United States In The World

What is China rising to? Assessing China's and America's primacy potentials

by Alexander Vuving

'Defence-lite is sound policy', Ideas@The Centre, vol. 5, no. 19, May 2012.

by Benjamin Herscovitch

Threat Images in International Relations: American and German Security Policy on International Terrorism

by Sybille Reinke de Buitrago, Dr.

A new negotiation platform for the Iranian nuclear programme

by Jelena Petrovic

EurActive Opinions, co-authored with Francisco Galamas

With the right manoeuvres, the EU and the US could create a new base of negotiations with the Iranian government where... more With the right manoeuvres, the EU and the US could create a new base of negotiations with the Iranian government where the implementation of its nuclear programme would not be out of question but would create mutual benefits

Lessons from the KORUS FTA and the EU-Korea FTA

by Patricia Nelson

Japan - What's Next?
Venue : Torsten, 3rd floor, Stockholm School of Economics, Sveavägen 65

Preliminary Program

June 9: Bringing together Business leaders, Officials and Scholars

8:30 Welcome remarks
Marie Söderberg, Director, European Institute of Japanese Studies
Lars Bergman, President, Stockholm School of Economics
H. E. Mr. Yoshiki Watanabe, Japanese Ambassador to Sweden

I. Session (9:00)
Japan’s Economy after the Crisis-Consequences, Impact and Prospects
Chair: Patricia A. Nelson, Senior Research Fellow, EIJS

Carlo Filippini, Professor, Bocconi University
“The effect of the crisis on the Japanese economy”

Bo Dankis, Chairman, Swedish Trade Council
“What does the crisis mean for European Companies?”

Naohiko Nishio, Director, Mitsubishi Corporation, Stockholm Office
“How Japanese Companies in Sweden are affected?”

General discussion

10:30 Coffee Break


II. Session (11:00)
EU-Japan current state of affairs
Chair: John Swenson-Wright, Senior Lecturer, University of Cambridge

Analyzing current state of the relationship after the EU-Japan Summit in May. What kind of cooperation are we to expect in the future?

Axel Berkofsky, Professor, University of Pavia
“EU-Japan Cooperation - From Framework to Ad-Hoc Cooperation”

Yuichi Hosoya, Professor, Keio University
“The EU-Japan Relations and the Future of East Asian Order: from a Japanese Perspective”

Florence Liou, Deputy Head of Division, European External Action Service
“Assessment of the Summit Outcome – A European Perspective”

Jiro Takamoto, Chief of the EU unit, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan
“Assessment of the Summit Outcome – A Japanese Perspective”

General discussion

12:30 Lunch


III. Session (13:30)
EU-Japan Trade and Investment
Chair: Anders Ahnlid, Director-General for Trade
Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Sweden

Patricia A. Nelson, Senior Research Fellow, EIJS
“Lessons from the EU-Korea and US-Korea Free Trade Agreements”

Hosuk Lee-Makiyama, Director,
European Centre for International Political Economy
“What forces will be driving the FTA process?”

Yasu Matsuyama, Special Advisor,
Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Japan and JETRO London Office
“Japan - EU Economic Integration Agreement: Now or Never?”

Antonio Parenti, Deputy Head of Unit DG Trade, European Commission
“Towards an EU-Japan FTA? State of Play and Stumbling Blocks”

General discussion

15:00 Coffee Break


IV. Session (15:30-17:00)
Stockholm Seminar on Japan
Roundtable discussion
EU-Japan Trade Relations: What’s Next?
Moderator: Marie Söderberg, Director, EIJS

1. Tommy Kullberg, Chairman, European Business Council (EBC)
2. Hiromasa Kubo, Professor, University of Kobe
3. Hajime Wakuda, Deputy Executive Director, Japan Machinery Center Brussels Office
4. Erik Belfrage, Chair, EU Trade Policy Study Group and Senior Vice President, SEB

17:00 End of Conference
18:00 DINNER (invited guests only)


10 June: Academic workshop day


I. Session (9:00)
A Future EU-Japan Agenda?
Chair: Glenn Hook, Professor, Sheffield University

Axel Berkofsky, Professor, University of Pavia
“EU-Japan in the Years Ahead”

Yuichi Hosoya, Professor, Keio University
"The Evolution of the EU-Japan Relations: A 'Normative Partnership'?"

