APLN got a running start in the first month of 2024. In January, we welcomed Ambassador Febrian Ruddyard to our network – the first of what we hope will be many new additions to our senior network this year. We also saw many of our members at the APLN private briefing with UNODA Director and Deputy Mr. Adedeji Ebo, who shared his thoughts on how to encourage states to do more to support non-proliferation and disarmament.

January was a busy month for publications at APLN. The year began with a crucial presidential election in Taiwan, where the DPP secured an unprecedented third term in office. Brian Hioe, Russell Hsiao, and Chong Ja Ian weighed in on the significance of the election results and what to expect from Taiwan in the region. Huong Le Thu also touched on the Taiwan elections in her APLN Korea Times column contribution, where she wrote about the implications of the domestic politics of Asian countries in a record election year. In anticipation of further progress on the AUKUS nuclear submarine deal in 2024, Jim Green and Dimity Hawkins shared their thoughts on Australia’s troubled history in nuclear waste management.

January also saw great progress in the APLN-ELN joint project on Asia-Pacific Strategic Risks. Our new Special Report by Brendan Taylor tackles Australian defence policy and argues that overreliance on deterrence is exacerbating security dilemmas in the Asia-Pacific. Taylor’s report complements a policy brief we released this month by Tanya Ogilvie-White, Joel Petersson Ivre, Oliver Meier, and Rishi Paul, whose analysis of Australian, Japanese, and South Korean strategic choices concludes that countries must also provide assurances for their deterrence policies to be effective.

This month’s project activities also included a two-day conference in Seoul on “Balancing Deterrence with Assurances: Policy Coordination Between Security Partners in the Asia-Pacific.” The conference included senior experts and government officials from Australia, Japan, South Korea, and the UK, including several APLN members.

As always, we welcome feedback from our members and partners. If you have ideas for a potential publication, funding opportunity, or project, do get in touch.

On January 30-31, we co-convened a two-day conference in Seoul on “Balancing Deterrence with Assurances: Policy Coordination Between Security Partners in the Asia-Pacific” with the European Leadership Network (ELN), sponsored by Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office of the UK. Senior experts and government officials from Australia, Japan, South Korea, and the UK exchanged views on how countries in the region can balance their focus on procurement of deterrence capabilities with initiatives intended to assure adversaries.

On January 25, APLN hosted a private briefing with the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA)’s Director & Deputy Mr. Adedeji Ebo and Chief of the WMD Branch, Mr. Chris King. They urged states to acknowledge the inherent danger of nuclear weapons and unite in preventing their use, testing, and proliferation, emphasizing the collective interest in urgent and good faith efforts toward their eventual elimination.

“We need all States to reaffirm the fundamental truth that nuclear weapons pose an unacceptable danger to humanity, recognize that it is in our collective interests to prevent any use, any testing and any proliferation of these weapons and to act urgently and in good faith in efforts to bring about their eventual elimination.”

-Director and Deputy to the High Rep. Adedeji Ebo