“Debate about the diplomatic crisis in Japan”
Emanuel Pastreich
I had a chance to visit Japan to speak with individuals who are deeply concerned with the challenge of creating a healthy and peaceful order in Northeast Asia last week. This was the first time I have had a chance to engage in such a broad engagement with Japanese scholars, diplomats, politicians and ordinary citizens in the last 14 years. I was deeply impressed by the sincerity I saw in the efforts of the people I met and by the rising concern among ordinary citizens about how the foreign policy of Japan has been hijacked by a small group of special interests whose agenda is increasingly narrow and, mimicking the United States, is increasingly drawn to military solutions for all problems.
My first talk hosted by the New Diplomacy Initiative (新外交イニシアティブ) （March 4, 2016) in Tokyo at the National Assembly. The topic was “Towards a new comprehensive framework for arms limitations: The United States and Security in East Asia”「米国と東アジアの安全保障 ―包括的な軍縮の枠組みに向けて―」. The discussion was led by the founder of the New Diplomacy Initiative, Ms. Saruta Sayo 猿田 佐世. Ms. Saruta is an international lawyer who has dedicated herself to exploring new prospects for an integrated and innovative approach to diplomacy in Japan which takes into account the overlap between security, trade, diplomacy and nonproliferation. The group included many experts from journalism, diplomacy and academics, as well as several very enthusiastic students. Read more of this post
Circles and Squares 