APLN
Who we are
The Asia-Pacific Leadership Network (APLN) is an independent, not-for-profit organisation and network of 190 former, serving and emerging political, military, diplomatic and academic leaders from 26 countries across the Asia-Pacific, registered and headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. APLN's work addresses regional defence and security challenges with a particular focus on reducing nuclear weapons risks.
What we do
APLN carries out its work by producing and commissioning high-quality research and analysis, convening high-level events, building institutional partnerships, and providing a platform for dialogue and debate. It focuses on devising credible policy solutions, and its current strategy aims to raise the level of the Asia-Pacific contribution to global security debates to ensure that the diversity of voices from the region are more effectively heard to address geostrategic threats.
APLN also serves as a bridge between Asia-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic political, policy and research communities. Its members bring broad political and diplomatic influence along with extensive knowledge and experience of foreign, defence, and nuclear policy issues. Many carry institutional memory built over years of high-level involvement in the United Nations and government.
Members include seven former prime ministers and deputy prime ministers, 19 former foreign ministers, and former and serving government ministers and ambassadors from across the region. Among them are Gareth Evans, Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd (Australia), Kawaguchi Yoriko and Okada Katsuya (Japan), Pradeep Gyawali (Nepal), Helen Clark (New Zealand), Hina Rabbani Khar (Pakistan), and Kim Sung-Hwan (South Korea).
APLN has a strong record of convening sensitive Track 1.5 and Track 2 dialogues on strategic stability and regional security. It maintains close partnerships with leading military, civilian policy, and research institutions across the Asia-Pacific, as well as in the United States and Europe, and its members and staff have extensive experience engaging policymakers, scholars, and policy practitioners at the highest levels.
The Asia-Pacific and nuclear weapons
Home to six of the world's nine nuclear-armed states, the Asia-Pacific region impacts every dimension of the global nuclear and security agenda. Acute tensions and complex dynamics in Northeast Asia and South Asia are compounded by the steady growth of regional nuclear arsenals, increasingly sophisticated delivery systems, and potentially destabilising missile defences. As the Asia-Pacific's global influence grows, so too does its stake in a secure world order, and its responsibility to contribute the ideas, policy proposals and vision needed to address these challenges.