam in regional and world events."

She said dialogue without violence was important as there would always exist conflict between ideas.

"You can transform conflict into productive understanding. Once we can openly talk about our own needs and identities as a group, that's the kind of empathy generated that is much more conducive to peace. "

(2012-06-10) Charles E. Morrison, president of the East-West Center based in Honolulu, takes a decidedly diplomatic tack on the situation.

“I think it depends a lot on (Asian) domestic forces in each area, and how they see it,” he said, “but the Chinese I come in contact with are not complaining vigorously about U.S. forces in Darwin, Australia.”

... “I think Hawaii’s role is absolutely central and I think that will be increasingly the case,” Morrison said. “It seems to me that coordination becomes all that more critical and Hawaii in some ways I think even more than before, as a central place.”

... Morrison acknowledged that analysts in both the U.S. and China may interpret the policy as a potential cold war, “but I don’t think that’s a necessary conclusion from it. It depends on what else is going on in U.S.-China relations, and the economic relationship is flourishing.”

He added that the recent handling of Chen Guangcheng, the blind legal advocate who was given refuge in the American Embassy in Beijing and approval to enter New York University, “showed maturity in the U.S.-China relationship.”

The U.S. had “a much more military presence” in the world during the Cold War period with the Soviet Union, especially during the Korean and Vietnam wars, Morrison said. “I think it’s shifting back, but that doesn’t necessarily equate to an aggressive posturing. It could also equate to maintaining a very traditional U.S. stabilizing posture for the region as a whole.”