31 October – 3 November 2005: Scholars and international practitioners focusing on state building challenges in Burma, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand met in Washington for a four-day consultation to discuss the East-West Center Washington project on “State Building Challenges in Asia.” Funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the East-West Center, the project seeks to understand the nature and implications of minority conflicts for state building and explore ways to manage and eventually settle such conflicts with a view to strengthening states but also protecting the rights of minority communities.

During the four-day deliberations, Dr. Surin Pitsuwan, member of the Advisory Board on Human Security and the Royal Thai Parliament, spoke on the importance of the human security perspective in addressing state building challenges in Asia. He noted that “all too often, we see governments deal with internal conflicts with suppressive and violent means, emphasizing only the right and security of the states, and not the rights and well-being of the people. However, if we are going to make a contribution to the problems we are discussing, we should include in our overall approach the concept of human security. From this perspective, we can analyze the continuum of events and situations leading to open conflicts and violence as well as efforts and strategies to bring reconciliation, post-conflict reconstruction, coexistence and effective governance.”

Moreover, Dr. Pitsuwan highlighted that with the ongoing process of globalization and the erosion of states’ dominance, a top-down, imposing and intruding state will not be adequate anymore. In such an environment, as the delicate balance between states and citizens is challenged, a new state framework that is inclusive of all people in the affairs of the state is needed – one that is based on the human security perspective.

Further to the consultations, a Public Forum was organized in cooperation with the School of International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Pitsuwan along with Mr. Donald Nathan, Foreign Desk Editor of The Nations Newspaper, Bangkok, and Professor Thitinan Pongsudhirak of Chulalongkorn University briefed the audience on the current rise of Malay-Muslim militancy in Southern Thailand and the ways in which to address, mitigate and resolve the conflict. The meeting was attended by government officials, members of the academia, representatives from civil society, and the general public.

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