Informasia

*** NOTE: Speakers are needed for 2026.
Please contact Patricia Yarrow at: yarrowp@gmail.com
NEXT INFORMASIA LECTURE
Informasia #11, November 17, 2025
Zoom link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/6338045613
Benjamin Blandin
“China’s asymmetric warfare in its near seas and in Asia Pacific”
Vimeo video:
https://vimeo.com/1137650949?share=copy&fl=sv&fe=ci

Audio link still on my Google Drive:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eIuYpTnX-wbiJgz1x3Rr7_Kn-xe_v_KQ/view?usp=sharing
Informasia Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/307236340460985
Abstract
China's asymmetric warfare along the first island chain and beyond (Indian, Pacific and Arctic Oceans).
This will include their growing use of autonomous and unconventional naval assets, such as buoys, drones, floating platforms and amphibious operations and power projection assets.
Our Speaker
Benjamin Blandin is a network coordinatorat the Yokosuka Council on Asia Pacific Studies (YCA P S) with a recent PhD in geopolitics at the Paris Catholic University.
He was previously a Senior Consultant in strategy at Airbus Defence and Space and at various international consulting firms.
He graduated with master’s degrees instrategy consulting from Lyon Business School (EM Lyon), in geostrategy from Paris II University (IS A D) and in geopolitics from Paris V III University (IFG).
Benjamin Blandin is a former (graduated) auditor of the Paris Military Academy (IHEDN), the French Naval Academy (CESM) and the International Foundation for the Law of the Sea (IFLOS).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NEWS
The news is that I am focused this summer 2025 on mastering this Informasia website.
Right now, I am combing through the current layout and updating it.
Once everything is order in a few days, I have arranged to contact the fine Support team at Strikingly, Informasia's web host.
We will discuss the correct template going forward. A reasonable fee is involved.
The current template is a long page with sections.
That must change to individual pages. No more endless scrolling!
Actually, I am excited to have reached this stage after four years.
Looks like Informasia has a community and continuity!
August 4, 2025 /Patricia Yarrow
BOOKS
Books by former Informasia lecturers. Updating goal: Display books in order of Informasia presentations, and information on the publication source. In progress as of August 2025/PY
ARTICLES

George Sioris, "The Silk and the Gold: Correcting the Course of Asian Studies", 2024
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GohZo59InVYEU3E5cPgSw4dg1WU5LxmU/view?usp=sharing
George Sioris, "The Creation of the World, Martyrdom et.al." 2025
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uzoYGXRpzM5xYEUkhcyKzdrld3EvnCiv/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=105775447281122203523&rtpof=true&sd=true
*Both articles are temporarily stored on Patricia Yarrow's Shared Google Drive.
There is a way to add the document, which I will attend to soon. August 2025/PY

*
Contact Us
Would you like to join Informasia's e-mail list? It is easy and there are just a few notices.
Every month, there are three short Reminders of the approaching lecture of the month, and a longer follow-up Report shortly after the meeting.
Any comments and questions are most welcome. This website is very much in progress as of August 2025. /Patricia Yarrow
Name

Email

Message

Comment
Support Informasia by inviting friends to join our Zoom meetings, always on the third Monday of every month.
Check us out on Facebook for announcements of the next meeting, as an "Event".
Informasia Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/307236340460985
Other Social Media (SMS) under developement. We do have a bluesky account, which is not active yet.
More thoughts on this soon.
Any suggestions, most welcome. Please send them to Patricia Yarrow at yarrowp@gmail.com
*
*
*
*
ABOUT INFORMASIA

Informasia launch
May 2020
Chaos ruled and all compass points were lost in the onslaught of the newly arrived worldwide COVID pandemic. In April, as all university classes moved to Zoom, Patricia Yarrow was gazing blankly from her Ryogoku (Tokyo) veranda. Bereft of meeting companions, academically informative monthly lectures, and friendly discussions, inspiration struck on that spring day. “We could do this on Zoom!”
A flurry of messaging later, a core group of eight castaways met (safely on Zoom) on 25 May 2020 to toss ideas around. Alex Byrne dreamed up the name “Informasia”, and the vision began coming into focus. Our Informasia ship cast off with an stalwart crew for shores unknown. Since then, our mailing list has grown from 10 to nearly 400. Our Facebook page counts some 280 friends.
Informasia community
Thanks to all the friends and colleagues of Informasia in Japan, Asia, Singapore, Maylasia, Australia, New Zealand, throughout the UK and Europe, and the hardy east coast of the USA, our Zoom community, launched June 2020. It has grown steadily ever since. Presentations in 2022 ranged from deeply academic translations of Korea, Japan, China, to research in progress, alarming lockdowns in Shanghai, to tranquil musings on cherry blossoms and ethereal meditations on life between death, with a helping of the foreign politics between China and Japan. If lectures were flowers, our Informasia bouquet would create quite the splashy ikebana display.

