Fellow Project is an integral part of DKI APCSS’s long courses. It requires participants to undertake a project demonstrating their expertise by applying their acquired knowledge and skills. This process includes:

  1. Collaboration and Networking: Fellows work together and engage with faculty and experts, fostering relationships and mutual understanding.
  2. Perspective Sharing: Discussing local, national, and regional security challenges enhances networks and deepens understanding of a rules-based order and a free and open Indo-Pacific region.
  3. Research and Analysis: Fellows leverage their experience to research a specific topic, increasing situational awareness, creating viable options, and forming practical recommendations through critical thinking.
Objectives
  • Expand capacity for critical thinking
  • Practice querying, dialogue, cooperation, and connecting with key stakeholders
  • Hone inquiry skills for future work
  • Produce outcomes of real-world value
Types of Fellow projects

Read the latest fellow’s project booklet to celebrate their achievements and discover how their work fosters a secure and prosperous region.

  • Individual Fellow Project: Each fellow undertakes a project focusing on a specific challenge related to a policy, program, process, or practice. This project is completed independently, allowing the fellow to apply their unique insights and expertise.
  • Cohort Project (Group Project): In this format, fellows collaborate on a group project. To participate in a Cohort Project, each fellow must be preselected by their respective country’s embassy and DKI APCSS. This collaborative approach encourages teamwork and leverages the diverse perspectives of the fellows involved.

* If your country wishes to send a team to work on a Cohort Project, inform the US Embassy, the DKI APCSS Recruiter (recruiter@apcss.org), and the Fellow Project Team (fellowsproject@dkiapcss.net).

Fellow Project Highlight

Project Phases

Fellows Project Cohort Projects
Before Course
  • Receive course package
  • Identify a project
  • Consult your superior
  • Define classification level
  • Attend DKI APCSS pre-course virtual meeting
  • Government officials, the U.S. Embassy, DKI APCSS agree on a topic that has all the qualities of a Fellow Project
  • A team of 3-6 Fellows is selected to work as a group
  • The team attends virtual meetings with DKI APCSS mentor
During Course
  • Attend project seminars and plenary presentations to further develop project ideas
  • Submit project goal statements and presentations demonstrating progress
  • Coordinate with faculty lead/mentor on progress and assignments
After Course
  • Fellows report back to superiors on the project
  • Implement their plan; attend virtual update sessions at 2, 6, and 10 month intervals
  • Report back on completion/implementation
  • Cohort implements project with mentoring as required and reports on completion

Latest News and Guest Speakers

  • General (Ret) Thanakorn Thongsuk speaking

Roundtable with Senior DKI APCSS Thai Alumni

While visiting Thailand in July, DKI APCSS Director Suzanne Vares-Lum conducted a senior alumni roundtable. Nine alumni attended the meeting which focused on DKI APCSS programs such as Fellows projects and a new mentoring program. Three alumni have offered to be mentors for future Fellows, and the Thai Alumni Association offered to take an active role in future Alumni mentor recruiting and matching with Fellows. Participants also shared their reflections on the current security situation in Thailand.

  • Mr. James Ward

Fellow Project Highlight: Money Launderers Who Exploit Hawai‘i Real Estate

James Ward, an alumnus of the Comprehensive Security Cooperation Course (CSC) 22-1, describes his time at DKI APCSS as “transformational” and pivotal in advancing his professional trajectory. Among the most significant outcomes of his experience was the development of his Fellow Project, which tackled the pressing issue of real estate money laundering in Hawai‘i.

Karakoa Forum Launched in Manila

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of National Defense (DND) and the National Defense College of the Philippines (NDCP) hosted a two-day Karakoa Forum in Manila on April 25 and 28, 2025, in partnership with the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies (DKI APCSS). A team of five DKI APCSS faculty members — Dr. Ginnie Watson, Professor Mike Burgoyne, Dr. Sam Mullins, Col. Matt Kent, and Maj. Kyle Brown — traveled to the Philippines at the invitation of the government to support the launch of the inaugural forum.

DKI APCSS Supports the 5th Thai Senior Security Studies Program

The Royal Thai Armed Forces’ Strategic Studies Center of the National Defense Studies Institute (NDSI) recently hosted the fifth Senior Security Studies Program (SSSP). The intensive, one-week course for senior Thai security sector leaders was held in Bangsaen, Chonburi, and focused on the impact of regional changes and the capacity of leaders and institutions to manage those changes. Two faculty members from the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies (DKI APCSS) once again participated in the course.

Transnational Security Cooperation Participants Explore Strategic Challenges in the Indo-Pacific

Thirty senior leaders participated in the Transnational Security Cooperation (TSC) course hosted by the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies from July 14-19, 2024, in Honolulu. TSC 24-1 is an in-depth executive education program designed to prepare senior security practitioners and military leaders to engage in cooperative security efforts that advance a free and open Indo-Pacific.