Discussant: Linus Hagström, Senior Research Fellow, SIIA

10:30 Coffee Break

II. Session (11:00)
EU-Japan Trade relations
Chair: Yoichi Sugita, Assistant, Stockholm School of Economics

Hiromasa Kubo, Professor, Kobe University
“Prospects for a Free Trade Agreement”

Norbert Palanovics, Associate Professor, University of Pécs
“The Rule of Common Sense: Perceptual differences when trading between Japan and the EU”

Discussant: Richard Nakamura, Assistant Professor,
Linnaeus University

12:30 Lunch


III. Session (14:00)
Politics and Security: Where do we go from here?
Chair: Axel Berkofsky, Professor, University of Pavia

Kimie Hara, Renison Reserch Professor, University of Waterloo
“60 Years from San Francisco: Re-examining Frontier Problems in the Shifting Regional Order in East Asia”

Linus Hagström, Senior Research Fellow, SIIA
“Problematizing ‘structural shift’ in Sino-Japanese relations: The territorial dispute as context”

Bert Edström, Senior Research Fellow, ISDP
“Fukushima as a stress test for the Japanese political system”

Discussant: John Swenson-Wright, Senior Lecturer, University of Cambridge

16:00 Coffee Break

IV. Session (16:15)
Responses to Earthquake and Mediating Risk
Chair: Akihiro Ogawa, Assistant Professor, Stockholm University

Glenn Hook, Professor, Sheffield University
“Mediating risk in Japan: Crossing borders and the role of the state”

Annette Skovsted Hansen, Associate Professor,
Aarhus University
“Responses to the 2011 Earthquake on Facebook”

Discussant: Norbert Palanovics, Associate Professor,
University of Pécs

V. Session (17:30)

CONCLUSIONS/WRAP-UP/EJARN ANNUAL MEETING

18:30 End of Conference

19:30 DINNER (invited guests only)



The conference is sponsored by Toshiba International Foundation and the European Institute of Japanese Studies.

Eurasian Abrasions

by Mikhail Troitskiy

Co-authored with Samuel Charap for The American Interest magazine

The tension between the United States and Russia over post-Soviet Eurasia1 has significantly undermined the prospects... more The tension between the United States and Russia over post-Soviet Eurasia1 has significantly undermined the prospects for mutual trust and cooperation on global security issues between Washington and Moscow, as well as stunting the region’s development. Much of the rancor is rooted not in an inevitable clash of interests, however, but rather in the way the two governments conduct their policies in the region. Both U.S and Russian modi operandi, or at least the aspects that cause trouble, flow in large part from certain habits that have proven extremely hard to break.

Two-level games in negotiations between the United States and the countries of post-Soviet Eurasia

by Mikhail Troitskiy

Published in PIN Points, #37-2012

Russia and the United States in 2012: a prognosis

by Mikhail Troitskiy

Published in: Russian Federation in 2012: Short-Term Prognosis (Tartu: Univ. of Tartu Press, 2012)

