Page 15 - Trilateral Korea Japan U.S. Cooperation

Dealing with North Korea-China

Challenges

Ralph Cossa

Ralph Cossa has been with Pacific Forum since 1993, first as Executive Director,
then (2001-2018) as President, and now as President Emeritus and Worldwide
Support for Development (WSD)-Handa Chair in Peace Studies. He is a member of
the ASEAN Regional Forum’s Experts and Eminent Persons Group and a founding
member of the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific (CSCAP). Ralph
Cossa is a political-military affairs and national security specialist with more than
50 years’ experience in formulating, articulating, and implementing U.S. security
policy in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. He served in the U.S. Air Force from 1966
to 1993, achieving the rank of colonel and last serving as special assistant to the
commander of the U.S. Pacific Command. He previously served as Deputy Director
for Strategic Studies at the National Defense University’s Institute for National
Strategic Studies and earlier as a national security affairs fellow at the Hoover
Institution at Stanford University and, in 1969-70, as an intelligence officer at
Osan Air Base in South Korea. He holds a B.A. in international relations from
Syracuse University, an M.B.A. from Pepperdine University, an M.S. in strategic
studies from the Defense Intelligence College and an honorary Doctorate in
International Relations from the University of Cambodia for his lifetime of work
in promoting peace and stability in East Asia.

Section I : North Korea-China Relations: How and Why Does Beijing Protect and Empower Pyongyang?