It’s been two years since I began a relationship with the Pacific Forum CSIS. I became one of the inaugural non-resident Korea Foundation fellows for 2014-15 and met amazing policy thinkers of our time. Through the PacForum I was also able to create a network of friends and colleagues who were genuinely interested and involved in US-East Asian economic and security issues.

The Korea Foundation does not extend financial support for the alumnus of the fellowship beyond the fellowship term but I was lucky to be in Singapore after my fellowship lapsed. I have been invited to several policy dialogues that are held in the region and have learned about new perspectives on US-Southeast Asian relations. For someone who has been focusing heavily on US-Northeast Asian relations, this is a big opportunity. As a political economist and a former student of international security, my day-to-day research is largely on thinking about economic issues of the Trans-Pacific region, and being regularly exposed to security dialogues balances my perspectives for academic and policy work. Because Singapore serves as a hub for holding the meetings, I cannot be fortunate enough to be a local participant and be able to attend these meetings.

I have one more year left here in Singapore – another meeting on nuclear policy is coming up next month. I am looking forward to another year with the Pacific Forum CSIS.