The United States and Sporting Diplomacy: comparing and contrasting the cases of table tennis with China and baseball with Cuba in the 1970s

by Thomas Carter

Co-authored with John Sugden

International Relations (2012) 26(1): 101-121

When Beijing hosted the Olympic Games in 2008 we were reminded that almost four decades earlier that the Peoples... more When Beijing hosted the Olympic Games in 2008 we were reminded that almost four decades earlier that the Peoples Republic of China’s road back to international recognition and acceptance had begun with a chance sporting encounter between two members of the USA’s and the Chinese table tennis teams in Japan in 1971. It is less well known that not long after this successful ‘ping pong’ diplomatic episode, attempts were made by various parties to use baseball in a similar way to try and repair international ties between Cuba and the USA. In this article the circumstances through which the former succeeded whereas the latter failed miserably are subject to detailed examination. Drawing upon existing literature and unclassified materiel gleaned from the NSA (National Security
Archive) and the CIA Archive we argue that for a number of historically specific reasons, and because of the different balances of interest and asymmetric power relations, ‘ping pong’ diplomacy was able to help broker rapprochement between the USA and China whereas ‘baseball diplomacy’ could do little or nothing to stimulate diplomatic relations between Washington and Havana.

Hollywood&s film wars with France

by Jens Ulff-Moller

Polar Partners or Poles Apart? On the discourses of two US think tanks on Russia's presence in the ‘High North’

by Leonhardt van Efferink

Commentary, The Geographical Journal, published online on 30/08/2011

The discourses of two US think tanks show how representations of the Artic could make the difference between either an... more The discourses of two US think tanks show how representations of the Artic could make the difference between either an inclusionary or exclusionary Arctic regime. The Brookings Institution stresses that Russia's foreign policy focuses on international law and diplomacy; and recommends multilateral initiatives to address regional tensions. However, the Heritage Foundation emphasises Russia's willingness to use military force and strong language when dealing with Arctic matters, recommends ‘a strong response’ to Russia's policies and stresses the importance of ‘Western’ alliances. The comparison of discourses on the Arctic of two US think tanks lends support to the idea that geographers should play a prominent role in the debate on a regional governance framework. A constructive way to do so is by highlighting and explaining the region's complexity and uncertainty, in order to limit the (re)construction of degeographicalised representations of the Arctic in policy circles.

Camping with the Enemy: The United States, Pakistan, and the War in Afghanistan

by Adam Rousselle

Published in 'Atlantic International Studies', 2011

This paper examines relations between the United States and Pakistan in relation to the current War in Afghanistan. It... more This paper examines relations between the United States and Pakistan in relation to the current War in Afghanistan. It examines the reasons for Pakistan's alarming and apparently incoherent behavior as a state. Finally, it demonstrates that Pakistan's cooperation is essential to any kind of success in Afghanistan and that the United States and NATO must therefore come to terms with this troubled ally.

China's Pre-Imperial Overstretch | Huffington Post

by Edsel Tupaz

Racismo, construcciones y alternancias discursivas

by Mariela Cuadro

Migración calificada y desarrollo humano en América Latina y el Caribe

by Luciana Gandini

Lozano, F. y L. Gandini (2011), Migración calificada y desarrollo humano en América Latina y el Caribe, Revista Mexicana de Sociología 73, núm. 4 (septiembre-octubre 2011), 675-713, UNAM, México DF.

Este artículo examina las tendencias recientes de la migración calificada en América Latina y el Caribe (ALC) y... more Este artículo examina las tendencias recientes de la migración calificada en América Latina y el Caribe (ALC) y profundiza en el análisis de la relación entre la migración de recursos humanos calificados y el desarrollo humano en los países de origen de los migrantes. A partir de una mirada teórica plural, y con base en información proveniente del Informe de Desarrollo Humano 2009, el artículo presenta evidencia que sugiere que la interacción entre migración calificada y desarrollo humano es heterogénea, socialmente diferenciada y compleja, de manera que los efectos pueden darse en un sentido positivo, negativo o neutro, en función de un amplio espectro de situaciones económicas, sociales y políticas específicas.

Uncertain Refuge, Dangerous Return: Iraq's Uprooted Minorities

by Preti Taneja

Co Authored with Chris Chapman, MRG (2009)
with films by ERA Films: www.erafilms.co.uk

A human rights advocacy report looking at the plight of refugees from minority communities who have been forced to... more A human rights advocacy report looking at the plight of refugees from minority communities who have been forced to flee Iraq since 2003. With first hand case studies from Jordan, Sweden, Syria and supporting films.

