Asia Policy Events, Monday October 19, 2026

10/17-19 - Annual Fall Rites held at the Yasukuni Shrine. Visits and offerings by rightwing Diet members and Cabinet officials. PM Takaichi does not visit as she has in the past.

10/19-20 - 25th Shanghai Cooperation Organisation ( SCO ) Prime Ministers ' Meeting, Dushanbe, Tajikistan. Xi and Putin attend.
10/19-29 - Exercise Keen Sword takes place in Japan’s southwest region to rehearse island defense. Largest U.S.-Japan biennial joint drill.
10/20-21 - APEC Finance Ministerial Meeting (FMM), Hong Kong.

BOOK TALK: TECH-GEMONY: UNDERSTANDING THE NEW NATIONAL SECURITY ECONOMY. 10/19, 9:30-10:30am (JST), 10/18, 8:30-9:30pm (EDT), VIRTUAL. Sponsor: Institute of Contemporary Asian Studies (ICAS), Temple University Japan Campus. Speaker: author Brad Glosserman, Senior Advisor, Pacific Forum; Moderator: Robert Dujarric, Co-Director, ICAS, Temple University Japan Campus. PURCHASE BOOK

THE IRAN CRISIS STOCKTAKE: WHO CAN SUSTAIN THE PRESSURE? 10/19, 1:00-2:00pm (BST), 8:00-9:00am (EDT), VIRTUAL. Sponsor: Royal United Services Institute (RUSI). Speakers: Ali Ansari, Senior Associate Fellow, RUSI; Burcu Ozcelik, Senior Research Fellow for Middle East Security, RUSI; Jonathan Hackett, retired US Marine Corps interrogator; Mohammed al-Basha, independent Middle East analyst and founder, Basha Report Risk Advisory; Moderator: Jonathan Eyal, Associate Director, Strategic Research Partnerships, RUSI.

BOOK TALK: THE ROUTLEDGE HANDBOOK OF IDEOLOGY ANALYSIS. 10/19, 10:00-11:00am (EDT), VIRTUAL. Sponsor: Illiberalism Studies Program, George Washington University. Speakers: author Juliette Faure, Professor of Political Science, University of Lille; author, Mathew Humphrey, Professor of Political Theory, University of Nottingham; author, David Laycock, Emeritus Professor of Political Science, Simon Fraser University.  PURCHASE BOOK: https://link.amazon/B06y2GvJJ

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN ENERGY AND NUCLEAR POWER IN JAPAN. 10/19, Noon-1:15pm (EDT), HYBRID. Sponsor: Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School. Speakers: Hisashi Yoshikawa, Project Professor, Institute for Future Initiatives, University of Tokyo; Nobuo Tanaka, Chairman, Steering Committee, Innovation for Cool Earth Forum (ICEF); Moderator: Joseph E. Aldy, Professor, Harvard Kennedy School.

AUSTRALIA’S APPROACH TO RESEARCH AND INNOVATION SECURITY: PROTECTING OPEN SCIENCE AND INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION. 10/19, 2:00-3:00pm (EDT), VIRTUAL. Sponsor: Institute for Security & Development Policy. Speakers: Bart Hogeveen, Senior Fellow & Director Europe, Australian Strategic Policy Institute; Moderator: Melita Phachulia, Executive Assistant, Institute for Security & Development Policy.

PRESS CONFERENCE: HOW JAPAN CAN RESPOND TO A TAIWAN CRISIS. 10/20, 11:00am-Noon (JST), 10/19, 10:00-11:00pm (EDT), HYBRID. Sponsor: Professional Activities Committee, Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan. Speaker: Katsuya Yamamoto, Director, Strategy and Deterrence Program and Senior Research Fellow, Sasakawa Peace Foundation.

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Monday & Tuesday Asia Events November 11 & 12, 2024

November 11 is Veterans Day in Washington, DC

Watch President Biden and Defense Secretary Austin 

at Arlington Cemetery at 11:00am EST

2024 U.S. PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS: HIGH STAKES FOR ASIA. 11/11, 4:00-5:30pm (PST), 7:00-8:30pm (EST). HYBRID. Sponsor: Japan Program, Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (APARC), Stanford University. Speakers: Francis Fukuyama, Olivier Nomellini Senior Fellow, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI), Stanford University's; Kiyoteru Tsutsui, Henri H. and Tomoye Takahashi Professor, Senior Fellow, Japanese Studies, Shorenstein APARC; Gi-Wook Shin, William J. Perry Professor of Contemporary Korea, Professor of Sociology, Senior Fellow, FSI, Stanford University; Gita Wirjawan, Visiting Scholar, Precourt Institute for Energy, Stanford. 

TOWARD AN EAST ASIAN UTOPIA: AMBITION AND ILLUSION IN IMPERIAL JAPANESE MILITARY MUSIC. 11/11, 7:00pm (JST), 5:00am (EST), ZOOM. Sponsor: Modern Japan History Workshop. Speaker: Emily Lu, Florida State University. 

