The Institute for Strategic and Development Studies, Inc. (ISDS) aims to contribute to international and regional peace and cooperation, and human well-being through cooperative research and advocacy, discussion, publication and training activities. Its approach is to identify and mobilize specialists in the fields of international relations, policy studies, and countryside development who will generate a range of options in the formulation of international, regional, national, and local policies. It also conducts its own policy research studies on security and development issues at various levels of governance.

History

ISDS was founded by a group of academics based at the University of the Philippines in April 1991 as an independent policy research training and advocacy institution. It was established in response to the need for a continuing evaluation and interpretation of changes in national and global affairs for serious international, regional and national audiences. It is also a response to the need to provide academics a venue for research to enrich teaching and to provide inputs to policy making. It is also the institutional vehicle for regional networks in which its founding members had been involved, particularly the ASEAN Institutes of Strategic and International Studies (ASEAN ISIS).

It registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission as an independent, non-stock, non-profit professional research and training organization in January 1992.

Organization

The Institute maintains a multi-disciplinary and multisectoral Council of Fellows. Apart from academics, the Council is composed of ambassadors, foreign service officers, businessmen, and individuals who have distinguished themselves in the public, private and "peoples" sectors for their expertise or their vision.

ISDS is headed by Carolina G. Hernandez, Ph.D., President. Its core programs are the Strategic and Security Studies Program, the Regional and International Studies Program, and the National Development and Local Governance Program. Each one is headed by a Program Director.

Linkages

The Institute maintains a network of linkages with international, regional, national and local organizations, notably the ASEAN Institutes of Strategic and International Studies (ASEAN ISIS), the Japan Center for International Exchange (JCIE), the Council for Asia-Europe Cooperation (CAEC), the York Centre for International and Security Studies (YCISS), the Pacific Forum-CSIS, the Institute for National Policy Research ( INPR ), the Partnership for Democratic, Governance and Security (PDGS), the Research Forum on Local Governance (RF) as well as the Technical Working Committee on Amending the Local Government Code.

ISDS is also the national secretariat of the Philippine member committee of the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific (CSCAP Philippines); a partner institution of the Canadian Consortium on Asia-Pacific Security (CANCAPS); and the Joint Center for Asian Pacific Studies (JCAPS) of the University of Toronto and York University.

Outputs

The research outputs of the Institute are disseminated regularly as well as occasionally through a variety of local, regional, and international activities and publications such as roundtables, monographs, and books. The roundtables constitute what the Institute considers a crucial technique for generating information and insights from informed sources, and for wider and immediate dissemination of results. The other outputs are a set of flexible occasional and appropriate modes of disseminating individual and collective research.

Altogether, these outputs comprise the platform for the Institute's efforts at policy advocacy at the local, national, regional and international levels. These outputs are also sent to relevant government agencies in the country and abroad.

Current Projects

The Strategic and Security Studies Program

Best Practices in Democratizing Civil-Military Relations in Asia
Best Practices in Democratizing Civil-Military Relations in Asia is part of the Partnership for Democratic Governance and Security (PDGS) project that aims to promote democracy and strengthen democratic civilian control of the military. This project is undertaken in partnership with the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) based in Washington , D.C. , the Center for Military Relations (CCMR) of the Naval Post Graduate School based in Monterey , California , the SER en el 200, and the Universidad Torcuato di Tella (UTDT), both based in Buenos Aires.

South China Sea Dialogue Series
The South China Sea Dialogue Series, an on-going series of workshops brings together representatives of government and non-government agencies and institutes (including academics) and attempts to arrive at a better understanding of and generate appropriate policy responses to the security issues surrounding the South China Sea problem. The first meeting was held in November 1995 in partnership with the Pacific Forum-CSIS while the second one was held in October 1997 in collaboration with ASEAN-ISIS.

