Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies

Yesterday the CSC 26-2 Fellows engaged in the "Great Game", a national security decision-making Megagame. Fellows confronted complex gray zone scenarios, challenging them to navigate the intricate dynamics of global cooperation and strategic competition.

DKI APCSS was honored to welcome the Honorable Michael J. Borders Jr., Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Energy, Installations, and Environment, Department of the Air Force, and his special assistant Mr. Abe Vasquez on June 8, 2026. DKI APCSS leadership briefed him on current initiatives, strategy, and how the Center supports INDOPACOM strategic objectives. He also participated in a faculty roundtable on , and in the region.
Pictured are: DKI APCSS Dean of the College Carleton Cramer, Dean of Business Operations and Admissions (DABO) Wade Turvold, the Honorable Michael J. Borders Jr., DKI APCSS Deputy Director Russ Bailey, Deputy DABO U.S Air Force Col. Jeffrey Digsby, and Special Assistant to the assistant secretary Mr. Abe Vasquez.

Aloha, these upcoming Dialogue and Strategic Voices podcasts will be recorded during an upcoming program in Brunei.

* Strategic Voices - Changing Character of War: Has Technology Changed How Wars are Won?

* Dialogue - Seizing the Orbital High Ground with Dr. Namrata Goswami

We'll post the videos as soon as they are available. Mahalo!

A new Security Nexus Perspective by Deon Canyon and Michael Kolton examines why the dominant metric—defense spending as a percentage of —falls short in the and offers practitioners a tailored alternative.
In “Beyond the Two Percent: A Practitioner Framework for Assessing Burden Sharing in the Indo-Pacific,” the authors introduce the Burden and Responsibility Index for Security Contributions (BRISC)—a tiered, weighted, practitioner-ready instrument grounded in the federal government’s own multi-dimensional burden-sharing framework. BRISC organizes partner contributions across five tiers, applies context-variable weights that shift from peacetime to contingency, and incorporates an access, basing, and overflight conditionality modifier that accounts for partners whose access commitments are hedged or unreliable under pressure. Through illustrative case studies of , the , and , the paper demonstrates how the instrument reveals the strategic value of contributions that -derived metrics often overlook—giving security cooperation officers a more actionable basis for engagement.
Read the full paper at https://dkiapcss.edu/nexus_articles/beyond-the-two-percent-a-practitioner-framework-for-assessing-burden-sharing-in-the-indo-pacific/

How can Ukraine’s maritime success in the Black Sea inform ’s defense? A new Security Nexus Perspective by Moe Reichardt examines how ’s pioneering use of uncrewed surface vehicles (USVs) in the can inform Taiwan’s maritime defense against potential Chinese coercion.
Read the full analysis here: https://dkiapcss.edu/nexus_articles/towards-a-layered-denial-strategy-lessons-from-the-black-sea-for-taiwan/

How is India securing its energy future amid rising Middle East tensions?
A new Security Nexus Perspective by Dr. Srini Sitaraman and Anuttama Banerji explores New Delhi's strategic pivot to the United States. Discover how deepening U.S.-India energy partnerships—from landmark hydrocarbon deals to joint clean-energy initiatives—are building long-term supply-chain resilience for India.
Read the full analysis here: https://dkiapcss.edu/nexus_articles/navigating-the-storm-indias-energy-security-and-the-strategic-pivot-to-the-united-states/

Read "Deterrence Under Pressure" by Dr. Andrea Malji a chapter in the book "America's Strategic Edge-- now available online at https://dkiapcss.edu/americas-strategic-edge/
Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies

On May 27, 2026, Director Suzy Vares-Lum met with retired Adm. Sakai—former Chief of Staff of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and current International Fellow at the Naval Postgraduate School.
We are proud to announce that Adm. Sakai will be joining us as a Distinguished Adjunct Professor for the 2026–2028 term!
Adm. Sakai was accompanied by retired U.S. Marine Col. Jason Perry, Director of Wargaming at Naval Postgraduate School. We look forward to the vast expertise and strategic insights Adm. Sakai will bring to our upcoming programs.

This week the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies was honored to welcome RADM Yukiyasu Sawai, superintendent of the Japan Coast Guard Academy, and RADM Gregory C. Rothrock, superintendent of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. They were briefed on Center priorities and programs, met with Japanese Fellows currently attending the Comprehensive Security Cooperation course, and discussed future opportunities for educational engagement and exchanges to leverage the U.S.-Japan Alliance and advance in the . Also in attendance were members from the Consulate General of Japan in Honolulu｜在ホノルル総領事館 and the アメリカ大使館 U.S. Embassy Tokyo U.S. Coast Guard