Countries involved in war waver between the pole of fundamental resolution and the pole of compromise peace. Immediate peace is not always the absolute preference. When will ceasefire talks begin and who will be the mediator? This article explores how wars end based on the mechanisms of war and peace.   Chijiwa Yasuaki, Senior Fellow, National Institute for Defense Studies   It appears that the Russia-Ukraine War will be protracted. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has expressed willingness to mediate in ceasefire talks between Russia and Ukraine. Germany, France, Italy and other countries are also exploring options for an early ceasefire, but there have been no significant moves toward war termination. At the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, observers predicted a quick and overwhelming victory for Russia and exile for the Zelensky government. However, President Volodymyr Zelensky decided ... ... [Read more]

  Akiyama Nobumasa, Professor, School of International and Public Policy and the Graduate School of Law at Hitotsubashi University   The Russia–Ukraine War has highlighted a number of questions regarding the nature of security in relation to nuclear weapons. For instance, we have two questions: “Will nuclear weapons actually be used?” and “Does the stability–instability paradox shape US behavior?” meaning whether Russia’s nuclear threats have restricted the United States and Europe from engaging in the conflict, thereby making the invasion of Ukraine possible. These two questions point to extremely important difficult issues when considering the future international order for nuclear weapons. Does the operation of Russia’s nuclear arsenal in the Russia–Ukraine War signal the start of the “Third Nuclear Age” with a growing need for nuclear deterrence premised on the use of nuclear weapons (Takahashi Sugio, “Viewpoint: Ukrainian crisis: The beginning of the ‘Third ... ... [Read more]

  How can we revive the post-WWII international order that has been damaged by Putin’s war? I believe now is the time to envision a new postwar order. The proactiveness and creativity of Japanese diplomacy will be tested as we head toward the construction of a security framework that links NATO and the Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) as well as a platform for highly effective disarmament and arms control.   Iwama Yoko, Professor, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS)   The world is always full of injustice and destruction, so simply perpetrating unlawful violence is not in itself enough to destroy the social order. Unless the act presents a fundamental challenge to the institutions that maintain the order, the basic order is maintained regardless of the amount of violence. Putin’s war has been going on for quite some time now, but why ... ... [Read more]

  How should the international community face up to a superpower that is growing increasingly inward-looking due to the US-China conflict, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Ukrainian war?   Kajitani Kai, Professor, Graduate School of Economics, Kobe University   As COVID-19 continued to spread in early 2022, Shanghai City in China entered a total lockdown on March 28. The lockdown lasted more than two months. The outside world found out from social media that many residents were exasperated and stressed by uncertainty about the future, and that the lockdown delayed distribution and caused difficulties with food deliveries. By June, the lockdown was finally lifted, but activities remain heavily restricted. Even if they do not go as far as total lockdown, many cities implement a policy of dynamic zero-COVID whereby, if a single infected person is found in an apartment building, residents are not allowed ... ... [Read more]

  The post-Cold War euphoria of the triumph of liberal democracy did not persist. In an era of resurgent struggles over “geography and history” and the rise of China as a new destabilizing factor, what has been the thinking of Japanese diplomacy and how has it been behaving?   Iokibe Makoto, Chancellor of University of Hyogo   Globalization and regional identity In October 1989, the Berlin Wall fell, the Communist regime of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe collapsed in an avalanche-like fashion, and the long-lived bipolar order under the Cold War ended. The antagonism between two camps headed by two nuclear powers ended and people expressed naïve expectations of the creation of one peaceful world. Francis Fukuyama wrote The End of History and the Last Man, trying to depict the ultimate victory of liberal democracy and market economy as history unfolding. However, suffering ... ... [Read more]

  Okamoto Takashi, Professor, Kyoto Prefectural University   China, “emperors,” and “empire” Regarding China as an “empire” and its supreme leader Xi Jinping as an “emperor” seems to be a common idea in both East and West. A Western magazine I saw a long time ago also used a photo of Xi Jinping wearing a traditional Chinese emperor costume on its cover. The autocrat, meaning the “emperor” of an “empire” who reigns supreme over vast territories, is probably the most obvious image of the modern Chinese leader both in China and abroad. Of course, Xi Jinping and the other Chinese leaders are not emperors in history. There is no hereditary rule and they have terms of office. Reign and tenure in themselves are not the same. The system is indeed one that was created by denying the earlier imperial system. If we are to ... ... [Read more]

  The vast majority of the daily media coverage on Ukraine originates from Western media outlets. However, there are many international opinions that are not reflected in these media reports. This article examines the various views held by non-G7 nations in light of the historical context from which they emerged.   Haneda Masashi, Director of Tokyo College, The University of Tokyo   In response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine that began on February 24, the Tokyo College of the University of Tokyo, where I serve as director, initiated an interview series in April entitled “The Ukraine Crisis: Perspectives From Around the World.” We invited researchers whose primary geographical areas of expertise are the Middle East, Africa, South Asia, China, Southeast Asia, and Latin America to comment on how the Russian invasion is perceived in their respective research regions. The video recordings of the ... ... [Read more]

Hayashi Yoshimasa (Foreign Minister of Japan) and Tanaka Akihiko (President of GRIPS)     Photos: Watanabe Shigeki (Discuss Japan note: This interview was held on December 23, 2021 and the transcript was finalized on January 18, 2022) Tanaka Akihiko: Two months have passed since you assumed the post of foreign minister. Seeing that you have held many ministerial portfolios in the past, what are your impressions? Hayashi Yoshimasa: I anticipated it to some degree, but it has been extremely busy. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) deals with various domestic policies at the meta level, so to speak, and implements them externally. There are also many partners and multilateral frameworks. It is different from other ministries and government offices in the sense that you have to some degree apply a meta-perspective to the work since there is no end to the fine detail. The proportion ... ... [Read more]

One in ten people in the world suffer from hunger and malnutrition, while one in three people have excessive nutritional intake or are obese. To overcome this polarized situation, the experience of modern Japan is being presented and shared with the world as “nutrition policy.” This article considers Japan’s new international contributions from the perspective of nutritional science.   Nakamura Teiji, President, the Japan Dietetic Association   In the mid-18th century, since humans suffer harm and sometimes even lose their lives from starvation and unbalanced diets, European scientists thought that there must surely be special ingredients in food that determine life and health. Nutritional science is the scientific development of these ideas. Scientists discovered the components of food that are the energy source of life and compose the human body, and which are related to metabolism, and named these nutrients. Meanwhile, foods containing these ... ... [Read more]

Japan should maintain the high standards of the CPTPP, and engage in negotiations with China and Taiwan in order to reach the destination of the FTAAP in the midst of a “fight” between China and Taiwan. Japan should also make the best effort to establish autonomous enforcement mechanisms for the agreement premised on US absence   Kawase Tsuyoshi, Professor, Sophia University   In September 2021, Taiwan and China successively submitted applications to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP or TPP11). The TPP framework was originally intended to contain China and to pave the way for the Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP) led by the United States, but the character of the framework changed significantly when it was revived as the CPTPP with Chinese official application for accession in 2021 after the US withdrawal in 2017. In Japan, ... ... [Read more]