ASEAN Experts on the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea Series
The ASEAN Experts on the UN Convention Law of the Sea Series, an on-going series of workshops every three years brings together the ASEAN experts on the law of the sea in government, together with private experts on sea law in order to explore each other's understanding of UNCLOS, identify similarities and differences; to identify provisions in the UNCLOS that need further clarification or elaboration if it should serve as a mechanism for a stable oceans regime; to contribute to a process towards reaching a common ASEAN understanding and possibly a common ASEAN interpretation on UNCLOS; or at least, to try to narrow the divergences in their understanding and interpretation of UNCLOS; to identify problems in the UNCLOS that could reduce its potential as a framework for settling disputes such as those on the South China Sea; to discuss the implications of the relevant provisions of UNCLOS on the South China Sea disputes; and to create a network among them that can serve as an important policy instrument f or ASEAN in dealing with intra-ASEAN and extra-ASEAN territorial, maritime and maritime-related disputes such as those in the South China Sea. The first meeting was held in November 1997 in partnership with the ASEAN ISIS while the second one was held in October 2001 in collaboration with USIP.

The Regional and International Studies Program

UNICRI/CICP Project Coalition Against Human Trafficking in the Philippines
The survey research was carried out within the framework of the demonstration project entitled "Coalition Against Trafficking in Human Beings in the Philippines-Phase I'" of the Global Programme Against Trafficking in Human Beings that the Centre for International Crime Prevention (CICP) of the United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention (UNODCCP) in cooperation with the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) initiated in spring 1999. The design of the research instruments was a collaborative venture between UNICRI, the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) and the Institute for Strategic and Development Studies (ISDS).

The study strives to provide a more systematic examination of the involvement of organized crime groups in the experiences of victims of trafficking/smuggling as well as the initiatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the Philippines in providing assistance to these victims.

ASEAN-EU Think Tanks Dialogue
The ASEAN-EU Think Tanks Dialogue aims to dialogue on common issues facing their regions, to exchange best practices and lessons learned in meeting similar challenges, and to provide inputs to inter-regional cooperation.

ASEAN-ISIS/Southeast Asia Cooperation Program
The ASEAN-ISIS Cooperation Program, a multi-year joint undertaking with ASEAN-ISIS and JCAPS (now the Institute of Asian Research and Liu Centre for the Study of Global Issues, University of British Columbia) and supported by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) aims at strengthening the research, conference, and dialogue activities among members of the network. Activities include the holding of roundtables on economic and political development, the annual human rights colloquia, the Southeast Asia Forum, ASEAN Young Leaders Forum, and workshops as well as exchanges of fellows and experts from Canada and ASEAN. It also undertakes institutional capacity building for new members of ASEAN ISIS.

Council for Asia-Europe Cooperation (CAEC) Task Force on Labor Migration
The CAEC Task Force on Labor Migration, a group of Asian and European think tanks that provides policy studies and recommendations to the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM). ISDS involvement in this task force is made possible through the assistance of the Japan Center for International Exchange (JCIE), the Asian Secretariat for CAEC.

Development and Security in Southeast Asia (DSSEA)
DSSEA is a three-year collaborative research program involving a core group of 25 young scholars from Canada , Indonesia , and the Philippines . This research aims to better understand how the dynamics of development intersect with, exacerbate, or in other ways affect or affected by security demands. In doing so, this research covers three principal themes each linked to security, whether local, national, or regional:(1) environment, development and security; (2) people's productivity, development and security; (3) globalization, development and security.

Its three-volume output was published by Ashgate in 2003.

Selected Completed Projects

Regional and International Studies Program

Council for Asia-Europe Cooperation (CAEC) Task Force on Population, Food, Energy, and the Environment
The CAEC Task Force on Population, Food, Energy, and the Environment, aims to examine the interconnections between these four areas, i.e. population, food, energy and environment, within the context of socioeconomic change from a multidisciplinary viewpoint. This research is being undertaken by two sets of teams representing Asia and Europe in the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM). ISDS involvement in this task force is made possible through the assistance of the Japan Centre for International Exchange (JCIE), the Asian Secretariat for CAEC.

ASEAN External Relations
Review of ASEAN's External Relations was a rapid appraisal of ASEAN's dialogue relations and how these dialogues have changed in recent years. ASEAN's external relations have been expanding over the years and need to be comprehensively reviewed as ASEAN neared its 30th anniversary in 1997.

ASEAN Free Trade Area Study
The AFTA Study documented how ASEAN, with the establishment of the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA), has responded to the dramatic and rapid transformations in the global and regional environment. It also examined the impact of AFTA on the Philippines , particularly in the policy-making process. It emphasized the collaborative efforts of the policy-makers and the various sectors of society. This study, which is now available in book form, was conducted by Dr. Maria Socorro Gochoco-Bautista and Mr. Jaime Faustino. The Asia Foundation provides financial support for this undertaking.

