At a book launching event, hosted by UN University Library on 23 October 2015, Dr. Daisaku Higashi, Associate Professor in the University of Tokyo, presented his analysis of the challenges faced in establishing legitimate governments in post-conflict states and examined the cases of Afghanistan, Iraq, Sierra Leone, and East Timor.

　At the trilateral conference in Shanghai, Professor Hasegawa called for Chinese and Korean leaders to be magnanimous and forgive Japan as much as the Japanese leaders have admitted and apologized for what Japan did to China and Korea before and during World War II in order to achieve reconciliation.

　LIU Zhixian, Vice President and Director-General of UNA-China and Secretary General of CANUNS pointed out the international community expected more from the East Asian Community to provide East Asian perspectives and approaches to regional and global problems.

　In his keynote speech at the 15th East Asian Seminar on the UN system, Jiemian YANG, President Emeritus, Shanghai Institutes for Int’l Studies noted the need for East Asia to build up more consensus on the future orientations of their partnerships of regional and global governance. Click here for the full text of his speech.

　The academic councils of the three Northeast Asian countries, the China Academic Net for United Nations Studies (CANUNS), the Japan Association for United Nations Studies (JAUNS) and the Korea Academic Council on the United Nations System (KACUNS) met and discussed global and regional peace and security issues along with sustainable development and human rights. Please click here for the full story and program.

　Mr. Michael Emery, a key member of the UN Inter-agency Outreach Missions to Japan, says the UN is determined to increase Japan`s representation and points to the importance of Japanese applicants having “soft” as well as “hard” competencies and a second UN language including French, Spanish or Arabic, in addition to English to enhance employment chances in the United Nations.

　In his article contributed to the Japan Times, Professor Ramesh Thakur of the Australian National University postulates that Russian President Vladmir Putin has challenged the notion that the West is the chosen ruler of the world and the US President is one who must be obeyed. Please click here for the full text of Professor Ramesh Thakur.

　At the UN General Assembly on 29 September 2015, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe stressed his intention to provide financial and technical assistance for Syrian refugees. On the previous day, Chinese President Xi Jinping said China would expand its engagement with the UN and send 8,000 troops as part of the UN peacekeeping forces. Korean President Park Geun-hye urged the international community to focus on resolving the North Korean nuclear issue.

　In his interview with NHK World, Professor Sukehiro Hasegawa, Former Special Representative of UN Secretary-General, expressed his hope that Japan continue to be guided by its own aspiration to attain “an honored place” in the international community, as Shigemitsu declared in his statement to the General Assembly when Japan was admitted to the UN in 1956. Please click here to find out more about what he said.

　On August 27, 2015, under the chairmanship of Amr Moussa, former Secretary General of the League of Arab States, the International Advisory Board of the Cairo Center for Conflict Resolution and Peacekeeping in Africa (CCCPA) held its first meeting in Cairo, Egypt. Please click here for more about the meeting and documents discussed by the Board.