Collaborating to Build Resilience: Views on the Pacific at UW Tacoma

TACOMA, WASH. — The U.S. shift in foreign policy focus to the Asia Pacific region is the subject of a seminar series at UW Tacoma called “Views on the Pacific.” The third installment in the series, held Tuesday, Oct. 21 from 5 to 7 p.m. at William W. Philip Hall on the UW Tacoma campus, is entitled “Delivering Humanitarian Assistance and Supporting Regional Stability.”

Panelists will examine a central element of current U.S. foreign policy and how it is playing out in Asia-Pacific: the “whole-of-government” approach by which public service agencies collaborate to overcome institutional barriers and deliver services. Through examples of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief efforts, panelists will review the lessons we have learned in building partnerships across national, organizational and military-civilian boundaries, along with the important implications of those relationships for maintaining regional stability.

Panelists will be asked to consider the strengths and tensions inherent in multi-agency humanitarian missions, in which complementary and conflicting outcomes may arise. The panelists will reflect on South Sound and Washington roles in humanitarian assistance and the Asia-Pacific “rebalance.”

Participants include:

• Jaime Ramon T. Ascalon, Deputy Consul General from the Philippine Consulate General office in San Francisco. Mr. Ascalon is a career diplomat posted to San Francisco since 2011.
• William (Bill) Decker, board member of ShelterBox, international relief agency. As a member of the ShelterBox Response Team, Mr. Decker has been deployed to disasters, including Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.
• Stephen Dunn, a Karen from Burma and an advocate for the Karen and other ethnic peoples of Burma.
• Stephen R. Lanza, Lieutenant General, U.S. Army, Commanding General, I Corps, Joint Base Lewis-McChord. In 2014, Gen. Lanza assumed command of I Corps, whose mission includes fostering “partnerships across the Indo-Asia-Pacific region to enhance U.S. security.”

The panel will be moderated by Bill Kunz, Interim Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at UW Tacoma.

“Views on the Pacific” is presented by UW Tacoma in partnership with the Henry M. Jackson Foundation, The News Tribune and the Pierce Military & Business Alliance.

What: “Views on the Pacific - Delivering Humanitarian Assistance and Supporting Regional Stability”

When: Tues., Oct, 21, 2014, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Where: William W. Philip Hall, UW Tacoma campus

Cost: Free – registration at http://tacoma.uw.edu/views