Japan and the Middle East in a Changing Geopolitical Landscape

 

This event will feature two presentations

Japanese domestic politics and foreign policy under the reshuffled Takaichi Cabinet, presented by Koji Murata

Prime Minister Tacaichi Sanae reshuffled her cabinet in September, and visited the United States for the UN General Assembly and meeting with President Donald Trump.  She still maintains relatively high supporting rates.  Japanese economy, Sino-Japanese relations, and her political base in the LDP are all fragile, however.  I would like to examine and forecast her domestic and foreign policies up to the coming LDP presidential election in October 2027.

The New Geopolitical Reality in the Gulf and Its Impact on Asia's Energy Security, presented by Satoshi Ikeuchi

Iran, in its monarchical era, was known as the “Policeman of the Persian Gulf.” More than four decades after the Islamic Revolution, the Islamic Republic has demonstrated considerable resilience in the face of U.S. military attacks and, at least temporarily, established itself as a “Key bearer of the Strait of Hormuz”. Whether additional U.S. military operations can undermine Iran’s position—or instead lead to a new arrangement accepting Iran’s role, to some extent, in the administration of the Persian Gulf—will have far-reaching implications for the U.S. allies in Asia, including Japan. Not only their energy policies, but also their fundamental attitudes towards alliances and the international order are at stake. 

This talk examines Japan’s short-term response to the disruption of the Strait of Hormuz and then considers how Japan’s position may evolve if the crisis becomes protracted, and how such a shift may, in turn, contribute to broader transformations in the international order.

 

Speakers

Koji Murata is currently Professor of Political Science, Doshisha University, Kyoto, Japan.  Professor Murata received his M.Phil. in Political Science from The George Washington University, and Ph.D. in Political Science from Kobe University, Kobe, Japan.
At Doshisha University, Dr. Murata served as Dean of the Faculty of Law from 2011-13, and President from 2013-16.
Professor Murata was also a Governor of the Board, Japan Broadcasting Cooperation, known as NHK from 2018-25, and Special Advisor to Defense Minister Kono Taro from 2019-20.
Professor Murata received the Suntory Academic Award and the Yoshida Shigeru Award among others.
His specialties include history of US-Japan alliance and American foreign policy in East Asia.  He published many books, chapters, and articles both in Japanese and English.

Satoshi Ikeuchi is a Professor of the Division of Religion and Global Security at the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology (RCAST) of the University of Tokyo. He specializes in Middle East regional politics and Arab-Islamic Thought in its implications for international security. He is the founding head of the RCAST Open Laboratory for Emergence Strategies (ROLES). As a leading public intellectual in Japan, he has been vigorously publishing on the Middle East and Islamic affairs. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Clare Hall, University of Cambridge in 2010.

 

Moderator

Kiyoteru Tsutsui is the Henri H. and Tomoye Takahashi Professor, Professor of Sociology, Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, and Director of the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center, where he is also Director of the Japan Program and Co-Director of the Southeast Asia Program. Tsutsui’s research interests lie in political/comparative sociology, social movements, globalization, human rights, and Japanese society. His most recent publication, Human Rights and the State: The Power of Ideas and the Realities of International Politics (Iwanami Shinsho, 2022), was awarded the 2022 Ishibashi Tanzan Award and the 44th Suntory Prize for Arts and Sciences.