Wednesday, July 18, 2018, 14:30 - 16:00
The speech and Q&A will be in English
Yasushi Akashi, Former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations*Absence
Yasunobu Sato, Professor, The University of Tokyo
Michiya Kumaoka, Professor, Japan Institute of the Moving Image
Maiko Ichihara, Associate Professor, Hitotsubashi University
There is growing concern among some Japanese officials and senior academic figures over the continuance of official aid to countries where democracy is not respected. They note that throughout the post-war period, Japan has consistently contributed to the economic and democratic development of developing countries in the interests of world peace. Recently, however, the development of liberal democracy has been threatened under the name of economic development.
In peace-building processes of post-conflict countries, there seems to be a general atmosphere of preferring heavy-handed dictatorship to liberty and democracy for the sake of economic development. For example, signs of democratic regression have increasingly been observed in recent policies in Cambodia. Prime Minister Hun Sen, who assumed the Co-Prime Ministership of the Kingdom of Cambodia in 1993 as a result of the UN-backed general election, in which Japan played a significant role, expelled his Co-Prime Minister by military coup d'état in 1997, and ever since 1998, he has been serving as the sole Prime Minister.
The following speakers will brief the Club on the situation as they see it: Mr. Yasushi Akashi, Former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations; Former Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for the UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia, Mr. Yasunobu Sato, Professor, The University of Tokyo, Mr. Yasunobu Sato, Professor, The University of Tokyo, Mr. Michiya Kumaoka, Professor, Japan Institute of the Moving Image, Ms. Maiko Ichihara, Associate Professor, Hitotsubashi University.
Please reserve in advance, 3211-3161 or on the website (still & TV cameras inclusive). Reservations and cancellations are not complete without confirmation.
Professional Activities Committee
Yasunobu Sato Michiya Kumaoka Maiko Ichihara