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| 1 |
ID:
155390
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| Summary/Abstract |
Third United Nations World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction was held in Sendai, Japan in March 2015, four years after the Great East Japan Earthquake struck on March 11, 2011. Attended by some 150,000 participants from around the world, the Conference adopted the Sendai Declaration and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030, the latter of which was the successor document to Hyogo Framework for Action. Besides significance in efforts to prevent and mitigate disasters, the successful formulation and adoption of the Sendai Framework served to promote collaboration on UN and other conferences held later that year. Disaster Risk Reduction principles of reducing vulnerabilities and enhancing resilience are especially necessary in the Asia-Pacific region which is over-represented in natural disasters. In December 2015, efforts by Japan and 141 other co-sponsors resulted in a UN Resolution to designate the 5th of November “World Tsunami Awareness Day.”
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| 2 |
ID:
155389
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| Summary/Abstract |
This article reviews the history of establishing the Asian Development Bank (ADB) with an original 31 members in 1966. It goes on to describe the changes that have occurred in Asia in the intervening years during which membership has grown to 67, including 48 from within Asia and the Pacific and 19 outside. It also discusses the economic outlook in Asia and the relationship between ADB and People's Republic of China. The article then gives an overview of the current organization and operations of the ADB. This article concludes by eight conditions for development that make countries reach the upper-middle-income status.
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| 3 |
ID:
155392
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| Summary/Abstract |
This article has four points of contention. First, it argues that time is ripe for the Japanese model of ODA (Official Development Assistance) to work in Africa. The recent positive changes seem to be creating an enabling environment in Africa for the Japanese model of ODA—an economic-development oriented ODA that once has contributed to the dynamic development of Asia—to work, at least in some African countries and in some areas. Second, it is contended that despite recent positive changes, Africa is still faced with huge developmental challenges, and Japan is ready to support its African partners especially in agriculture, industry, human resource development and in nurturing political stability and security, while taking advantage of its strengths and traditions. Third, the changes happening in Japan, combined with those happening in Africa, are opening a new era of Afro-Nippon cooperation, which is much more broad-based and encompassing wider areas of cooperation. And fourth, it concludes by arguing that what Japan has been doing and what it intends to do in and for Africa must be taken not in the context of diplomatic rivalry between Japan and other actors but in the context of Japan’s willingness to fulfill its international responsibilities and hence to serve its broad and long-term national interests.
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| 4 |
ID:
155388
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| Summary/Abstract |
Recent political events, such as the UK decision to exit the EU and the election of Donald Trump to the US presidency, may indicate a transition from globalism to isolationism in world politics. This article reviews Japan-US-China relations and East Asian regional cooperation during the Obama administration and contrasts them with prospects during the Trump administration in the new political climate.
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| 5 |
ID:
155393
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| Summary/Abstract |
Taiwan faces an uncertain future after the electoral victory of the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in the January 2016 elections. The election results, which reflected growing pro-independence sentiments amongst a younger generation of Taiwanese, have set Taiwan on a collision course with China, which is increasingly impatient for reunification to occur. The new US president, Donald Trump, has also added to the tensions by openly questioning the “One China” policy. Another Taiwan Strait crisis today would be fraught with immense risks due to China's dramatic economic and military rise which has altered the regional power balance. Given the increasingly tense China-US strategic rivalry, the US is also not likely to sit idly by should China attack Taiwan. However, the key player in resolving the Taiwan problem is China. For various reasons, it is in fact in China's interest to be patient with the current situation, and maintain the status quo for the immediate and medium-term future, while it constructs a new strategy that could win over the people of Taiwan, since true reunification can only occur if the people on Taiwan willingly accept it.
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| 6 |
ID:
155387
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| Summary/Abstract |
It is possible that Donald Trump’s success in the US presidential election of November 2016 will touch off the greatest transformation in world politics since World War Two. This is because, for the first time, the presidency of the United States—a country that since World War Two has consistently upheld the liberal world order—has been won by a man who asserts that the US national interests will take precedence over international cooperation.
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| 7 |
ID:
155391
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| Summary/Abstract |
Divergent views of Japan-Russia relations in 2017 result from leaving questions unanswered. This article seeks to answer the following queries. What is the sales pitch in Japan for Abe's wooing of Putin? Why is this rationale misleading? Why is Abe keen on pursuing Putin? What motivates Putin to encourage Abe yet hold back? When did talks hit a snag? Why was 2016 different from 2001? Is the US to blame for no breakthrough? What are the cause and effect of scapegoating for no summit success? Which Japanese criticisms—by the left or the right—of the summit make a better case? Do Abe and Putin have much freedom to maneuver? Where are Japan-Russia relations now headed? Through responses to these questions, we gain an understanding of the misleading coverage of the December 15–16 Putin visit to Japan and the difficulties ahead for Abe to achieve a breakthrough in Japan-Russia relations.
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