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Both Asia & Europe have produced remarkable thinkers who have dedicated their careers to the pursuit of understanding the topic of their specialisation. However, by and large, it can be difficult for them to transcend the boundaries of their audiences even if their ideas could strike a resonant chord in the opposite region.

ASEF Lecture Tours are designed to provide a platform for emerging or well-established "leaders of opinion" of Asian and European civil societies to address an informed audience on issues pertaining to bridging the cultural and civilisational differences between Asia and Europe.

Every year, ASEF's Intellectual Exchange Department selects three personalities from each region and organises a tour of the opposite region in partnership with host institutions in the respective countries.

Each Lecturer conducts a series of presentations in four to six cities of a sub-region during a 12-15 day trip in the other region.

Gender Wage Differentials in Asia and Europe: An Overview of Issues and Findings

Despite the diversities in economic development between the two regions of Asia and Europe, many economies are experiencing steadily increasing trends of female labour force participation. Along with this increased participation in the formal sector and the awareness of the need to empower women, has come the concept of gender as an overarching socio-cultural variable,s een in relation to other factors such as age, class and ethnicity, Achieving gender wage equality is a slow process as it challenges one of the most deeply ingrained of all human attitudes.

This lecture will elaborate on identifying the various factors hat impact he wage differentials in the various countries of Asia and Europe. Further it will enable one to determine whether the focus of policy to narrow the gender wage gap should be upon enforcing equal pay within occupations or redistributing female employees between occupations.

Is the size of the gender wage gap similar in Asia and Europe? What are the explained factors that determine the gender wage gap in Asia and Europe? What is the major distinction between the occupational-segregation wage differences and the within-sector wage differences? These are among the questions that Dr. Teo Siew Yean will address during her lecture.

25 May - 5th June 2006
Tabloid Democracy: The Paradox of Press Freedom in Asia and Europe

Through a comparative study of the media experience in Southeast Asia, this lecture will attempt to show that the deregulated media environments and unbridled commercialisation of the press in these countries threaten to trivialise public discourse on one hand, and sensationalise, if not exacerbate political and ethnic conflict, on the other. The experience of democratic transition in Asia and in the new democracies in Europe, show a similar contradiction of political underdevelopment despite the presence of a newly assertive and free press.

Indeed, even as citizens jealously hold on to their hard earned liberties, many public intellectuals and reformers within the media ask: why is more freedom of the press creating less meaningful political engagement among citizens and less accountability among their leaders? How can we continue to guard our free and independent press while instituting reforms that enable it to credibly assert itself in the public sphere? How can the press serve as a watchdog to the powerful in an environment where the pressures of the market place are compounded by political and economic underdevelopment?

Making Euro-Asian Soft Power in the 21st Century:Concepts, Constraints and Consequences

Dr. Sebastian Bersick (Belgium)

By way of interregional cooperation within the overall framework of the ASEM process, the European Union and its member states have projected European soft power to East Asia . In doing so, the European Union has facilitated and impacted on processes of East Asian region building thereby enabling not only the increase of Chinese soft power in East Asia but also the coming into existence of Asian soft power.

Why have European and Asian state-actors started to develop common soft power capabilities? What are the concepts and interests that guide the projection of European and Asian soft power? What are the structural and ideational constraints to Euro-Asian soft power? What are the consequences of this approach for the involved actors, including the USA ? These are among the questions that will be addressed during the lecture. Finally, this lecture will formulate policy recommendations that are directed at the European Union and East Asia .

Knowledge Regions and Innovation in an era of Globalisation: Challenges and Opportunities for Europe and Asia

Intertwined with globalisation, societies and the international system in general are experiencing major structural changes that are being determined by two distinct processes – the simultaneous emergence of the “knowledge society” and the “network society.”

