The Centre on Asia and Globalisation brings together leading scholars and policymakers from around the world to analyse the management of global issues and Asia’s role in a rapidly changing and integrating world. The Centre provides a home to world-class researchers and convenes seminars, conferences, and policy dialogues that explore critical issues related to Asia’s existing and potential roles in defining and managing global affairs. The Centre is rapidly becoming a leading producer of innovative and pragmatic thinking on global governance.

With the shift of economic power to Asia come new opportunities and new dangers for world order and for the region. To date, the international agenda and the rules of globalisation have been set largely by the United States and Europe. That handful of countries can no longer effectively make the decisions for the world on the pressing agenda of global issues: security, energy, environment, trade, finance, health, and migration. Yet the other institutions of global governance – international organisations, networks of government regulators, public-private partnerships, transnational civil society coalitions – remain underdeveloped and unrepresentative of Asia’s rising power.

Within this broad context, the Centre has mapped out two initial areas of research: the mechanisms of global governance, and energy governance. The Centre’s research on global governance investigates a variety of innovative approaches to managing global issues, including: transparency and information; the public roles of the private sector; and inter-governmental organisations. The energy governance programme examines the policies and institutions needed to bring about a shift to a more effective, efficient, and sustainable global energy system, with a focus on the role of Asia.