Robert Ward hosts Alessio Patalano, Professor of War & Strategy in East Asia at the Department of War Studies, King’s College London, Veerle Nouwens, the Executive Director of IISS-Asia, and Nick Childs, the IISS Senior Fellow for Naval Forces and Maritime Security.  Robert, Alessio, Veerle, and Nick discuss Japan’s maritime security policy in the Indo-Pacific. Topics discussed include:  Japan’s positioning of maritime security policy in relation to other domains;  China’s perspective on Japan’s growing maritime capabilities;  Japan’s strategic navigation between dif ..read more

In the second episode of Japan Memo season 4, Robert Ward hosts Higashino Atsuko, a Professor at the Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Tsukuba, James Brown, a Professor of political science at Temple University, Japan campus, and Dr Nigel Gould-Davies, the IISS Senior Fellow for Russia and Eurasia. Robert, Atsuko, James and Nigel discuss Japan and the Russia-Ukraine war. Topics discussed include:  Japan’s response to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine over the past two years;  Japan's possible military aid to Ukraine amid growing aid fatigue among We ..read more

Robert, Professor Sato, Aaron, and Evan discuss Japan’s relationship with ASEAN. Topics discussed include:  Japan’s shifting diplomatic and economic relationship with ASEAN amid the rapid growth of ASEAN countries;  Japan-ASEAN security relationship in the increasingly complicated geopolitical landscape in the region;  Japan’s defence policy in ASEAN amid rising competition between the US and China;  ASEAN’s policy on navigating the great powers competition in the region.  The episode's transcript can be found on https://www.iiss.org/podcasts/japan-memo/2024/02/ja ..read more

In the twelfth episode of Japan Memo Season 3, Robert Ward and Yuka Koshino host Professor Taniguchi Tomohiko, a Visiting Professor at Takushoku University's Institute of World Studies and a Senior Fellow at the Alliance of the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies and former Special Advisor to Prime Minister Abe's Cabinet and also as a Councillor in the Cabinet Secretariat (April 2013 to September 2020), where he contributed to crafting foreign policy speeches for Prime Minister Abe. Robert, Yuka, and Professor Taniguchi discuss Abe’s Grand Strategy, especially focusing on his landm ..read more

In the eleventh episode of Japan Memo Season 3, Robert Ward and Togashi Mariko host Professor Tanaka Koichiro, a professor at the Graduate School of Media and Governance at Keio University, and Dr Hasan Alhasan, Research Fellow for Middle East Policy at the IISS. Robert, Mariko, Professor Tanaka, and Hasan discuss Japan’s relationship with the Middle East. Topics discussed include: Japan’s key strategic interests including energy security in the Middle East. Japan’s standpoint and communication strategy regarding the Israel and Hamas conflict. Geopolitical and economic motivations of great ..read more

In the tenth episode of Japan Memo Season 3, Robert Ward and Yuka Koshino host Professor Kotani Tetsuo, a professor of global studies at Meikai University and a senior fellow at the Japan Institute of International Affairs; and Dr Lynn Kuok, Shangri-La Dialogue Senior Fellow for Asia-Pacific Security at the IISS.  Robert, Yuka, Tetsuo, and Lynn discuss Japan’s response towards expanding grey-zone situations in the Indo-Pacific region. Topics discussed include:  The historical background of grey-zone activity and its definition.  The tactics and objectives of Chinese grey-zone ..read more

In the ninth episode of Japan Memo season 3, Robert Ward and Yuka Koshino host Ambassador Sujan Chinoy, the Director General of the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) in New Delhi who served as the Indian ambassador to Japan from 2015 to 2018; and Ambassador Masafumi Ishii, a Distinguished Visiting Professor of Gakushuin University who was the Japanese ambassador to Indonesia from 2017 to 2020.  Robert, Yuka, Ambassador Chinoy and Ambassador Ishii discuss Japan’s relationship with the Global South countries to navigate the complex international security a ..read more

In the eighth episode of Japan Memo Season 3, Yuka Koshino hosts Ben Schreer, Executive Director at the IISS-Europe and Head of European Security and Defence Programme, and Tsuruoka Michito, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Policy Management in Graduate school of Media and Governance at Keio University, as well as Visiting Fellow at the Australian National University Strategic & Defence Studies Centre (SDSC). Yuka, Ben, and Michito unpack the 2023 NATO Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, and the developments around Japan-NATO cooperation and Japan’s responses to Russia’s war in Ukraine. T ..read more

In the seventh episode of Japan Memo Season 3, Robert Ward hosts Sakata Yasuyo, Professor of International Relations at the Kanda University of International Studies; Dr Mireya Solís, Director of the Center for East Asia Policy Studies, Philip Knight Chair in Japan Studies, and a Senior Fellow in the Foreign Policy Program at Brookings; and Dr Chung Min Lee, Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and Professor at the Institute of Convergence and Security Affairs, Korea Advanced Institute for Science and Technology. Dr Lee is also the Chairman of the IISS Advisory Counc ..read more

In the fifth episode of Japan Memo season 3, Robert Ward hosts Dr Fukushima Akiko, senior fellow at the Tokyo Foundation for Policy Research and non-resident fellow at the Lowy Institute. Robert and Dr Fukushima delve into the history of Japan’s engagement with multilateralism and multilateral institutions, examine Japan’s role in multilateralism for the age of the great power competition, particularly its presidency of this year’s G7 summit, and analyse Japan’s strategic thinking towards multilateralism as a means to further enmesh itself across the globe. Topic discussed include: The impo ..read more