The Informasia logo comes to us from designer Ritsuko Lynch, upon the recommendation of Alex Byrne. She is based in Santa Monica, California, and can be reached at: https://en.99designs.jp/profiles/2313262
Join Informasia's e-mail list
Every month's lecture includes three brief pre-meeting reminders.
New addition: The Vimeo link to the lecture presentation and discussion will be sent the day after the lecture.
A newsy follow-up Report completes the set a few days later.
Name

Email

Comment

This website is under development. The Strikingly support team is assisting me as of November 2025./PY

Please contact Patricia Yarrow at: yarrowp@gmail.com

Zoom link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/6338045613

“China’s asymmetric warfare in its near seas and in Asia Pacific”

Vimeo video:

https://vimeo.com/1137650949?share=copy&fl=sv&fe=ci Audio link still on my Google Drive:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eIuYpTnX-wbiJgz1x3Rr7_Kn-xe_v_KQ/view?usp=sharing

Informasia Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/307236340460985

Abstract

China's asymmetric warfare along the first island chain and beyond (Indian, Pacific and Arctic Oceans).

This will include their growing use of autonomous and unconventional naval assets, such as buoys, drones, floating platforms and amphibious operations and power projection assets.

Our Speaker

Benjamin Blandin is a network coordinatorat the Yokosuka Council on Asia Pacific Studies (YCA P S) with a recent PhD in geopolitics at the Paris Catholic University.

Benjamin Blandin is a former (graduated) auditor of the Paris Military Academy (IHEDN), the French Naval Academy (CESM) and the International Foundation for the Law of the Sea (IFLOS).~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NEWS

The news is that I am focused this summer 2025 on mastering this Informasia website.

Right now, I am combing through the current layout and updating it.

Once everything is order in a few days, I have arranged to contact the fine Support team at Strikingly, Informasia's web host.

We will discuss the correct template going forward. A reasonable fee is involved.

The current template is a long page with sections.

That must change to individual pages. No more endless scrolling!

Actually, I am excited to have reached this stage after four years.

Looks like Informasia has a community and continuity!

August 4, 2025 /Patricia Yarrow

BOOKS

ARTICLES

George Sioris, "The Silk and the Gold: Correcting the Course of Asian Studies", 2024

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GohZo59InVYEU3E5cPgSw4dg1WU5LxmU/view?usp=sharing

George Sioris, "The Creation of the World, Martyrdom et.al." 2025

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uzoYGXRpzM5xYEUkhcyKzdrld3EvnCiv/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=105775447281122203523&rtpof=true&sd=true

*Both articles are temporarily stored on Patricia Yarrow's Shared Google Drive. There is a way to add the document, which I will attend to soon. August 2025/PY

*

Contact Us

Would you like to join Informasia's e-mail list? It is easy and there are just a few notices.

Every month, there are three short Reminders of the approaching lecture of the month, and a longer follow-up Report shortly after the meeting.

Any comments and questions are most welcome. This website is very much in progress as of August 2025. /Patricia Yarrow

Support Informasia by inviting friends to join our Zoom meetings, always on the third Monday of every month.

Check us out on Facebook for announcements of the next meeting, as an "Event".

Informasia Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/307236340460985

Other Social Media (SMS) under developement. We do have a bluesky account, which is not active yet.

More thoughts on this soon.

Any suggestions, most welcome. Please send them to Patricia Yarrow at yarrowp@gmail.com

*

*

ABOUT INFORMASIA

Informasia launch

May 2020

Informasia community

The Informasia logo comes to us from designer Ritsuko Lynch, upon the recommendation of Alex Byrne. She is based in Santa Monica, California, and can be reached at: https://en.99designs.jp/profiles/2313262

Join Informasia's e-mail list

Every month's lecture includes three brief pre-meeting reminders.

New addition: The Vimeo link to the lecture presentation and discussion will be sent the day after the lecture.

A newsy follow-up Report completes the set a few days later.

https://vimeo.com/1137650949?share=copy&fl=sv&fe=ci

Audio link still on my Google Drive:

Benjamin Blandin is a former (graduated) auditor of the Paris Military Academy (IHEDN), the French Naval Academy (CESM) and the International Foundation for the Law of the Sea (IFLOS).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*Both articles are temporarily stored on Patricia Yarrow's Shared Google Drive.
There is a way to add the document, which I will attend to soon. August 2025/PY