• Malaysian foreign policy and Malaysia’s relations with its neighbors in ASEAN and East Asia, nations of the Asia-Pacific and the wider global community.

 

• The power shift in the Asia Pacific region (the transforming role of major powers, especially a rising China and an emerging India and the continual presence of the United States in the region and the prospects for a role by middle powers such as Australia, Canada, Republic of Korea and ASEAN collectively).

 

• Global security governance (the holistic imperative for reform in the global security architecture as well as in the international financial system).

 

• Community-building in ASEAN, ASEAN Plus Three, East Asia Summit (ASEAN Plus Six) and the wider Asia Pacific.