The annual Shangri-La Dialogue will take place May 29-31 in Singapore.  Senior U.S. defense officials and Congressional representatives will be at the security dialogue which first occurred in 2002.

The most senior diplomatic and defense officials of numerous countries convene at a meeting that plays a key role in the regional security architecture.  Officially known as the Asia Security Summit, it has become best known by the name of the hotel where it takes place.

Ministers and military officers present speeches and participate on panel discussions to express their nation’s position on key issues, providing a window into the latest defense postures and policies.  Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will give the Keynote Address at the 2015 IISS Shangri-La Dialogue.

As important as the speeches presented, is the opportunity for informal encounters between top level leaders, defense and security experts, and representatives of the private sector.  Key officials are able to meet many of their counterparts, build relationships and exchange views and ideas.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter will attend this year’s Shangri-La Dialogue, as will his counterparts from Japan, Australia, Indonesia, Mongolia, Cambodia, New Zealand, Singapore, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, among others.  Representatives of multilateral organizations such as the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the European Union (EU) will also attend.

Topics likely to be discussed at this year’s Dialogue include the strategic regional role of the United States and China; the developing security posture of other nations such as Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea and Russia; Counter Terrorism, Transnational Crime, and cooperation on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief and search-and-rescue; the development of the regional order, including the role of ASEAN, to foster security collaboration.  The territorial disputes in the South China Sea may be raised as they were last year.

The Shangri-La Dialogue is sponsored by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), a top level center of expertise on global security, political risk and military conflict. The IISS was founded in the United Kingdom in 1958 to study the issues of nuclear deterrence and arms control.  Its mission is “to promote the adoption of sound policies to further global peace and security and maintain civilised international relations.”

Speaking at the 2014 Shangri-La Dialogue, then Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel praised the gathering and called it “a venue, a bridge…, an occasion to exchange ideas, and have an opportunity to go deeper down into the great challenges and opportunities of our time.”

The Shangri-La Dialogue serves as a mechanism of the Asia-Pacific security system and does much to further understanding and discourse and in this way preserve the peace and stability that has served the Asia-Pacific so well.