BOOK TALK: GAMBLERS, FRAUDSTERS, DREAMERS AND SPIES: THE OUTSIDERS WHO SHAPED MODERN JAPAN. 11/12, 10:00am (JST), 11/11 8:00pm (EST), VIRTUAL. Sponsor: Yokosuka Council on Asia-Pacific Studies (YCAPS). Speaker: author Robert Whiting. PURCHASE BOOK: https://amzn.to/40btWiw

FROM THE FAB TO THE FUTURE: HOW JAPAN AND ITS PARTNERS ARE WORKING TOWARDS SEMICONDUCTOR RESILIENCE AND INNOVATION. 11/12, 8:00am (EST). VIRTUAL. Sponsor: Nikkei; Government of Japan. Speakers: David Keohane, Tokyo Correspondent, Financial Times; Bruce Andrews, Senior Vice President and Chief Government Affairs Officer, Intel; Yasuyuki Todo, Professor, Waseda University; Kristy Tsun Tzu Hsu, Director, Taiwan ASEAN Studies Center, Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research. 

MYANMAR’S 2024 CENSUS: LURCHING TOWARDS ELECTIONS? 11/12, 9:00-10:15pm (EST); 11/13, 10:00-11:15am (Singapore Time), VIRTUAL. Sponsor: ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute. Speaker: Mary P. Callahan, Associate Professor, Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies, University of Washington.

CHINA INSTITUTE 2024 EXECUTIVE SUMMIT “NOW WHAT?” – A POST ELECTION OUTLOOK. 11/12, 9:00am-5:00pm (EST). IN-PERSON. Sponsor: China Institute. Speakers Include: Robert Hormats, Vice Chairman of Kissinger Associates, Inc, former Under Secretary of State under the Obama Administration; Henry Fernandez, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, MSCI; Robert H. McCooey, Vice Chairman, Nasdaq. 

EXPERT TAKE: U.S.-NORTH KOREA RELATIONS WITH FORMER DEPUTY SECRETARY OF STATE STEPHEN BIEGUN. 11/12, 10:00am (EST), HYBRID. Sponsor: Korea Society. Speaker: Stephen Biegun, fmr. US Deputy Secretary of State, fmr. Special Representative for North Korea.  

AMERICA’S FOREIGN POLICY FUTURE: A POST-ELECTION ANALYSIS. 11/12, 10:00-11:30am (EST). VIRTUAL. Sponsor: Stimson Center. Speakers: Nancy A. Youssef, National Security Correspondent, The Wall Street Journal; Amy Mackinnon, Reporter, Foreign Policy; Kelly Grieco, Senior Fellow, Reimagining US Grand Strategy, Stimson Center; Rachel Minyoung Lee, Senior Fellow, Korea Program and 38 North, Stimson Center; Robert Manning, Distinguished Fellow, Strategic Foresight Hub, Stimson Center; Christopher Preble, Senior Fellow and Director, Reimagining US Grand Strategy, Stimson Center; Yun Sun, Senior Fellow and Co-Director, China and East Asia, Stimson Center; Elizabeth Threlkeld, Senior Fellow and Director, South Asia, Stimson Center; Elias Yousif, Fellow and Deputy Director, Conventional Defense, Stimson Center; Sally Yozell, Senior Fellow and Director, Environmental Security, Stimson Center; Nudhara Yusuf, Research Associate, Global Governance, Justice & Security, Stimson Center.

RUSSIA AND CHINA IN CENTRAL ASIA: COMPETE, COOPERATE, OR DE-CONFLICT. 11/12, 2:00-3:00PM (EST). Sponsor: CNAS. Speakers: Donald Lu, Assistant Secretary of State, South and Central Asian Affairs, U.S. Department of State; Lisa Curtis, Senior Fellow and Director, Indo-Pacific Security Program, CNAS; Andrea Kendall-Taylor, Senior Fellow and Director, Transatlantic Security Program, CNAS. 

BOOK TALK: THE OXFORD HANDBOOK OF ILLIBERALISM. 11/12, 4:00-5:00pm (EST), HYBRID. Sponsor: Elliott School of International Affairs, GWU. Speaker: editor Marlene Laruelle, Elliott School Research Professor of International Affairs and Political Science and Director of the Illiberalism Studies Program; Samuel Goldman, CCAS Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of the John L. Loeb, Jr. Institute for Religious Freedom and the Politics & Values Program. PURCHASE BOOK: https://amzn.to/3YrROvA

THE PROMISE OF PARTICIPATION: HOW COLLECTIVE DECISION-MAKING CAN GET US TO MORE EFFECTIVE CLIMATE POLICIES. 11/12, 4:00-6:00pm (CET) 10:00am-Noon (EST), HYBRID. Sponsor: International Idea. Speaker: Greta Rios, People Powered, Mexico City. 

CONVERSATIONS BEFORE MIDNIGHT: ANNUAL DINNER. 11/12, 5:15-9:00pm (EST), IN PERSON ONLY. Sponsor: Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Speakers: David Ignatius, prize-winning columnist, Washington Post; Edmund Gerald Brown, former governor of California; Emily Strasser, author, Professor of the Practice, English, Tufts University; Rachel Bronson, President CEO, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Fee.