The East-West Center is following local public health orders currently in effect. Public access to our facilities is suspended, and all EWC in-person events have been cancelled or postponed until further notice. EWC housing is open only to current residents and incoming students. More info here.

EWC in Washington Visiting Scholar Charles Dunst writes for NPR that “the Biden administration and its partners must quietly engage with and convince the military to, in effect, leverage its coup to secure more power in an NLD-led government. This is far from an ideal or even democratic solution … but it is, for now, the only one that avoids reversing the last decade of progress and plunging Myanmar into even greater civil war and deprivation.” ...more...

Hotter weather, stronger typhoons, coral reef death, and human health risks are among the challenges detailed in a new report on climate change in the Marianas Islands, one of a series of new reports by the Pacific Islands Regional Climate Assessment consortium, or PIRCA. ...more...

In a new East-West Wire commentary, columnist Jason Hung writes that the Philippines, like many other developing countries, has few choices other than China for access to COVID-19 vaccines. China, meanwhile, is gambling on the Philippines as a proving ground for marketing its vaccines as safe and effective. ...more...

The US State Department has appointed five new members to East-West Center’s Board of Governors. The three-year appointments, made by former Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo before leaving office, are: Recent Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Academic Programs Caroline Casagrande; Recent Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues Kelley E. Currie; Recent Ambassador to India Kenneth I. Juster; Recent Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs David R. Stilwell; and Hawai‘i State Rep. Gene Ward. ...more...