The Berlin Conference on Asian Security (BCAS) is an annual two-day conference that has been jointly organized with the Heinrich Böll Foundation since 2022. The conference brings together experts and policymakers from Asia, Europe, and America to discuss relevant security issues in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond. The aim of the event is to facilitate an open, constructive exchange and promote dialogue on common challenges. Through focused panels, roundtable formats, and strategy workshops, the conference provides a space for diverse perspectives and practical discussions. The conference is held under Chatham House rules and participation is by personal invitation only.

In 2025, the BCAS took place for the eighteenth time under the title “Dreaming of Order, Wrestling for Power in a Trumpian World.” Around 60 participants from Asia, Europe, and the US discussed the challenges and power constellations in the new world order.

Participant Testimonials: 

• “The Berlin Conference on Asian Security has a special quality that is vital to constructive thinking in these challenging strategic times. It brings together serious scholars and policy practitioners in a trusted and respectful setting, allowing space for a healthy contest of ideas about the future of regional order in the Indo-Pacific, and what this means for Germany and Europe. As global geopolitics becomes more troubled, we need more such dialogue and the global community of experts that it fosters.” Professor Rory Medcalf AM, Head of the ANU National Security College, BCAS participant 2014, 2019 and 2025.
• “The Berlin Conference on Asian Security (BCAS) – a premier conference that addresses core security challenges in Asia – is a conference that I often look forward to because of the stimulating and robust exchanges within an environment that is open and welcoming”. Dr. Yeo Lay Hwee, Council Secretary and Senior Research Fellow, Singapore Institute of International Affairs (SIIA), BCAS participant 2006, 2008, 2015, 2016 and 2023.
• “The Berlin Conference on Asian Security has the virtue of being a European-led yearly debate engaging global partners in Asian security. It therefore avoids narrow lenses such as engaging single partners and is conducive to German and European participation into Asian multilateral security processes. It also serves as a useful window and debating space, with participants expressing themselves in confidence. Information, analysis and opinions are equally shared between officials, scholars and experts.” Professor François Godement, Special Advisor and Resident Senior Fellow - Asia and America, Institut Montaigne, BCAS participant 2004, 2017, 2023, and 2025.

BCAS Topics

BCAS 2022 - Asia’s Age of Minilateralism?

BCAS 2021 - The Geopolitics of Connectivity in the Indo-Pacific

BCAS 2020 - cancelled

BCAS 2019 - Dancing with elephants? Dealing with great power rivalries in Asia

BCAS 2018 - Competing spaces, shifting orders: Asia’s new geopolitics

BCAS 2017 - Triangular formations in Asia. Genesis, strategies, value added and limitations

BCAS 2016 - Nuclear Stability in Asia. Strengthening Order in Times of Crises

BCAS 2015 - International Dimensions of National (In)Security: Concepts, Challenges and Ways Forward

BCAS 2014 - »With great power comes great responsibility«: 100 years after World War I – Pathways to a secure Asia

BCAS 2013 - Territorial Issues in Asia - Drivers, Instruments, Ways Forward

BCAS 2012 - The U.S. and China in Regional Security. Implications for Asia and Europe

BCAS 2011 - cancelled

BCAS 2010 - Military Trends in Asia: Capabilities, Strategies, Regional and Global Implications

BCAS 2009 - A European Security Role in Asia. Expectations, Norms, Capacities

BCAS 2008 - China in Asia's Future: Perspectives from Asia, the United States and Europe

BCAS 2007 - The Internal Stability and Cohesion of Asian States: Consequences for Intraregional and International Relations

BCAS 2006 - Security Regionalism in the Asia-Pacific