Shangri-La Dialogue
The IISS Asia Security Summit: The Shangri-La Dialogue (SLD) is a "Track One" inter-governmental security conference held annually in Singapore by the Bahraini-funded think tank,[1] the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). The dialogue is commonly attended by defence ministers, permanent heads of ministries and military chiefs of mostly Asia-Pacific states. The forum's name is derived from the Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore, where it has been held since 2002.
The summit serves to cultivate a sense of community among the most important policymakers in the defence and security community in the region. Government delegations have made the best out of the meeting by holding bilateral meetings with other delegations on the sidelines of the conference. While primarily an inter-governmental meeting, the summit is also attended by legislators, academic experts, distinguished journalists and business delegates.
Over the years, the Shangri-La Dialogue has become one of the most important independent forums for the exchange of views by international security policy decision-makers. Besides the host nation, countries that have participated in the dialogue have included Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, Russia, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States and Vietnam.
Format[edit]
Plenary sessions[edit]
Each summit typically is opened by a keynote address, historically given by a prominent Singaporean figure. Beginning in 2009, a head of state or head of government has delivered the keynote address. Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in 2009, the President of the Republic of Korea Lee Myung-Bak in 2010, and Malaysian Prime Minister Dato' Sri Najib Tun Razak in 2011 respectively delivered the opening speech. Five plenary sessions are held across the remaining two days of the summit where all participants are expected to be present. These on-record sessions are usually led by a minister only and the press are invited to report on them. By 2006, plenary speaking slots are allocated only to ministers from a delegation.
Break-out groups[edit]
Introduced by the second summit in 2003, break-out groups are held concurrently with each other and allow more open discussion between participants on specific issues. These sessions also ensure that sufficient time is available during the summit for ministers to hold bilateral meetings. The break-out groups are strictly off-the-record so that officials could advance policy goals more freely. The break-out groups are usually chaired by a senior IISS staff member. By 2006, break-out group speaking slots are allocated only to ministers or senior officials from a delegation.[4]
Bilateral meetings[edit]
While largely unpublicised, the Shangri-La Dialogues provide an annual venue for ministers, CHODs, and top defence officials to network and expand their defence diplomacy in private, bilaterally and multilaterally. Rooms are reserved for the meetings to take place during breaks. A government delegation might typically arrange 15-20 such encounters, lasting half an hour each, over the course of the summit. Singapore's defence minister usually also hosts multilateral private lunches.
Non-Government delegates[edit]
The summit has been consistently attended by a mix of 200-plus non-government delegates, which include politicians, academics, businessmen, think tank analysts, media and other NGO personnel. This has given the SLD an aspect of a Track Two process, even though it is primarily a Track One event. Taylor notes that there are limited opportunities for interaction between non-government and government representatives.[2] The inclusion of non-government delegates is the result of dynamic efforts being made so that the SLD does not become an "exclusive club".[2]
Impact[edit]
Shangri-La has contributed to the enhancement of defence diplomacy by participating countries, in part by inspiring similar forums in other regions (e.g. the Halifax International Security Forum).
The 2010 Chinese Defence White paper explicitly mentioned senior Chinese participation in Shangri-La Dialogue since 2007 as one of their forums of participation in regional security cooperation.[31] The IISS thinks that increased representation from China indicate an increased level of engagement on a multilateral level and that the PLA wished to improve its image after recent measures, which were seen as too aggressive, impacted relations with affected countries.[32]