Nikki Haley, US Ambassador to the UN, is trying to reassure everyone in the UN that all the statements from the Trump camp are “just noise,” but Trump has now proposed in its budget to cut America’s contributions to the UN and its own foreign-aid agency by $10.1bn, or 28% from its previous budget. According to the budget proposal, US contributions to UN Peacekeeping operations will be cut from 28 to 25 percent of the UN peacekeeping budget.
Professor Daisaku Higashi published a book on human Security and peacebuilding (20/03/2017)
Japanese book entitled “Ningen no Anzen-Hosho to Heiwa Kochiku” (Human Security and Peacebuilding” contains essays contributed by twelve scholars, diplomats and practitioners including former Ambassador to the United Nations Kenzo Oshima, Sukehiro Hasegawa, former UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General in East Timor and others. Sadako Ogata, former JICA president and UNHCR wrote the preface. Memorial symposium will be held at Sophia University on April 22, 2017. Click here for detailed information.
Professor Higashi’s seminar students met with former President Gusmao and former Prime Minister Alkatiri in Timor-Leste (17/03/2017)
Daisaku Higashi, an associate professor at Sophia University, explains in NHK TV news about how the Timorese political leaders reconciled and achieved peace.
PM Shinzo Abe decides to withdraw Japan’s SDF engineering troops from South Sudan by end May (11/03/2017)
Abe`s special assistant, Shibayama, visited Suva and obtained President Salva Kiir and SRSG David Shearer`s understanding of the Japanese decision.
New Book on Criminal Accountability of UN Police Personnel (09/03/2017)
Tokyo University Associate Professor Kihara-Hunt Ai examines the effectiveness of the UN’s accountability mechanisms and arrangements with reference to criminal behaviour by United Nations Police personnel.
Tony Blair: Against Populism, the Center Must Hold (03/03/2017)
In his opinion article contributed to the New York Times on 3 March, former British Prime Minister Blair finds the Trump revolution is partly economic, but mainly cultural, and suggests that the center needs to develop a new policy agenda that shows people they will get support to help them through the change happening around them.
Gorbachev: “It All Looks as if the World Is Preparing for War” (24/02/2017)
Thakur points out the risk of falling victim to the Thucydides Trap, while Hasegawa warns the continued defiance of Kantian imperative and freedom will lead to armed conflict.
Trump is from Mars, Guterres is from Venus (23/02/2017)
Thakur believes Guterres is ready to stand up to Trump.
Thakur: Australia needs to wake up, grow up (15/02/2017)
Former Senior Vice Rector of the UN Univerity and UN Assistant Secretary-General, Professor Ramesh Thakur of the Australian National University advises “Not just Japan, but others too will have to conduct a more self-reliant diplomacy to cope with the ‘America First` administration.”
Kant’s “Perpetual Peace” presented to peacebuilding associates (02/02/2017)
Professor Hasegawa shared with the participants of training course commissioned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan Immanuel Kant`s understanding of the nature of human beings and the prospect for building “perpetual peace” among nation states.