Established in January 1985, the IRC is a Singapore-based
private, independent, and non-governmental research center
whose programs are entirely financed by income generated by
its activities, and support from grant-giving foundations
and corporations.
The Center's activities have been extensive as they have
been varied: research and analysis, public lectures, debates,
closed-door discussions, and conferences; publishing; human
resource training and development programs; networking with
leaders in business and government; cooperation with non-governmental
organizations; and cooperation among scholars and research
institutions throughout ASEAN and the world.
The IRC's research activities are multinational and are devoted
to develop an understanding of the Asian and Southeast Asian
regions. It was conceived to undertake work at three broad
levels: as an advanced research center specialized in the
study of strategic and other sensitive issues related to the
future stability of the region; as a policy-oriented institution
promoting rational alternatives to decision-makers; and as
a human-resource center that is able to mobilize a broad network
of experts in the region.
The research, training and networking activities of the IRC
cover a wide range of policy-related issues that are carried
out within an integrated conceptual framework. They focus
on sensitive issues of national and international concern,
which affect the evolution of the nations in the Asia-Pacific
region, as well as the future of the region as a whole. In
the first decade of its existence, the IRC concentrated on
four areas of concern: Indochina, the Philippines , Radical
Religions, and One Southeast Asia. In the second decade the
IRC focused its attention on issues of reconciliation, of
economic and cultural freedom, of civilization and cultural
dialogues (the Asian Renaissance).
Guided by the philosophy of active scholarship and a proactive
approach the IRC projects itself as a vanguard institution
in the definition of its objectives, the materialization of
its various programs, and the mobilization of human resources.
Simply put, it plays the role of a catalyst in the origination
of ideas, debate, and exchange of ideas.
Since its inception IRC has provided experts in the academic,
governmental, political, business and media communities formal
and informal channels for debate and discussions.
IRC has organized many conferences in many parts of Asia
. Among the major conferences and workshops that were held
were the following: Military Bases in Southeast Asia: Multidimensional
Implications for the Asia-Pacific Region; Philippine Communism;
International Conference on “Gorbachev's New Thinking and
Regional Conflicts in the Third World; Vietnam Today: Assessing
the New Trends; Islamic Resurgence in Malaysia; Post 1991:
Implications of a U.S. withdrawal from the Philippines; Interaction
for Progress: ASEAN-Vietnam conferences in Hanoi (1991), Kuala
Lumpur (1992), and Manila (1993); Southeast Asia in the 21st
Century (Bangkok, 1994); and the series of Asian Renaissance
conferences in Kuala Lumpur.
Throughout its more than one and half decades of existence
it has been supported by a number of well known foundations
and institutions: Hanns Seidel Stiftung of Germany, the Canadian
International Development Agency, the Smith Richardson Foundation
of the U.S. , the Sasakawa Peace Foundation of Japan, and
UNESCO, while working with numerous academic institutions
and governments in the Asia-Pacific region.
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