Join us for the launch of Geopolitics and the Western Pacific: China, Japan and the US by author Dr Leszek Buszynski.

Professor Michael Wesley, Dean of the ANU College of Asia and the Pacific will launch the book.

Hugh White will be in-conversation with Sam Roggeveen on Hugh’s new book How to Defend Australia. In this groundbreaking book, Hugh White considers a number of important issues, such as how seriously ought we take the risk of war? Do we want to remain a middle-power? What kind of strategy - and what Australian Defence Force - do we need?

Abstract

The increased interest in the role of religious actors, ideas and practices in the International Relations (IR) discipline is a promising development of contemporary scholarship. Within the study of humanitarianism in particular, attention to the range of ways in which religion infuses action and meaning in the global space has raised important questions about how best to understand these interactions. However, slow movement away from secular framings of humanitarianism means that religious actors remain under-conceptualised and poorly understood.

Held every two years, OCIS is the premier conference in international studies held in Australasia. It brings together scholars working across all fields of international studies, and is known for its relaxed yet intellectually stimulating atmosphere.

Attended by leading scholars in the field internationally, it is an opportunity for junior scholars to take advantage of and to showcase their evolving ideas.

**This event is co-hosted with the International Committee of the Red Cross Mission in Australia.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions. The Conventions and their protocols form the core of international humanitarian law and preserve common humanity in the midst of conflict.

2019 also marks the 70th anniversary of the ANU Department of International Relations. Through our research we generate evidence for normative guidance and humanitarian capacity building at both local and global levels.