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Australian Institute of International Affairs - National Office

Overcoming Isolationism: Japan's Leadership in East Asian Security Multilateralism

Wed, 30 Sep 2020
18:00 - 20:00

Professor Paul Midford, Norwegian University for Science and Technology

Moderated by AIIA National Executive Director Dr Bryce Wakefield

Why, in the wake of the Cold War, did Japan suddenly reverse years of steadfast opposition to security cooperation with its neighbors? Long isolated and opposed to multilateral agreements, Japan proposed East Asia's first multilateral security forum in the early 1990s, emerging as a regional leader. Paul Midford's new book, Overcoming Isolationism, explores what led to this surprising about-face and offers a corrective to the misperception that Japan's security strategy is reactive to US pressure and unresponsive to its neighbors. Midford draws on newly released official documents and extensive interviews to reveal a quarter century of Japanese leadership in promoting regional security cooperation. He demonstrates that Japan has a much more nuanced relationship with its neighbors and has played a more significant leadership role in shaping East Asian security than has previously been recognized.

Professor Paul Midford, Director of the Japan Program at the Norwegian University for Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim, received his PhD in Political Science from Columbia University in 2001. He has published in International Organization, International Studies Quarterly, Security Studies, The Pacific Review, Asian Survey, International Relations of the Asia Pacific, and Japan Forum. He has published over 25 book chapters and co-edited eight books, including with Robert D. Eldridge, The Japanese Ground Self Defense Force: Search for Legitimacy (New York: Palgrave, 2017), with Wilhelm Vosse, Japan’s new security partnerships: Beyond the Security Alliance (Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 2018), and New Directions in Japan’s Security: Non-U.S. Centric Evolution (London: Routledge, 2020); and with Espen Moe, New Challenges and Solutions for Renewable Energy: Japan, East Asia and Northern Europe (Palgrave Macmillan, forthcoming in 2021). Midford is author of Rethinking Japanese Public Opinion and Security: From Pacifism to Realism? (Stanford University Press, 2011), and Overcoming Isolationism: Japan’s Leadership in East Asian Security Multilateralism (Stanford University Press, 2020).

This event is online only. After registering, on the day of the event you will receive a follow-up confirmation email containing further details on how to join the webinar. Registrations close at 5:40pm. (If you believe you have not received an email by 5pm please check your junk folder! A reminder will be sent at 5:45pm)

The event will start at 6pm AEST (Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne time, UTC+10).

All registrants may type questions via the moderated Q&A text feed.

To join your branch of the AIIA, click 
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Ticket Type Price
AIIA Members $0.00 Sale Ended
Non Members $10.00 Sale Ended
Student non-members (registering with a university email address) $5.00 Sale Ended

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