Preparing for the Actual Worst: Supporting Japanese Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) From Okinawa
This report analyzes Japan’s preparations to evacuate and support internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Okinawa prefecture in the event of a Taiwan Strait contingency. It finds three major weaknesses in current Government of Japan (GOJ) civil protection planning: Drawing on lessons from the March 11, 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, tsunami, and Fukushima nuclear accident, […]
Towards a Zimbabwean Lithium Industry
The African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) signed on 21 March 2018 represents Africa’s industrialization ambitions. To increase intra-African trade, governments are enacting value-addition policies that target their current raw mineral exports which collectively account for 70% of the continent’s global exports. By processing raw minerals, states seek to earn more from their exports and […]
Contemporary LGBTQ+ Politics in Japan: Policy Issues, Discourses and Developments, and the role of Foreign Actors
Japan has publicly committed to creating “a society where all people can exercise their abilities and find their lives worth living,” and to combating “prejudice and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity” (MOFA 2023). Yet, in practice, legal protections and rights for LGBTQ+ individuals in Japan remain limited. A 2020 OECD report ranked […]
Shaping a New Alliance: Japan’s Defense Evolution and Strategic Shift towards NATO and Europe
In recent years, Japan has identified several major risks to its national security and perceives its strategic environment as becoming increasingly unstable. As a result, Japan has enacted transformative defense reforms, including the 2022 National Security Strategy, National Defense Strategy, and Defense Buildup Plan. These call for the doubling of defense spending by 2027. This […]
Creative Alliances: Regional Cultural Collaboration between the Netherlands and Japan
In recent years, the Netherlands has strategically leveraged its International Cultural Policy (ICP) to strengthen regional ties with Japan, a partnership exemplified by cultural collaboration programs such as Holland-Kyushu (2016-2017), Holland-Kyoto (2019-2020) and NL-Kanto (2021-2023). This report discusses the impact of such initiatives on relations between Japan and the Netherlands. It illustrates how these frameworks […]
Disciplined Democracies and Japan’s values-based diplomacy
This report examines the Japanese government’s contribution to the liberal international order and assesses this contribution against what critics have identified as democratic backsliding under the Prime Ministership of Abe Shinzō. The report finds that: – Contrary to the Japanese government’s rhetoric of a ‘values-based diplomacy’, the Japanese government’s commitment to the spread of democracy […]