The “knowledge society” paradigm is a major challenge that both European and Asian societies are facing, and the “knowledge regions” - even what could be considered as micro-regions - play a critical role in this process. Paradoxically however, interactions, ties and relations between European “knowledge regions” and Asian “knowledge regions” have not received the attention they deserve by policymakers, and this remains by and large a missing dimension in the analysis of EU-Asia bilateral relations. This lecture stimulated debate on this strategic dimension of EU-Asian relations. In doing so, introduced a more disaggregated level of analysis and a wider and more integrated approach that goes beyond the traditional ways of viewing inter-regional relations.

The European Union through the Eyes of Asia : A Comparative Study of Media Perceptions

The topic of his lecture is tied in to several years of research that has been done by him and a group of researchers for a project : Public, Elite and Media perceptions of the EU in Asia-Pacific region . They have also published a book entitled “ The EU through the eyes of the Asia-Pacific: Public Perceptions and media representations ,” edited by Martin Holland and Natalia Chaban, which compiles the results of this project. Building on this previous work, and with further research, Martin Holland toured several countries in Europe to elaborate further on their research done in collaboration with ASEF and a consortium of Asian universities under our ESiA platform of major newspapers and TV channels in 5 Asian countries. (China, Singapore, South Korea, Japan and Thailand) which forms the first phase of this investigation into how the Asian public sees the European Union (the next step being a information and attitude survey of the general public in the target countries). Needless to say, there is very little rigorous study of how Europe is seen by external eyes and this type of analysis has several policy implications for Europe 's foreign relations.

Mobility, Diversity and Social Cohesion: challenges and opportunities in Asia and Europe

Lessons and Reflections on Regionalisation in Asia and Europe : An Asian & European Perspective

Rodolfo C. Severino (Philippines)

Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore

Former Secretary-General : Association of Southeast Asian Nations

Bernhard Zepter

(Germany)

Former Ambassador and Head of the European Commission Delegation to Japan

Former Deputy Secretary General of the European Commission

Through comparative studies of media like optics, photography, movies, TV, etc in East Asian Modernity, this lecture will attempt to show how the modernisation of media technology coming from the West in general and from Europe in particular has been a historical vector of the process of modernisation in Asia and consequently a cultural process by which Asian cultures have re-appropriated their own systems of expression.

The lecture will start from a historical study on transformations of pictorial representation caused by the introduction of the occidental geometric perspective in the 17 th century and of photography in East Asia in the 19 th century. Also by analysing contemporary TV drama and animation movies, this lecture will trace how modern media techniques changed and reconfigured the representations of everyday life of people in Asia. In addition, it will also analyse how these techniques have finally given place to a general process of "cultural translation."

Over the last century, countries in both Asia and Europe have witnessed severe human rights and humanitarian law violations involving large numbers of victims, often committed during armed conflict or serious civil unrest. With the aid of case studies and current examples from both Asia and Europe, this lecture outlines how a lack of basic justice or redress for vicims of major crimes ultimately undermines the rule of law, human security and the full enjoyment of human rights. The lecture dicussed prospects and challenges for the better application of international standards on criminal justice and redress for such violations, with a particular focus on the potential role of the International Criminal Court.

Political and Geopolitical Dimensions of the Humanitarian Intervention in Aceh: A View from Jakarta

The region of Aceh has been the focus of much attention both within Indonesia and internationally because of the movement within Aceh for independence from Indonesia. When the tsunami struck in December 2004, Aceh was once again catapulted to the centre of attention - but for different reasons.

In examining the reactions of the local authorities and the international community to the population in Aceh, the lecturer analysed the humanitarian intervention that followed from the perspective of the local Acehnese community, the Indonesian government and the international actors that were involved in this effort.

From Bullets to Ballots and Beyond: Building Post-Conflict Democracies in Asia and Europe

Through four case studies, this lecture by PLAMEN TONCHEV of the Institute of International Economic Relations (Greece) attempted to highlight some of the intricacies of democracy building in a post-conflict environment. The main lessons learned from the comparative analysis are that, while restoring democratic institutions is a kind of prerequisite, many more steps are needed on the road to full recovery. Exactly what kind of financial and technical assistance to post-conflict areas should be envisaged and to what degree the international community should be engaged in the process is less clear. It is sufficiently clear however, that ballots alone do not necessarily lead away from bullets.

