[Global Governance] Symposium “Humanitarian Diplomacy: Diplomats Who Saved Jewish People” (4th December 2012)

 On December 4th, an international symposium on “Humanitarian Diplomacy: Diplomats Who Saved Jewish People” was held at Hosei University. First of all, President Toshio Masuda gave an opening address. Then, Mr. Ulf SÖRMRK, Minister-Counsellor of the Kingdom of Sweden, Mr. Peleg-Pablo LEWI, Acting Ambassador of Israel, and Mr. István GERELYES, Minister-counsellor of Hungary, made the audience welcoming remarks. After that, Ms. Fumiko ISHIOKA, Representative of the Tokyo Holocaust Education Resource Center, and Professor Hasegawa gave them keynote speeches. Ms. Ishioka told them about the accomplishments of Mr. Raoul Wallenberg and their significance and Professor Hasegawa indicated the accomplishments of Mr. Sugihara Chiune and insistence on humanitarian diplomacy and global justice in the context of the Westphalia world of nation states of which concern has remained national security and interest. Various issues and opinions were then expressed by three panelists: Mr. Masaaki SHIRAISHI, Deputy Director Diplomatic Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Professor Mikiko ETO, Department of Politics, Faculty of Law, and Dr. Vesselin POPOVSKI, Senior Academic Programme Officer of the United Nations University. The discussion became lively and heated at a time. After panel discussion, a few participants made comments and asked questions. At the end of the discussion session, Professor Hasegawa a summary of views expressed and Professor Yoshiro Fukuda, Hosei University Executive Vice President, gave closing remarks. (Moe Kurisu)

2012-12-04
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[Global Governance] International Law and Global Governance (Professor Yozo Yokota) (16th October 2012)

 On 16th October 2012, Professor Yozo Yokota gave a stimulating lecture on “International Law and Global Governance”. Professor Yokota had taught international law at Chuo University, University of Tokyo and International Christian University for over forty years and currently serves as President of the Center for Human Rights Education and Training, Chairperson of the ILO Committee of Experts and President of Japan Association for United Nations Studies. He began his lecture by giving his definition of “Global Governance”. He stated: “Global governance is an ability of various responsible actors to address and manage global issues adequately in order to ensure safety, health, wellbeing and meaning life to mankind.” He further analyzed the three main concepts of this definition, namely, “actors”, “global issues” and “adequacy of addressing and management”. He then explained the meaning of “international law”. According to Professor Yokota, “international law is a system of law to regulate the relationship between States, international organizations, individuals, civil society organizations, enterprises and other actors in the world community.” He further pointed out that, while international law has contributed to ensure global governance in the past, there are still serious limitations such as lack of provisions and insufficiency of enforcement. He concluded that, in order to strengthen the role of international law to promote good governance, more efforts are needed to make better use of the provision of Article 13, paragraph 1(a), of the UN Charter, which reads: “encouraging the progressive development of international law and its codification.” (Misa Komine)

2012-10-17
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[Global Governance] Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Embassy of Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste holds Dialogue with Hosei students (2nd October 2012)

 On 2nd October, 2012, Mr. Isilio Antonio de Fatima Coelho da Silva, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Embassy of Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, visited Hosei University, and gave his lecture as the third class of the global governance. The theme was “Reconstruction and state building in Timor-Leste: its accomplish, progress and vision for future”. At first, the ambassador explained the civil war of the 90s, and emphasized two causes, namely, decolonization and the Cold War. Concretely, decolonization was premature for Timor-Leste of the day since the government lost the adequate capacity, and the struggle for power between the United States and the Soviet Union also embroiled it in the dispute. Thus, these two factors provoked the civil war. And then, the ambassador mentioned the United Nations peacekeeping and peacebuilding operations. With referring to the case of Timor-Leste, all attendance, including the ambassador, professors, and students, confirmed that the United Nations has played the dedicated role toward peace in post-conflict countries. As the ambassador asserted, Timor-Leste is growing as a peaceful country now. Its accomplish, progress, and vision for the future, gave an audience further expectations toward the brighter future. (Risa Kato)

2012-10-02
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[Global Governance] Realism, Liberalism and Other Key Theoretical Concepts (Professor Hasegawa) (25th September 2012)

 On 25th September, 2012, Professor Hasegawa gave the students his second lecture on global governance. First, he explained a realist approach to world politics and referred to Hans Morgenthau. According to Morgenthau’s argument, sovereign states are regarded as the key actors, and they act rationally to ensure their national interests in international relations. Second, the professor expounded neo-realism and presented Kenneth Waltz’s contention that there is a structure even in the anarchic world. He indicated the weakness of international laws and the epiphenomenal character of international organizations. Third, the students gained insight into liberalism and neo-liberalism. They learned that several factors such as collective security, democratic peace, democracy promotion, integration between states and interdependence play a crucial role in the theory of liberalism. In addition, it’s worth mentioning the fact that the professor emphasized human rights, freedom, private ownership and other norms as significant elements of liberalism in the international relations. In addition, the professor indicated four kinds of liberalism namely, commercial liberalism, republic liberalism, sociological liberalism, and liberal institutionalism, at the end of the lecture. (Minako Ishikawa)

2012-09-25
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[Global Governance] Introduction to Global Governance – Theories and Concepts (Professor Hasegawa) (18th September 2012)

 On 18th September, 2012, Professor Hasegawa started his course on global governance with an explanation of its objective, schedule, grading method and reference books. He expected the students to be able to explain and discuss in English various theories and concepts of global governance by the end of the course in January 2013. Professor Hasegawa then identified four types of the globalization taking place in security, economic, environmental, and social/cultural spheres. Moreover, he explained the significance of global governance in the worlds of both Westphalia and post-Westphalia order. He referred to a definition given by the Commission on Global Governance and nine new global threats identified by the Secretary-General’s High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change in its report A more secure world: Our shared responsibility published in December 2004. Finally, he introduced realism and discussed its relevance to global governance. He said he would introduce and examine later the relevance of other theories of international relations and global governance such neo-realism, liberalism, neo-liberalism, functionalism, social-constructivism, and critical theories. (Yasuki Uchiyama)

2012-09-18
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