Assimilation, Exodus, Eradication: Iraq's Minority Communities Since 2003

by Preti Taneja

MRG (2007)

A human rights advocacy report that calls on the International community, the UN and others to take note of the plight... more A human rights advocacy report that calls on the International community, the UN and others to take note of the plight of Iraq's minority communities including Christians, Mandaeans and Yazidis, whose existence is under targeted threat in Iraq since 2003.

President Obama in India– - 'giant leap forward'?

by Mohammad Waqas Sajjad

Insurgency in Afghanistan: Merging the War Against Drugs & the War Against Taliban

by Jessinta Tan

Master of Science assignment paper, Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore

Afghanistan has produced close to 90 per cent of the world’s opium, the raw material from which heroin is made... more Afghanistan has produced close to 90 per cent of the world’s opium, the raw material from which heroin is made (Environment News Service, 2007). A weak Afghan government has created security vacuum that led to the impediment of economic development, forcing poor farmers to grow lucrative crops like poppy for cash. The drug trade has been a major source of income for the Taliban. Although the group reportedly banned opium poppy cultivation in late 1997, opium production in Afghanistan has increased. In 2001, British Prime Minister Tony Blair referred to the Taliban as “a regime founded on fear and funded on the drugs trade” (Perl, 2001, p. 3). Virtually all of Afghanistan’s opium poppy cultivation, morphine base and heroin processing laboratories are in Taliban-controlled areas. Afghanistan is where the war on terrorism and the war on drugs converge. This paper seeks to discuss experts’ views that the drug situation in Afghanistan is worsening, to examine the costs and benefits of battling Taliban insurgents through battling the drug trade in the country, and to explore ways of preventing the rise of a more dangerous insurgency because of financing from drug trafficking.

Hezbollah - Staying Motivated, Getting Ahead

by Jessinta Tan

Master of Science assignment paper, Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore

In his book Inside Terrorism, Bruce Hoffman pointed out that terrorism might be represented as a concatenation of five... more In his book Inside Terrorism, Bruce Hoffman pointed out that terrorism might be represented as a concatenation of five individual processes – designed to achieve, sequentially, the key objectives of Attention, Acknowledgement, Recognition, Authority and Governance. “While some terrorist movements have been successful in achieving the first three objectives, rarely in modern times has any group attained the last two,” he wrote. Hezbollah (a.k.a. Hizbollah, Hizbu’llah), which plays an active role in Lebanese politics, is perhaps closer to reaching this ultimate end than many other terrorist groups. After the 2005 elections, the organisation won 14 seats in Lebanon’s 128-member Parliament. In addition, Hezbollah has two ministers in the government, and a third is endorsed by the group. Hezbollah did not disarm when it entered Lebanese politics, which prompted experts to warn that its new political involvement is not an indication of it becoming more moderate. The rise of Hezbollah has changed the assessment of its foe, Israel, towards the group – from considering it a nuisance in the past to acknowledging it as a strategic threat in recent years. Israel sees Hezbollah as a different challenge compared to Palestinian terrorist groups like the Islamic Resistance Movement (a.k.a. Hamas) and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). Unlike Gaza and the West Bank, Lebanon is a sovereign country with significant global sympathy due to its civil war and democratic election. To many, especially those in the Middle East, Hezbollah looks like an Islamist “resistance” group. Israel had less room to manoeuvre than in Gaza and the West Bank. Hezbollah’s success is mainly due to its strong grassroots support in Lebanon. With its entrenchment in Lebanese politics and society, it is a stakeholder in the existing regional order, not a force bent on destroying it. This position has arguably made Hezbollah stronger and forced it to become more cautious, cunning and subtle.