Greetings from the JFI! We hope all of our friends are enjoying the summer, wherever you are!
Please follow our two upcoming events taking place in Waterloo and Toronto in August.
Upcoming Events
August 14 - 15, 2012:
JFI will hold its second symposium of the year titled, “Emerging Security Roles: Lessons for Japan from Middle Power Experiences” at the Balsillie School of International Affairs, University of Waterloo.
Participants from Canada, Japan, and Sweden will make presentations on panels on “Japan as a ‘normal’ middle power,” “Over–the–horizon regional and global governance & security challenges,” and “Canadian, Australian, and Nordic styles of middlepowermanship.”
August 15, 2012:
Our symposium will be followed by another roundtable panel at the Japan Foundation, Toronto.
Panelists will report on discussions at the Waterloo symposium and reflect further on what lessons Japan can learn from other middle powers when thinking about its future regional and global security contributions.
Recent Events
July 11, 2012:
Prof. Masaru Kohno presented a paper titled “Audience Cost in Japan,” and Seung Hyok Lee and David Welch presented a paper titled “Island Disputes and the ‘Democratization’ of East Asian National Security Policy – making,” at the 22nd World Congress of Political Science, International Political Science Association, Madrid, Spain.
New JFI Publication
Andrew S. Thompson and David A. Welch, “Responding to Disaster: Neglected Dimensions of Preparedness and their Consequences,”
CIGI - BSIA Policy Brief No. 1 (based upon the proceedings of the December 2011 JFI symposium at the Embassy of Canada, Tokyo) The international community has become adept at responding to disasters. When a disaster hits - whether natural or as the consequence of human activity - humanitarian relief can be on the ground almost anywhere in the world in less than 24 hours. The international community has developed an elaborate network to respond to catastrophes involving the collaboration of international agencies, humanitarian relief organizations, national governments and concerned individuals. The collective ability to help save lives quickly is unprecedented in human history; the problem remains, however, that one never knows in advance where disaster will strike, what the immediate needs of those affected will be or what conditions the first responders will confront. Given these uncertainties, how can disaster - response planners best position themselves to take action?
Download the complete policy brief policy.
Japan Watch
The New York Times, “A Lost Deal for South Korea and Japan” (July 7, 2012)
The South Korean government made a major diplomatic blunder this month by postponing the signing of a limited military agreement with Japan at the last moment. Prior to the postponement, the bilateral negotiation was conducted in secret, as the South Korean government knew that any agreement military in nature with Japan would face a major political firestorm domestically.
The Lee Myung-bak administration’s initial fear is understandable. However, it seriously underestimated the attention the domestic media and South Korea society as a whole have paid to foreign policy issues, as it assumed that the government would be able present the agreement as a fait accompli just before it was to be signed.
Instead of conducting a backdoor negotiation, the two governments should have made the case for the agreement publicly from the beginning, and the South Korean government should have engaged the South Korea public to build support for it in advance. In fact, the two countries already have various de facto military exchange programs and cooperate on.
Of course, history is still very powerful in bilateral relations, and convincing the public in South Korea would not have been easy even if the government made the negotiation transparent from the beginning. And a number of actions and comments made by Japanese politicians have not been helpful in mitigating Korean distrust. Nevertheless, the two governments have their own different parts to play in convincing the public in South Korea, if they are to cooperate to deal with real challenges in the region.
Inside the Issues talks to Seung Hyok Lee, adjunct assistant professor at Renison University College and South Korean national.
