The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences was founded in 1739 and is an independent non-governmental organisation, whose overall objective is to promote the sciences and strengthen their influence in society. The Academy promotes science of the highest quality by fostering development and innovation in Swedish research. It enhances the status of science in society by drawing attention to key social issues, examining them in scientific terms and communicating the results, and joins in cooperation on global issues, with the aim of being an international scientific proponent of sustainable development.
The Royal Society for Asian Affairs (RSAA) was formerly known as The Royal Central Asian Society (originally, The Central Asian Society). The Central Asian Society was established in 1901 under the direction of Dr Cotterell Tupp, Captain Francis Younghusband, Colonel Algernon Durand, and General Sir Thomas Gordon. On 1 January, 1975, the Society changed its name to The Royal Society for Asian Affairs, reflecting a shift of emphasis from narrowly Central Asian matters to an embrace of Asia as a whole. The shift of emphasis had already been marked (in 1970) by the renaming of the Society's Journal as Asian Affairs. Formerly, Journal of the Royal Central Asian Society, the Society's Journal has been published continuously since 1914. The present remit of the RSAA is the contemporary economic, political and social developments of every Asian country.