Stanford University

International Relations

FSI researchers strive to understand how countries relate to one another, and what policies are needed to achieve global stability and prosperity. International relations experts focus on the challenging U.S.-Russian relationship, the alliance between the U.S. and Japan and the limitations of America’s counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan.

Foreign aid is also examined by scholars trying to understand whether money earmarked for health improvements reaches those who need it most. And FSI’s Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center has published on the need for strong South Korean leadership in dealing with its northern neighbor.

FSI researchers also look at the citizens who drive international relations, studying the effects of migration and how borders shape people’s lives. Meanwhile FSI students are very much involved in this area, working with the United Nations in Ethiopia to rethink refugee communities.

Trade is also a key component of international relations, with FSI approaching the topic from a slew of angles and states. The economy of trade is rife for study, with an APARC event on the implications of more open trade policies in Japan, and FSI researchers making sense of who would benefit from a free trade zone between the European Union and the United States.

Cosmopolitanism and the Crisis of Social Identity

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Abstract:

The recent surge in nationalism and tribalism brings renewed salience to questions of identity within and across borders. Notably, it exposes the tension between bounded social identities, on the one hand, and universalist yearnings and commitments, on the other. Liberal democracy—and the ostensible universalism on which it is based—is struggling to resolve this tension. I turn instead to the cosmopolitan tradition. I argue that cosmopolitanism—and a genuinely cosmopolitan (i.e., unbounded) social identity, in particular—represents not just an extension of scope from the national to the global, but a qualitative shift that permeates all identities, and serves to fundamentally protect and liberate particularist attachments from their otherwise inherent instabilities and contradictions. On this view, the promise of cosmopolitanism does not rest exclusively in what it can deliver beyond our borders, but also in its potential to fundamentally recast social identities within boundaries, resolving crises of identity at all levels of society.

 

Speaker Bio:

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Shahrzad Sabet's research spans politics, economics, psychology, and philosophy. She is a Fellow at the University of Maryland’s Bahá’í Chair for World Peace Program. Previously, she was a Senior Research Fellow at Princeton University’s Niehaus Center for Globalization and Governance and a Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard, where she recently received her PhD in Government. Her work has been featured in outlets such as The Washington Post and The New York Times.

Shahrzad Sabet Fellow at the University of Maryland’s Bahá’í Chair for World Peace Program
Seminars

Venezuela's Crisis: Chávez, Maduro and Beyond?

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Abstract:

Venezuela finds itself mired in an unprecedented economic and political crisis. The economy has contracted nearly 50% since President Maduro took office in 2013, oil production has declined to levels below those last seen in 1950, and inflation has reached an estimated annual rate of over 1.3 million percent. Millions have fled abroad in search of a better life, making Venezuela’s migration crisis the second worst in the world after Syria’s. In 2019, the ruling Maduro regime faces new challenges at home from an opposition that has declared it illegitimate, and from abroad due to diplomatic non-recognition by over 50 governments and the imposition of U.S. sanctions on the Venezuelan oil industry. This talk will examine the apparently intractable political and economic crisis facing Venezuela, the role of the military in keeping the present government in power, and the impact of the latest domestic and international pressures on the Maduro regime

 

Speaker Bio:

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Harold Trinkunas is the Deputy Director of and a Senior Research Scholar at the Center for International Security and Cooperation at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University. Prior to arriving at Stanford, Dr. Trinkunas served as the Charles W. Robinson Chair and senior fellow and director of the Latin America Initiative in the Foreign Policy program at the Brookings Institution. His research focuses on issues related to foreign policy, governance, and security, particularly in Latin America. Trinkunas has written on emerging powers and the international order, ungoverned spaces, terrorism financing, borders, democratic civil-military relations, drug policy and Internet governance. He received his doctorate in political science from Stanford University in 1999. He was born in Maracaibo, Venezuela.

Harold Trinkunas Deputy Director of and a Senior Research Scholar at the Center for International Security and Cooperation at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University
Seminars

Karl Eikenberry Discusses the Second Report of the Task Force on U.S.-China Policy and Its Recommendations for Managing the Increasingly Competitive U.S.-China Relationship

Authors
Thomas Holme
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Commentary
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Three years into the Trump administration, “the United States and the People’s Republic of China find their bilateral relationship at a dangerous crossroads,” write Orville Schell of the Asia Society and Susan Shirk of the University of California San Diego (UCSD), co-chairs of the Task Force on U.S.-China Policy, at the opening of a recently published report, Course Correction: Toward an Effective and Sustainable China Policy. The report features the second set of findings issued by the Task Force, a group comprising China specialists from around the United States, which is convened by Asia Society’s Center on U.S.-China Relations and UCSD’s 21st Century China Center and which includes Karl Eikenberry, director of APARC’s U.S.-Asia Security Initiative.

