The 7th NTS-Asia Annual Conference
The Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS) organised the 7th NTS-Asia Annual Conference on 8 to 9 May 2025 at the Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel. Themed “Changing Geopolitics and Impacts on Non-Traditional Security Challenges in the Asia-Pacific,” the event brought together NTS-Asia members and experts across the region for a fruitful discussion on the topic.
The intensification of great power competition and geopolitical shifts have had a direct impact on NTS issues, leading to fragmented global supply chains, exacerbating human security concerns, and the weakening of international capacity to collectively address them. The first panel outlined the trends in the shifting world order and emphasised the rising risks and threats including transnational crime, climate vulnerability, water security and cybersecurity. For example, the end of the Indus Waters Treaty between India and Pakistan was highlighted as a potential future flash point for water-induced conflict if not managed well. The discussion also examined the challenges middle powers face in navigating the geopolitical dynamics concerning US-China rivalry without giving up their strategic autonomy. Suggestions on how to adapt to these changes were raised, such as the bridging of traditional and non-traditional security, bolstering multilateral arrangements for capacity and norm building, and engaging the Global South as collaborators and not just as recipients. Other areas of collaboration include building on the existing shared values between ASEAN and Japan in framing climate security for the Asian region, including ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP) and the Japanese Free and Open Indo Pacific (FOIP).
In the second panel, the overlapping crises affecting Southeast Asia, including food security, geopolitical tensions, and climate change were examined. The discussion on food security in Southeast Asia highlighted factors such as grid power competition, regional conflict, and transportation costs. Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, which produces 50% of Vietnam’s rice and accounts for 95% of its rice exports, is under threat due to climate change and massive hydropower development in the upper Mekong River. The impact of hydropower dams on local communities, particularly women and vulnerable groups, was also discussed, with Laos noting a shift towards wind power post-2050. Participants talked about ASEAN’s role in creating effective platforms for regional cooperation to tackle food security issues. ASEAN Plus Three emergency rice reserves provide emergency food aid for natural disasters and pandemics, encouraging members to strengthen their domestic reserves. Future policy directions include diversifying import sources, enhancing regional food sufficiency, and focusing on sustainable agricultural practices. In Bangladesh, experts highlighted the significance of China’s investment in water management projects in Bangladesh, particularly the Teesta River. In response to geopolitical changes, participants emphasised the need for a balance between development and security, particularly in the context of hydropower development, and a focus on building resilience and long-term sustainability.
In the third panel, experts discussed on community resilience, refugee protection, and resource distribution in the region. The dismantling of USAID funding has directly impacted projects on climate change. Following the Ukraine war, the declining Official Developmental Assistance (ODA) has also greatly impacted the flow of humanitarian aid to Myanmar. Recommendations on how to overcome the challenges were raised, such as expanding the reach of the UN to voluntary donations from private individuals and companies, to tap community based and diaspora communities for donations, increasing donations of ASEAN member states to its humanitarian aid programmes, and enhancing dialogue partnership frameworks for bilateral and minilateral cooperation on humanitarian aid.
In terms of community resilience amid disruptions and economic instability owing to geopolitics and climate change, urban populations have had to adapt through collaboration between different stakeholders, resilient urban design, community engagement and developing technology in disaster preparedness.
Geopolitical changes are also affecting the critical mineral sector, an emerging area that straddles between traditional and non-traditional security and compels countries to bolster cooperation and develop standards on environmental impact assessments and on sustainable development. Data centres and cyber security have also emerged as a developing sector, and the growth of data centres in Malaysia’s digital infrastructure must grapple with global power dynamics and the tension between climate imperatives and externalities. In view of geopolitical shifts, ASEAN countries must strengthen cooperation to ensure resilience on their critical minerals supply and agree on region-wide standards to address externalities arising from infrastructure development associated with cross-border trades.
In the fourth panel, discussions covered topics on digitalisation, peacebuilding and human security. These include youth, social media and policy pathways to navigate geopolitical information wars, and the necessity to engage diverse actors including governments, civil society and grassroots peacebuilders for progress on Women, Peace and Security (WPS), such as AMAN Indonesia’s efforts to implement WPS on the ground. There has been a global backlash as regards to the WPS agenda and suggestions to overcome this trend include fostering strong partnerships with neighbouring countries to forge a more stable path forward for WPS in Southeast Asia.
Geopolitical realignments have affected human security in South Asia, particularly in the case of post-revolution Bangladesh in relation to India and China. The government now articulates security through the lens of people-centred resilience, foregrounding water sharing, refugee protection, digital sovereignty and energy affordability. Bangladesh no longer sees non-traditional security as an “add-on”, but the primary currency by which smaller states negotiate space within contested regional orders. An example of non-traditional security acting as a strategic entry point for countries to deepen political trust, strengthen regional resilience and promote sustainable development amidst geopolitical shifts can also be seen in health-peace cooperation involving China.
At the end of the conference, NTS-Asia consortium members and overseas participants discussed the future steps of collaboration and engagement. All participants benefitted from the rich exchange of perspectives on the impacts of geopolitics on NTS issues, the intersections between non-traditional and traditional security, the need to develop adaptive and multisectoral approaches to address NTS threats, and to bolster regional and inter-state cooperation.
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