THE KATIPUNAN CONFERENCE

A policy research conference, the Katipunan Conference has been a regular project of the Strategic Studies Program (SSP), Center for Integrative and Development Studies, University of the Philippines.

For this year’s conference, the sixth since 2016, the SSP is partnering with the Ateneo School of Government through the Ateneo Policy Center.

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CONFERENCE THEME

Foreign policy analysts point to an imminent cold war set to bifurcate the global economy between one group of countries allied with the United States and another aligned with China and Russia. Navigating this new economic and geopolitical terrain will be critical for many countries that seek to chart stable and sustained pathways for both economic development and national security.

For a country like the Philippines, the nexus between national security and its economic development is perhaps even more fundamentally intertwined. The Philippines is strategically situated in Asia, separated by a mere 1200 kilometers from Taiwan to its North, faced by disputed territories to its West, and locked in continuing peace-building challenges in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) in the far South of the Philippine archipelago. To the country’s East is the Philippine Rise (earlier known as Benham Rise), which contains the promise of natural gas and other resources and the challenge to protect and utilize these strategically. 

The Philippines sits adjacent to sea lanes for international trade, amounting to well over USD 3.3  trillion per year, as well as containing overlapping territory with the Coral Triangle—the richest biodiversity hotspot in the world, containing one-third of the world’s coral reefs. Hence, the Philippines also plays a key role in preserving marine ecosystems that likely underpin part of the almost USD 50 billion in fisheries output of the Southeast Asian region (accounting for almost a  quarter of the world’s total fisheries output).

This policy research conference brings together the country’s scholars and practitioners in defense and development policy, featuring the latest thinking on the country’s security and economic development strategies. It builds on recent efforts to integrate these two spheres more effectively. It builds on the tradition of the Katipunan Conference, a policy forum inaugurated in  2016, which brought together scholars and practitioners in national security. 

Present geopolitical shifts entail significant economic risks and opportunities – placing a premium on policymakers’ ability to absorb the latest data and analysis on the nexus of national security and global economic trends. This event responds to this, and it is envisioned as an annual gathering of scholars and practitioners in national defense and economic development to leverage the country’s top brain trust in these fields to support greater coherence and effectiveness through firmly integrated defense and development strategies.

SUBTHEMES

In addition to studies that ideally tackle the nexus of national security and economic development, the organizers also welcome paper presentations on the following:

• AFP Modernization
• Blue Economy
• Counter-terrorism
• Countering Greyzone Tactics
• Cybersecurity
• Defense Spending
• Economic De-Risking
• Economic Implications of War and Conflict
• Energy Security
• Foreign Influence Operations
• Free and Open Indo-Pacific
• Health Security
• Technology Competition and the “Tech War”
• West Philippine Sea

SUBMISSIONS

1. Send an abstract of papers on the theme or any of the subthemes consisting of no more than 300 words to [email protected]
2. Use subject line, “Katipunan Conference 2024 – Submission”
3. Submit abstracts on or before 30 August 2024

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Also, in your submission, please provide a short biographical note that includes the following:

1. Full name,
2. Relevant position/s and institutional affiliations
3. Contact details
4. Most recent picture

Selected papers will be included in a post-event publication.

VENUE: ARETÉ, ATENEO DE MANILA UNIVERSITY

ORGANIZERS

• Strategic Studies Program (SSP)
  Center for Integrative and Development Studies (CIDS)
  University of the Philippines
  
  
• Ateneo Policy Center
  Ateneo School of Government
  Ateneo de Manila University
  
  
• Konrad Adenauer Stiftung

• Harvard Kennedy School Alumni Association of the Philippines

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ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

• Herman Joseph S. Kraft
  

Convenor, Strategic Studies Program, Center for Integrative and Development Studies, University of the Philippines; Professor, Department of Political Science, University of the Philippines Diliman

• Victor Andres “Dindo” C. Manhit

President, Stratbase ADR Institute for Strategic and International Studies (ADRi)

• Ronald U. Mendoza, PhD

Senior Economist and Senior Research Fellow, Ateneo Policy Center, Ateneo School of Government

• RAdm. Rommel Jude G. Ong (Admiral, Philippine Navy, Ret.)

Professor of Praxis, Ateneo School of Government; Senior Research Fellow, Ateneo Policy Center, Ateneo School of Government

KATIPUNAN CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS

Download the proceedings of previous iterations of the Katipunan Conference:

• 3rd Katipunan Conference: The Philippine Strategic Outlook (2018)
• 4th Katipunan Conference: The Philippine Strategic Outlook 2020: Strategic Transformations and Responses in the Asia Pacific (2019)
• 5th Katipunan Conference: COVID-19 and the Strategic Environment (2020)