Australian Member Committee of the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific
The Australian Member Committee of the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific (Aus-CSCAP) was established by Strategic and Defence Studies Centre (SDSC) at the Australian National University, as one of the founding members of CSCAP.
AusCSCAP, in co-operation with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) conducted its 38th meeting on 22 March 2013 at University House on the theme - "Australia's Regional Positioning in the Asian Century- Asia/Pacific Perspectives"
Please see attached program. You can find a summary report of the meeting here.
Aus-CSCAP has some 150 members, including former and current officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), the Department of Defence, individuals from a dozen University and other research centres throughout Australia, Members of Parliament, journalists, and senior executives from Australian industry.
The Committee meets twice a year, to consider the major security issues facing Australia in the region. Aus-CSCAP members are also active in the various CSCAP Study Groups.
The biennial CSCAP General Conference has been an opportunity for Australia to influence the agenda of regional discussions and has been used in the past by the Australian Foreign Minister to make important keynote addresses in the region.
The network of officials, media, military and academic representatives that make up the membership of CSCAP provides Australia with an opportunity to influence attitudes and debate in the region on a range of foreign policy issues. We believe it also assists more broadly to build Australia into Asian regional processes.
The CSCAP network has assisted the development, for instance, of the 'Asialink Conversations' and also helped in inaugurating the Australia/New Zealand Dialogue with ASEAN-ISIS, the influential ASEAN network that had not in the past been open to such a formal relationship with Australia.
