Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Lecture Series 2019


Between a Rock and a Hard Place:

Middle Powers Amidst Global Power Shifts


Dr. Volker Stanzel

Former German ambassador to Japan and China


19:00-20:30, Tuesday, 16th April

Room 301, 3F, Building 10, Sophia University


Less wars, more prosperity - that is a global trend since the end of the Cold War. Yet, illiberalism is increasingly spreading, even in democratic countries, and nationalist populism has come to define the policies of some of the great powers. Do we head towards a world where - to speak with Thucydides - the strong do as they like while the weak do as they must? The most fragile and vulnerable states - the Middle Powers - have to find ways out of the conundrum. To that end, they must find solutions regarding the problems in their own societies.


Since retiring from the German foreign service, Dr. Stanzel has been teaching international relations in California, at Free University in Berlin, at Dokkyo University, and at Hertie School of Governance (Berlin). He is Vice President of the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP), Senior Distinguished Fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), and President of the Association of German-German-Japanese Societies. His latest books are "What does the Tennō mean for the Japanese, Watanabe-sensei?" (in Japanese) and "Clueless Foreign Policy, and Why it Needs the Backing of Society" (in German).

https://www.sophia.ac.jp/jpn/event/2019/itd24t000003mstt-att/190416_Stanzel.pdf


This talk is organized by Professor Sven Saaler (FLA)

Lecture in English / No RSVP required


Institute of Comparative Culture (ICC) Sophia University

7-1 Kioicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-8554, JAPAN

Web: http://icc.fla.sophia.ac.jp/