In 2010, the East-West Center will mark 50 years of working to promote understanding and cooperation in the Asia Pacific region, including the United States. This golden anniversary year is an opportunity both to celebrate the accomplishments of the Center’s first 50 years and to look forward to addressing the needs and challenges of the Asia Pacific community today and in the years to come.

One of the premier events of the 50th anniversary celebration will be the EWC/EWCA International Conference 2010 in Honolulu from July 1 to 5, hosted by the East-West Center and the East-West Center Association. The conference theme is “Leadership and Community Building in the Asia Pacific Region.”

The 21st century is often characterized as the era of the post-national and the global. However, the world is still made up of diverse nations and states, and the survival and success of the global community depend on the ability of these nations and peoples to understand and cooperate with each other.

The challenges of the 21st century cover virtually all aspects of life and society, including commerce, human rights and cultural identity. Globalization increasingly requires that problems of the environment, social welfare and technological innovation be dealt with in frameworks larger than the nation state. At the same time, states and governments also face issues that are smaller in scale than the nation state, including response to localized natural disasters, ethnic and religious conflicts, and demands from regions and other groups for changes.

The EWC/EWCA International Conference will consider the position, importance and relevance of national interchange and interaction in the 21st Century and the impact of social, cultural, technological and political factors on traditional national frameworks and new international frameworks and institutions. In doing so, it will draw on the richness of experience gained in half a century of study and involvement by alumni and staff of the East-West Center.

Since it is being held in Hawai‘i – the crossroads of the Pacific and the home of the East-West Center – the conference will also provide an opportunity for the EWC community to “return to the source” to renew old friendships and make new ones. We hope you will start making plans soon to join us!

Links:

• Register for the 2010 EWC International Conference
• Read more about the 2010 EWC International Conference
• Review the Conference’s tentative schedule (as of March 10, 2009)
• Learn more about the Conference’s call for papers