CSIS Establishes U.S.-Philippines Strategic Initiative (USPSI)
May 12, 2015
WASHINGTON, May 12, 2015— The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Sumitro Chair for Southeast Asia Studies, with support from the Manila-based think tank the Albert del Rosario Institute (ADRI) and the Philippine Trade Foundation (Philippines Inc.), launched the U.S.-Philippines Strategic Initiative (USPSI) in Washington, D.C., today. The launch event at CSIS headquarters featured remarks by The Honorable Albert del Rosario, secretary of foreign affairs of the Philippines, and The Honorable William Cohen, chairman and CEO of The Cohen Group and former U.S. senator and secretary of defense.
The USPSI is a three-year project that will serve a leading role in advancing a high-level policy dialogue designed to add depth, creativity, and a greater sense of urgency in modernizing the U.S.-Philippine alliance in the context of Southeast Asia and the Indo-Pacific region. The group is discussing defense and economic issues vital to the alliance.
In the initiative’s first year, CSIS will author a study on U.S.-Philippine relations to be published in July 2015. The report will provide concrete recommendations to boost all aspects of the U.S.-Philippine relationship in anticipation of the upcoming visit by President Barack Obama to Manila for the November Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Meeting, and the next era of the relationship under new administrations in both countries after 2016. Additional activities of the USPSI will include the Philippines Forum Speaker Series, a visiting Philippines fellow resident at CSIS, and sustained research on the U.S.-Philippine relationship.
For more on the USPSI launch, visit http://csis.org/event/us-philippines-strategic-initiative-official-launch .
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The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is a bipartisan, nonprofit organization founded in 1962 and headquartered in Washington, D.C. It seeks to advance global security and prosperity by providing strategic insights and policy solutions to decisionmakers.