The Japan Center for International Exchange (JCIE), the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS), and the Japan Foundation Asia Center jointly sponsored a two-day conference in 2000 of leading intellectuals in the region. This was the third in a series of meetings, the Intellectual Dialogues on Building Asia’s Tomorrow, that was initiated in response to a call by Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi to bring together intellectual resources from throughout the region to find effective responses to human security concerns that were threatening the peace and prosperity in Asia Pacific.

The first two meetings, held in 1998 and 1999, generated a consensus among participants on the critical importance of incorporating human security concerns into future development strategies. They also concluded that to further advance the international debate on human security, it would be necessary to promote more practical policy discussion on the basis of in-depth case studies of responses to specific human security threats. This report provides products of case studies on challenges to human security from environmental degradation and from the erosion of social capital and social safety nets, as well as another set of studies on the role of civil society in enhancing human security in Asian countries. A summary of discussions is also included.