The University of California Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation (IGCC) will lead a three-year project on Asian regional security and on economics and security as part of a new Asia Security Initiative being undertaken by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The foundation has committed $68 million over seven years to increase the effectiveness of international cooperation in fostering peace and security in Asia.

IGCC, a systemwide international affairs unit of the University of California, is one of 27 institutions, and the only one in a U.S.-based university system, awarded initial grants under the Asia Security Initiative.

IGCC researchers will undertake two projects: The first, on regional security architecture, goes beyond the design of international institutions to analyze how different types of multilateral security institutions might best reduce the risk of military conflict in this still-tense region. IGCC will partner with Yonsei University on this project.

The second project will address the interaction between economics and security and how that enhances the possibilities for peace and stability in Northeast Asia. It will be carried out in partnership with the University of Tokyo.

T. J. Pempel, professor of political science at University of California, Berkeley, and the principal investigator for the two IGCC components of the project, said, “The MacArthur Foundation’s selection of IGCC for this work is a testimony to our institute’s many years of leadership in cutting-edge security research, as well as to its close affiliations with some of the best Asian institutions working in the same fields.” The total award for the two projects is $1.4 million.

More information on the initiative may be found at http://asiasecurity.macfound.org