The lunchtime Seminar series at GRIPS is organized to disseminate the latest research findings by our faculty members and to foster academic dialogue within and beyond our community.

◆TOPIC
"Nurturing ASEAN Relevancy in a Transitioning World Order"

◆SPEAKER
Mr. Calvin Khoe, Visiting Scholar, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) and Lead Analyst, Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia (FPCI)

◆DISCUSSANT
Dr. Yusuke Takagi, Associate Professor, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS)

◆DATE/TIME
Wednesday, February 4, 12:15-13:15 (Japan Standard Time)

◆REGISTRATION

RSVP by February 3, using the link below (both in-person and online participation).

https://grips-ac-jp.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_SxuLOdeRRPikaiDQIR_RKw

*Bring your lunch with you if you are attending the seminar in person!

◆SYNOPSIS
Mr. Khoe examines how ASEAN can maintain its relevance amid a rapidly transitioning world order. He begins by highlighting the recent unilateral U.S. actions in Venezuela, which set a dangerous precedent and further eroded the rule-based international system. This shift, he argues, has intensified geopolitical drift in the Indo-Pacific. Mr. Khoe outlines four symptoms of the region's move away from its pre-COVID Indo-Pacific visions: widening trust deficits, declining enthusiasm for multilateralism, China's preference for its own initiatives over ASEAN-led mechanisms, and connectivity projects that fail to deliver real integration.

To address these challenges, Mr. Khoe proposes four recommendations: rebuilding trust through ASEAN-led CBMs, reinvigorating ASEAN mechanisms, advancing the Penta Helix approach, and prioritizing AOIP-FOIP synchronization. He emphasizes that ASEAN-Japan cooperation on this synchronization is essential to safeguarding an open, inclusive, and rules-based Indo-Pacific.

"The Year's Big Drift," Stratsea, December 29, 2025
https://stratsea.com/the-years-big-drift/

◆SPEAKER'S BIO
Mr. Khoe is a visiting scholar at GRIPS and Director of Research and Analysis at the Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia (FPCI). Mr. Khoe focuses on Indonesian Foreign policy, ASEAN, ASEAN-China relations, and the geopolitics of Indo-Pacific. He has also been the program coordinator and analyst of the ASEAN-China Survey since 2020.

◆DISCUSSANT'S BIO
Yusuke Takagi is an associate professor at GRIPS. He received the Doctor of the Science of Law from Keio University. Before joining GRIPS, he worked at De La Salle University - Manila and the Embassy of Japan in the Philippines. His latest publications include: "Philippine-Japan Maritime Cooperation in the Quest for a Rules-based International Order," in Trinidad, D., and K. Cheng Chua, eds., Philippines-Japan relations in the twenty-first century: change and direction (Routledge, 2025); and "The Philippines in the Indo-Pacific: Emergence of a De Facto Indo-Pacific Strategy of a Middle Power," Asia-Pacific Review, 31 (3), pp. 42-62, 2025.
https://www.grips.ac.jp/list/jp/facultyinfo/takagi_yusuke/