Diplomacy

• WASHINGTON, March 15, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The White House Historical Association released a new episode of The White House 1600 Sessions podcast today featuring a conversation on the history between Ireland and the United States, and the relationship between the two countries beyond the month of March and St. Patrick's Day.
• The White House continues to hold several traditions for St. Patrick's Day in March, from the gifting of shamrocks between a representative of Ireland's leadership to the president, to dyeing the water green in the White House fountains.
• The White House 1600 Sessions podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify.
• The White House Historical Association's President Stewart McLaurin is the host of The White House 1600 Sessions, the Association's official audio and video podcast devoted to exploring the history, cultural impact, untold stories, and personal accounts of America's most iconic residence and highest office.

• "Investing in Climate Resilience: Unlocking a Growing Market of Adaptation Solutions" released by the Global Adaptation and Resilience Investment Group (GARI) in partnership with MSCI, The Lightsmith Group, the Bezos Earth Fund, and ClimateWorks Foundation
  WASHINGTON, March 14, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- A group of leading financial and philanthropic organizations today released an investor report and toolkit highlighting climate resilience solutions as a key growth industry of the 21st century.
• This report demonstrates that climate resilience is a clear and present growth investment opportunity for investors in the public markets.
• Because physical climate impacts are disproportionately affecting the communities least responsible for climate change, climate resilience solutions can simultaneously advance equity and environmental justice considerations.
• Climate adaptation and resilience in emerging markets is an overlooked yet critical investment opportunity to drive demand for innovative solutions," said Helen Mountford, president and CEO, ClimateWorks Foundation.

• US president, Joe Biden, and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jingping, talked on the phone this week for the first time since meeting in November.
• While the call signals both sides’ interest in stabilising their relationship, it also underscores the significant international, and national challenges, that Beijing and Washington face.
• Xi and Biden are believed to have covered Taiwan, the possible US TikTok ban, tariffs and Chinese support for Russia, in the 105 minute call.
• This phone call builds on the agreement between the two presidents at their face-to-face meeting in San Francisco last November to keep channels of communication open.

Flashpoint Taiwan

• There is no obvious change in Washington’s Taiwan policy, but neither is there in the importance that Beijing attaches to the issue.
• The US also sees Japan and the Philipines as regional allies, who may play a part in the volatile security situation in the Taiwan Strait and the Indo-Pacific more broadly.

Common international ground?

• North Korea’s increasing belligerence is clearly a concern for the US and its allies in Asia.
• This does not by any means indicate a convergence of interests between Washington and Beijing, but it signals that there is a bargaining space in which the two powers could find enough common ground between them to manage crises through existing international institutions like the United Nations.
• Yet, there are likely limits to a more cooperative approach by Beijing and Washington to international security.
• For the foreseeable future, this means that Beijing and Washington will, at best, be able to approach their shared, but not wholly overlapping interests in international security, by managing instability.

Stefan Wolff is a past recipient of grant funding from the Natural Environment Research Council of the UK, the United States Institute of Peace, the Economic and Social Research Council of the UK, the British Academy, the NATO Science for Peace Programme, the EU Framework Programmes 6 and 7 and Horizon 2020, as well as the EU's Jean Monnet Programme. He is a Trustee and Honorary Treasurer of the Political Studies Association of the UK and a Senior Research Fellow at the Foreign Policy Centre in London.

• of ICDM emphasised, ?Amidst the ongoing economic challenges, we remain steadfast in our commitment to navigating leadership in the dynamic landscape of Southeast Asia.
• Governance is coming into focus on a more profound level in the wake of heightened stakeholders?
• These include:
  (i) To Realign Board Agenda and Set Priorities Right: Boards often cling to outdated approaches, looking at things through yesterday?s lens and failing to adapt to changing circumstances.
• In addition to the 2024 ASEAN Board Trends report, ICDM also announced the formation of an ASEAN Directors Registry under the ASEAN IOD Network initiative.