On May 15, 2019, SIAS held a roundtable conference on security challenges facing the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Lars Anderson from the Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS) visited SIAS and shared his ideas on the security challenges faced by the BRI with academics from local institutions, including the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies (SIIS), the Institute of International Relations of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences (SASS) and the Shanghai University of Political Science and Law (SHUPL).

Academics at the meeting offered their insights into the security and social challenges facing the BRI projects in South Asia and Southeast Asia as well as their root causes. They also talked about the approaches and experience of Central Asian and European countries in countering extremism and terrorism. SIAS research staff are also at the meeting.