Unfinished Democracy?
Gender Equality and Political Representation in a Comparative Perspective

This lecture by Asst. Professor Ann-Cathrine Jungar of the University College of Southern Stockholm will address the lack of gender equality from a theoretical as well as a comparative perspective.It will analyse issues such as the importance of equal representation in a democracy, policies that support gender equality and finally whether men should be included in these policies as well.

This lecture by Ruan Zongze, Vice-President of the China Institute of International Studies will examine the common challenges that the two regions of Asia and Europe face in light of globalisation. Further, it will examine the responsibility on the two regions as major world players in tackling these problems as well as strangthening other institutions such as the United Nations.

What can Asia and Europe do to strengthen multilateralism? By studying some cases of multilateral cooperation in regional affairs, this lecture aims to demonstrate how multilataeralism works in Asia. It will also identify the challenges and difficulties in promoting multilateralism.

This lecture by ROMAIN BERTRAND of the Center for International Research and Studies (CERI), Paris, discusses what place could be reserved for religion in general, and for Islam in particular, in modern political life. What are or should be the relationship between State and religion ? What are the key challenges posed by Political Islam? How does Political Islam manifest itself in Asia and Europe and what are the differences and similarities in the way Europe and Asia are dealing with these challenges?

November 15-30 2003
Countering Unilateralism, Preserving Diversity: Dimensions of Asia-Europe Co-operation
Madrid I Lisbon I Barcelona I Milan

This lecture by DR YEO LAY HWEE, Senior Research Fellow at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs (SIIA) addressed the importance of Asia-Europe co-operation in a climate of increasing US unilateralism. It also discussed the tremendous changes that both Asia and Europe have undergone over the last century and explored the different cultural tendencies in the two regions. Finally, attempted to draw out the likely state of relations between the two regions.

December 1-15 2003
Islam Embedded:Religion and Plurality in Southeast Asia as a mirror for Europe
Paris I Leeds I Berlin I Bonn I Dusseldorf I Brussels

This timely lecture by PROF. SHAMSUL AB, Director of the Institute of the Malay World and Civilization (ATMA), and the recently established Institute of Occidental Studies (IKON) at the National University of Malaysia, re-examined the nature and state of Islam and its cultural practices in the region of Southeast Asia. It attempted to dispel notions of a 'global Islam' and instead argued that the Islam in Southeast Asia is embedded in layers of historical and sociological reality as is Islam in Europe.

This lecture by PETER ASHBY, Director of the New World Order Forum, UK addressed the relationship between government and the governed with a focus on the level of trust between the two. The lecture analysed four factors that have contributed to the levels of 'distrust,' and the challenge this poses to the countries. Finally, the lecture offered some suggestions as to what should be done to overcome this crisis.

Excelling Globalisation: Connecting Innovations from the European Union and East Asia

This lecture, by CESAR DE PRADO YEPES of the Comparative Regional Integration Studies, United Nations University, Bruges, Belgium will argue hat the global comparative advantage of both Western Europe and East Asia rests not in military might, but in incremental peace through the rapid acquisition and wise use of knowledge by more people. It will examine public and private networks between the countries - specifically of Western Europe and East Asia and focus particularly on businesses and the academia. Finally, this lecture will ask if policymakers in both regions are ready for this level of conciousness.

European Integration in the Field of Foreign and Security Policy - a Model for Asia?

Beijing I Hanoi I Luala Lumpur I Bangkok I Singapore

May-Britt Stumbaum (Germany)

German Council on Foreign Relations

Designed for a civil society (non-expert) audience, this lecture by MS. MAY-BRITT STUMBAUM of the German Council on Foreign Relations started by outlining how the Europeans, after two devastating world wars, have been trying to find a way to build up long-lasting peace in Europe. After a brief history of European integration and the structure of the European Security and Defence Policy, the lecture laid out the driving force, challenges and chances of this process. Where has integration taken place - where not? Where has cooperation taken place - where not? What are the inhibitors to further integration?

Dr. Sebastian Bersick (Belgium)