Dear all,


The Yokosuka Council on Asia-Pacific Studies along with its co-sponsor the Japan-US Military Program will be hosting Dr. Paul Midford on January 10. This event is free of charge, please RSVP by Jan.8 to info@ycaps.org. Event details below. Thank you in advance.



Leo Lin

Research Affairs, Yokosuka Council on Asia-Pacific Studies

www.YCAPS.org <http://www.ycaps.org/>

Find us on Facebook at https://ja-jp.facebook.com/YokosukaCouncilonAsiaPacificStudies/


Date & Time: January 10, 2019

17:30-18:30 Welcome Reception.

18:30-20:30 Seminar


Location: Honcho Community Center in Yokosuka (総合福祉会館)

http://www.city.yokosuka.kanagawa.jp.e.rb.hp.transer.com/3010/sisetu/fc00000079.html


Abstract

In his presentation, Dr. Paul Midford will ask why Japan pursued regional security isolationism during the Cold War, and why it suddenly ended this isolationism on the cusp of the Cold War's end, embracing regional security multilateralism. This talk focus on the July 1991 Nakayama proposal and the resulting legacy of more than a quarter century of Japanese leadership in promoting regional security multilateralism.

Midford identifies several challenges that Japan's pivot from security isolationism toward security engagement and leadership. First, in terms of overcoming Japan's post war reputational problem, the reassurance imperative is the most important factor explaining both Japan's security isolationism during the Cold War and its subsequent active promotion of regional security multilateralism. This presentation also identifies two other motivations for promoting regional security multilateralism: to mitigate its alliance security dilemma of entrapment versus abandonment vis-a-vis the US, and to build new security utilities not provided by the US-Japan alliance in non-traditional security areas, including counter-piracy, counter-terrorism, countering illicit trafficking in drugs, human smuggling, etc., and humanitarian and disaster relief operations (HaDR).

About the Speaker:

Dr. Paul Midford is the Director of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology Japan Program. He earned his Ph.D. in Political Science from Columbia University. He was a Monbusho Scholar at Aoyama Gakuin University and has worked at the Research Institute for Peace and Security (RIPS) and the National Institute for Research Advancement (NIRA). Dr. Midford taught international and comparative politics at Japanese universities for more than seven years, including Kanazawa University, Hokuriku University and Kwansei Gakuin University. Beyond teaching Japanese politics, his research interests include how Japanese public opinion and political parties are influencing Japan's evolving security strategy. He is the author of Rethinking Japanese Public Opinion and Security: From Pacifism to Realism? (Stanford University Press, 2011).

Learn more about YCAPS at www.ycaps.org <http://www.ycaps.org/> and JUMP at www.jumprogram.org <http://www.jumprogram.org/>