I am writing to invite you to the next meeting of the PhD Kenkyuukai,
hosted by the Institute of Social Science, University of Tokyo.**

Speaker: Ben Ascione (ANU)
Title: "Japan's Foreign and Security Policy: Reacting to the Rise of
China or Escaping the American-Built Post-War Regime"

Time: Dec. 3 (Thu), 12-1:30pm
NEW Location: Rm. 307, ISS / Shaken Main Building

As many of your know, John Campbell, who has played a central role in
leading this presentation series since 2005, returned to the United
States in early November. He has kindly bequeathed the workshop to Greg
Noble and me (both faculty members at ISS), and we hope to continue the
tradition of encouraging up-and-coming scholars in the social sciences
and humanities to present their ongoing research.***

The next presenter is Ben Ascione, a PhD candidate at the Crawford
School of Public Policy, The Australian National University, and
currently based at Keio University as a Japan Foundation Fellow.

Abstract:
Japan’s series of defense policy reforms since the end of the Cold War
are typically explained as a response to increased security threats
emanating from an ever more dangerous security environment, most notably
the rise of China and North Korea’s nuclear weapons development. But,
are exogenous factors the only significant determinant of foreign and
security policy? Ben Ascione’s doctoral research challenges this unitary
rational actor assumption investigating how different coalitions of
domestic political actors perceive and react to external security
threats and conceive of the role of the state and its place in the
international order in differing ways. In particular Ben’s research
focuses on three case studies: the legal strictures of the Japan
Self-Defense Forces, Japan’s Senkaku (Diaoyu) Islands policy, and
Japan’s North Korea policy.

We look forward to seeing many of you there to discuss Ben's research.

Kenneth Mori McElwain
Associate Professor
Institute of Social Science
University of Tokyo
www.kennethmcelwain.com

** The logistics of the workshop will largely be unchanged, except for
location. We plan to meet from 12-1:30pm on the fourth Thursday of most
months. However, the presentations will now be held in Room 307 of the
main ISS / Shaken building. The building itself is identified in orange
in the following map.
http://www.iss.u-tokyo.ac.jp/guide/index.html

** We are soliciting new presenters, with the expectation of hosting the
next session in January or February 2016. We welcome presentations at
all levels of research progress, including prospectuses, field work
analysis, and close-to-final papers. Please contact us at
mcelwain@iss.u-tokyo.ac.jp and noble@iss.u-tokyo.ac.jp.