Information Operations in the Pacific Theater

SYMPOSIUM THEME

The changing face of the Pacific Information Environment.

SYMPOSIUM OBJECTIVE and BACKGROUND

The purpose of this symposium is to examine the contested and congested information environment across the Pacific Region and discuss how multinational information operations can help shape conditions for continued stability and peace within the region. The symposium will provide a venue for increased awareness of Asia-Pacific issues and an opportunity for networking, a multinational exchange of ideas, and partnership building within the region.

In 2011, President Obama directed his national security team to make America’s “presence and mission in the Asia-Pacific a top priority.” The Indo-Asia-Pacific stretches from California to India. It encompasses over half of the Earth’s surface and well over half of its population. This region is culturally, socially, economically, and geo-politically diverse. The nations of the Indo-Asia-Pacific include five of our nation’s seven treaty allies (i.e. Australia, Japan, Korea, Philippines, and Thailand), three of the largest economies in the world (i.e. U.S., China and Japan), and seven of the ten smallest (i.e. Tokelau, Niue, Tuvalu, Futuna, Nauru, Marshall Islands, Palau), the most populous nations in the world (i.e. China, India, and Indonesia), and the largest Muslim-majority nation (i.e. Indonesia). One-third of the world's bulk cargo and two-thirds of its oil shipments now pass through the Indian Ocean. Regional cooperation to ensure the safety and security of these vital trade routes will become increasingly important over coming decades. All these aspects, when you take them together, result in a unique strategic complexity. And this complexity is magnified by a wide, diverse group of challenges that can significantly stress the security environment. To be successful, we must thoroughly understand the constantly changing information environment and the people who comprise that environment. This conference will examine the Indo-Asia-Pacific challenges, multinational partnerships, evolving concepts, and the means by which information is passed in the context of the information environment to explore options to help shape conditions for continued stability and peace within the region.

PLEASE NOTE: This symposium is tentatively planned and subject to approval. Confirmation will be announced by the AOC sometime in the future.

SYMPOSIUM AGENDA

Topics will include:

• Asia-Pacific Challenges
• Partnership Outreach
• Intel Update: Asia-Pacific Threats
• Information Operation in the Pacific Region
• Impacts of Emerging Technology on Security
• Nexus of Commerce, Diplomacy, Security, and Human Migration
• Open Source and Crowd-Source Solutions
• Mapping the Human Terrain in Support of IO
• Satellite Imaging of the Asia-Pacific Region
• Opinion Research for Business
• Training and Partnership Building Within the PACOM AOR