Bart Gaens will talk about Japan’s global “strategic partnership diplomacy”

On 20 November at 16:15 (Jakobi 2-213), Bart Gaens will talk about Japan’s global “strategic partnership diplomacy” beyond the Japan-US alliance. The lecture will be held in English. Everybody interested in the topic is welcome.

For Japan, the alliance with the US remains the cornerstone of its security and defense policy. However, during the past 15 years, Japan has been very active in promoting strategic ties with other countries or groupings, beyond the alliance with the US. Globally, Japan today has close to 40 countries, as well as regional organizations such as the EU, it refers to as “strategic partners”. This presentation first explores the different types of partnerships. It then addresses the question why Japan seeks to launch these agreements of alignment, and how they help Japan to address key concerns in fields such as defense, economic security, connectivity, and norms and values.

Dr. Bart Gaens works as Senior Research Fellow at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA) in Helsinki. He is also Japan Chair at the International Centre for Defence and Security (ICDS) in Tallinn, and holds the title of Docent at the Faculty of Arts at the University of Helsinki. He has a wide range of publications on EU-Asia relations, Japan’s foreign policy and regional role, Japan’s connectivity policy, and India’s foreign policy and relations with the EU.

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The event is part of International History Seminars, and is guided by the motto: “national history cannot be understood without the framework of international history” (Hans Rothfels, “Zeitgeschichte als Aufgabe,” Vierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte 1, 1953).