In its first report, issued in 2017, the Task Force identified the fundamental interests of the United States in its relationship with China. Since then, more stresses and strains have beset the bilateral relations between the two countries. But while “Beijing’s recent policies under Xi Jinping’s leadership are primarily driving this negative dynamic” and the “Trump administration is justified in pushing back harder against China’s actions, note Schell and Shirk, “pushback alone isn’t a strategy. It must be accompanied by the articulation of specific goals and how they can be achieved.” The new report propose a strategy to that end, which the Task Force calls “smart competition.”

APARC caught up with Ambassador Eikenberry to learn more about the report and its recommendations.

Note: the following has been edited for clarity.

How does the February 2019 report by the Task Force on U.S.-China Policy differ from its 2017 report? 

Since our Task Force’s first report was published in February 2017, the Trump Administration’s China policy has developed significantly, its defining characteristics being demonstrated in trade and economic policy and in security strategy. Our new Task Force study takes stock of the current state of U.S.-China relations and focuses on policy analysis and policy prescription. It seems clear that President Trump’s shift from a strategy of engagement to one of more explicit competition was overdue. This report suggests the best organizing principles for the management of what will likely be an increasingly competitive U.S.-China relationship in the coming years.

How does this report frame Sino-American relations?

The report underscores the fact that this is not a zero-sum game. Emphasis is placed on finding ways and means to cooperate with China when mutually advantageous—and there are many issue areas where this is or might be possible, such as climate change and denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. But the report also makes clear that in the domains of economic exchange, security, and political values—such as individual freedom and the primacy of the rule of law—America needs to work with like-minded allies and partners to ensure the global system that has benefitted all for over seven decades is not overturned by those seeking unilateral advantage.

Several of the report’s Task Force members were also involved in the recent China report from the Hoover Institution, Chinese Influence and American Interests: Promoting Constructive Vigilance. Where do you think these two publications intersect and part ways?

There was some overlap among the contributors to the two reports—full disclosure, I had the opportunity to participate in both projects. I think the studies are actually complementary—the portion of Course Correction devoted to PRC overseas influence activities drew upon the findings published in Chinese Influence and American Interests.

What development is of greatest concern to you as you think about the future of Sino-American relations?

I’m most concerned about the blurring of the management of economic exchange (trade and investment issues) and security competition (which includes maintaining a technological advantage over one’s competitors). The proliferation of technologies with military applications is complicating efforts of those trying to maintain robust economic relations between China and the United States. If our economies decouple, we will have a new Cold War

 

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U.S. Secretary Of State Mike Pompeo Meets with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi
U.S. Secretary Of State Mike Pompeo Meets with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi
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Global Affiliates Research Presentations (session 5 of 5)

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The format of this presentation is each of the four speakers will have approximately 15 minutes to present their research.  This will be followed by a short period of 5-10 minutes for any questions or comments from the audience.

In this session of the Global Affiliates Research Presentations, the following will be presented:

Alex Chen, SanJohn Capital, "A Happy Mind of an Investor"

As an investor, it's almost impossible to keep a peaceful mind and a tranquil heart.  An investor's physical, mental and spiritual states are susceptible to the market's ups=-and-downs, fluctuating with stock prices.  The emotional burden can be so heavy that many investors quit.  The defining quality of a successful investor is their ability to stay uninfluenced by external circumstances — or what is called a beginner's or happy mind.  In his presentation, Chen shares some examples of successful investments made with a new approach.

Umesh Desai, Reliance Life Sciences, "Production Management and Process Excellence Aspects in Manufacturing of Biopharmaceutical Products"

Achieving excellence, especially in the manufacturing of biopharmaceutical products, is difficult, but not impossible.  Successful use of different process excellence tools such as Lean (different wastes), Kaizen (continuous improvement), and Six Sigma (reduce variation) started in the automobile industry in the 1950s with the Toyota Production System.  Some pharma manufacturers tried to introduce these concepts, but were met with difficulties due to complex production manufacturing processes, maintaining good quality products, and meeting regulatory guidelines.  Implementing and maintaining this operational excellence in pharma industries, and then shifting to the biopharma industry made the task even more challenging.  Today, you can see these concepts in the biopharma industry more, but still not fully.  In his presentation, Desai will share examples of operational excellence and show how it has been modified and applied to the biopharma industry.  He will also share some solutions to improve the production time and efficiency to get the right quality product with affordable cost to the user. 

