Title of talk: Japanese security strategy in the Indo-Pacific

The talk focuses on re-rising Japan under PM Abe and thereafter, highlighting Japan's Indo-Pacific strategy. The key policies discussed are Tokyo’s recognition of urgent maritime security challenges, rapid metamorphosis of the Indo-Pacific region, and the nationalistic policies of PM Abe and his successors. The talk will throw light on whether the post-Abe Japan is headed for new dynamism or a waning global influence amid geoeconomic challenges and power vacuum in Japanese domestic politics.

Speakers: 

from Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (APU) in Beppu, Japan.

Dr. Yoichiro Sato is a Professor of International Relations at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University. Previously, he has also taught at the U.S. Department of Defense’s Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies and Auckland University (New Zealand) and has been a visiting professor at multiple institutions.  His more than ten published books include The U.S.-Japan Security Alliance (co-edited with Takashi Inoguchi and G. John Ikenberry, Palgrave, 2011), Regional Institutions, Geopolitics and Economics in the Asia Pacific (co-edited with Steve Rothman and Utpal Vyas, Routledge, 2017), and Re-Rising Japan (co-edited with Hidekazu Sakai, Peter Lang, 2017).  His commentaries have appeared in various global media, including Time, Newsweek, Al Jazeera, Agence Presse Francais, and Nikkei Asian Review.

from Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, Japan

Dr. Astha Chadha is an Associate Professor of International Relations at Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, and an invited lecturer at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, Beppu. She is currently a Communications Officer at Religion and IR Section (REL) of International Studies Association (ISA), Researcher at Democracy Promotion Center, Beppu and Women Peace and Security (WPS) fellow at Pacific Forum, Hawaii. She publishes on India-Japan relations, South Asian security, Indo-Pacific affairs, and religion in world politics.  She is the author of Faith and Politics in South Asia (Routledge: 2024).

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