ASEAN Industries and Investments Study
This pilot study intended to provide ASEAN Member Countries with a comprehensive perspective of the adjustment costs and benefits of AFTA on strategic industries. It aimed is to assist ASEAN policy-makers in the formulation of cooperative action plans for enhancing the global competitiveness of these industries. ISDS was coordinator for the textile sector of the project which was funded by the ASEAN Secretariat. CSIS Jakarta was the overall project coordinator.

ASEAN Labor Migration
ASEAN Labor Migration to Taiwan was a joint research undertaking with Cheng-chih University . It focused on the patterns of labor migration flows from Southeast Asia to Taiwan and involved an examination of the consequences and implications of such flows on the cooperation strategies in the Asia-Pacific region.

Strategic and Security Studies Program

Think Tanks in East Asia: Prospects for Philippine Think Tanks
ASEAN Labor Migration to Taiwan was a joint research undertaking with Cheng-chih University . It focused on the patterns of labor migration flows from Southeast Asia to Taiwan and involved an examination of the consequences and implications of such flows on the cooperation strategies in the Asia-Pacific region.

Bilateralism Project
This project which involved a series of workshops in early 1996 on the issue of "Bilateral Security in a Multilateral Era: New Linkages in Asia and the Pacific" was funded in part by The Asia Foundation (TAF) and undertaken in coordination with the Center for the Study of Australia-Asia Relations (CSAAR), TAF, the Japan Institute of International Affairs (JIIA), ISIS Thailand, and Korea University's Asiatic Research Center.

National Development and Governance Program

Rapid Candidate Appraisal Technique (RCAT)
This project which involved a series of workshops in early 1996 on the issue of "Bilateral Security in a Multilateral Era: New Linkages in Asia and the Pacific" was funded in part by The Asia Foundation (TAF) and undertaken in coordination with the Center for the Study of Australia-Asia Relations (CSAAR), TAF, the Japan Institute of International Affairs (JIIA), ISIS Thailand, and Korea University's Asiatic Research Center.

Assessment of Legislative Performance (ALP) I and II
ALP was a research project that assesses the legislative performance of the 8th and 9th Philippine Congress across selected variables and indicators to determine legislative accomplishments against constitutional directives and to provide inputs to legislative agenda through legislators, their staff and legislation-oriented NGOs and interest groups. The study utilized the 1987 Constitution as its working premise believing it is a basic, if ideal frame of reference since it is the only document that might be considered as embodying the collective vision of Filipinos about what they aspire to become as a nation.

Philippine NGOs in the Asia-Pacific Context
The NGO study traced the development of the non-governmental sector in the Philippines . It mapped-out the different NGOs and their involvement in different social sectors as well as the dynamics of their participation in local, national and regional undertakings. Written by Dr. Segundo E. Romero and Rostum J. Bautista, this study was part of a larger region-wide project of JCIE intended to provide information on the emerging civil society in the Asia-Pacific. The output is part of a book published in 1996 by JCIE and the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS), Emerging Civil Society in the Asia Pacific Community edited by Tadashi Yamamoto.

People Empowerment Through Non-governmental and People's Livelihood Organizations
A project that sought to determine the extent and dynamics of popular participation through NGOs and POs as provided for in the 1991 Local Government Code. Making use of selected local case studies and insights from learnings generated through key informant interviews and roundtables, the project was expected to establish conclusions about the nature of local government administration in the Philippines especially after 1991. Partial outputs were indicated in the GO-NGO Watch and Salinlakas publications. The project was funded by the Ford Foundation.

Working People Empowerment Through People's Livelihood Organizations
This is a pilot study that sought to determine the extent and manner in which people empowerment may have occurred over the last five years in the Philippines . Through 14 case studies of people's organizations throughout the country, the study documented the dynamic and structural manifestations of people empowerment in the country at the organizational level, and presented a profile of political attitudes and orientations of NGOs at the individual level.

Contacts

Dr Carolina Hernandez
Chair, Board of Directors
Email: carolghernandez@gmail.com
Email: isdsphil@cnl.net

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