LAUNCH: Challenges to the Rules Based Order: Agendas for Australia-ROK Cooperation
Asialink is pleased to invite you to the launch of Challenges to the Rules Based Order: Agendas for Australia-ROK Cooperation, supported by the Korea Foundation and the ANU Korea Institute.
About the report
'Challenges to the Rules Based Order: Agendas for Australia-ROK Cooperation' is a major policy-oriented research report on the opportunities for the Republic of Korea (ROK) and Australia to collaborate on the advancement of the regional and international rules-based order (RBO) and the institutional architecture underpinning it.
As two middle powers, the ROK and Australia have mutual interests in the promotion of a set of open and inclusive rules and a system of institutions for the mediation of interstate relations in the region. However, the existing RBO and the institutions that undergird it are progressively being challenged by the dynamics of great power rivalry and the increasingly competitive regional order; the COVID-19 pandemic has also revealed serious shortcomings in global governance frameworks. The growing fragility of the RBO cannot be addressed unilaterally. It is incumbent upon likeminded middle powers in the region to find practical ways to develop a more open and inclusive RBO and promote a transition to a multipolar world.
Conducted by Dr Lauren Richardson, the project has explored the potential for enhancing ROK-Australia collaboration on the development of the regional and global rules and architecture. In doing so, it aims to establish a comprehensive framework for how the two countries can coordinate bilaterally and multilaterally to achieve a more open and inclusive RBO. This framework will provide a roadmap for:
- Elevating the ROK-Australia bilateral relationship through greater institutional closeness
- Enhancing the role of Seoul and Canberra in the international system
- Encouraging the United States—their mutual ally—to deepen its engagement with regional governance and rulemaking.
Welcome and introduction: Martine Letts FAIIA HonLLD, CEO, Asialink
Moderator: Professor Tony Milner, Professorial Fellow and International Director, Asialink
Panelists:
Dr Lauren Richardson
Head Researcher, Asialink
Lecturer in International Relations, Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs, ANU
Dongkeun Lee
PhD candidate, Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, ANU
AsPr Ruth Barraclough
Vice President, Asian Studies Association of Australia
Associate Professor, School of Culture, History & Language, ANU
Please note, refreshments will be served from 6pm. Formal proceedings will commence at 6.30pm.
For event queries, please contact grace.corcoran@asialink.unimelb.edu.au
Supported by
Event Speakers
Martine Letts FAIIA HonLLD
Martine Letts is CEO of the Asialink Group and is an experienced executive within the government, non-profit and international policy sectors with expertise in public policy development, formulation and promotion in Australia and internationally. Martine was a senior Australian diplomat for 17 years.
Professor Tony Milner
Professor Tony Milner is International Director at Asialink, Visiting Professor at the University of Malaya and Emeritus Professor at the Australian National University. He was formerly Dean of Asian Studies at the ANU. Tony has written widely on Southeast Asian history, particularly the history of the Malay world and on Australia-Asia relations.
Dr Lauren Richardson
Lauren Richardson is a Lecturer in the Department of International Relations. From 2018-2020 she was Director of Studies and Lecturer in the Asia-Pacific College of Diplomacy at the ANU. Her research focuses on the role of non-state actors in shaping diplomatic interactions in Northeast Asia, particularly Japan-Korea relations.
Dongkeun Lee
Dongkeun Lee is a PhD candidate at the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre (SDSC), the Australian National University, and a reservist officer of the Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN). Before Dongkeun joined SDSC as a PhD candidate in February 2022, he served 3 years at the ROKN as an intelligence officer.
AsPr Ruth Barraclough
Ruth Barraclough is an Associate Professor in the School of Culture, History & Language at the ANU. She is the Vice-President for Asian Studies Association of Australia. Her research interests include labour history, gender studies, literary translation and biography. She is the author of Factory Girl Literature: Sexuality, Violence and Representation in Industrializing Korea.