Akihisa Makino, Japan Patent Office, "Best Strategies for Intellectual Property in the Field of Medical Science"

Intellectual property (IP), such as patents, are exclusive rights and essential to make businesses with technology successful.  All companies, including startups, are required to obtain patents and plan their IP strategy properly by the time their products launch.  In the field of medical science, there are various technical fields such as cellular therapy, vaccine, small molecule organic compounds, and regenerative medicine, each with different IP strategy.  In his research, Makino has studied patent application trends in each of these technical areas as well as differences in patent application categories between small and large companies in Japan and the United States.  Additionally, after investigating patents of successful companies, in this presentation, Makino will propose the best IP strategy in this field based on his research findings.

Keisuke Yamazaki, The Asahi Shimbun, "How to Encourage Internet Users to Utilize the Web with Political Balance"

Every day, we get our news in a variety of ways – browsing the web, through news feeds of social networking services and from news apps.  These systems each have their own algorithms that deliver articles to fit the user's preferences.  Though they are good tools for users to find articles, the diversity of the articles is often lost.  In his research, Yamazaki studied situations of internet bias such as a "filter bubble".  In this presentation, he shares measures he learned to avoid this bias and proposes new methods to distinguish between liberal and conservative news by using machine learning. 

Lizhong Chen

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Global Affiliate Visiting Scholar, 2018-20
SanJohn Capital Limited
alex.jpeg MBA

Lizhong (Alex) Chen is a global affiliate visiting scholar at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) for 2018-19 and 2019-20.  Chen brings nearly 20 years of experience in the investment industry including brokerage firms, asset management, fund management and private equity funds.  Prior to joining Shorenstein APARC, Chen was the founder of SanJohn Capital Limited in Hong Kong where he continues to manage a long-term portfolio of stocks traded on the Hong Kong, China and U.S. stock markets.  He received his MBA from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

SanJohn Capital

Umesh Desai

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Global Affiliate Visiting Scholar, 2018-19
Reliance Life Sciences
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Umesh Desai is a global affiliate vising scholar at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) for 2018-19.  Desai has over 22 years experience in manufacturing of biopharmaceutical products and has been with Reliance Life Sciences Pvt. Ltd., India since 2007.  Currently, he is designated as Sr. Manager in the production team.  His current responsibilities include manufacturing activities (planning, execution, and manufacturing of biological products); communicating with support groups for the requirements as per the business demand within the organization; document submissions to the quality assurance group; preparation and business of BMR (Batch Manufacturing Record), BPR (Batch Packing Record) of biological products for the domestic and exports market as per the demand; and fulfilling the requirements.  Desai received his degree in chemistry from the D.G. Ruparel College of Arts, Commerce and Science, Mumbai University in 1992.  

Reliance Life Sciences

Akihisa Makino

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Global Affiliate Visiting Scholar, 2018-19
Japan Patent Office
akihisa_makino.jpg MS

Akihisa Makino is a global affiliate visiting scholar at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) for 2018-19.  Makino has been working since 2008 for the Japan Patent Office, one of the external agencies of the Ministry of Economy, Trade & Industry (METI) of Japan, as a patent examiner, handling applications in the fields of polymer and medical science.  From 2016 to 2018, he was also in charge of the policy planning of supporting the intellectual property in universities and research institutions at the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED).  

Japan Patent Office

Keisuke Yamazaki

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Global Affiliate Visiting Scholar, 2018-19
The Asahi Shimbun Company
keisuke_yamazaki.jpg MS

Keisuke Yamazaki is a global affiliate visiting scholar at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) for 2018-19.  Yamazaki has six years of experience as a computer engineer at The Asahi Shimbun, the national leading newspaper company in Japan.  Prior to joining Shorenstein APARC, he has engaged in research and development about artificial intelligence and participated in projects related to topics such as "automatic article writer AI".  Additionally, he has four years of experience as a journalist.  Most recently Yamazaki was part of the Science and Medicine Department at The Asahi Shimbun reporting on the aerospace industry of Japan.

 

The Asahi Shimbun
Seminars

Global Affiliates Research Presentations (session 4 of 5)

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The format of this presentation is each of the four speakers will have approximately 15 minutes to present their research.  This will be followed by a short period of 5-10 minutes for any questions or comments from the audience.

In this session of the Global Affiliates Research Presentations, the following will be presented:

Yosuke Hatano, Shizuoka Prefectural Government, "Digital Transformation of the Public Sector and Possibilities to Introduce to Local Government of Japan"

What is needed for local governments in Japan to succeed in the age of digitalization?  How can they adapt to survive in the rapidly changing environment?  Players of the public sector in Japan are now under pressure to find ways of transforming social conditions and new tools to offer better solutions to the people.  In his research, Hatano has searched for actual cases that have used the power of digital and information technologies in the policy-making process and in public service.  In his presentation, Hatano will share an overview of the current situation as well as offer suggestions on ways to introduce digitalization to transform Japanese local governments. 

Yusuke Matsuda, Nippon Foundation, "Social Impact Investing Trends and Best Practices in the U.S."

Social problems are becoming more complex and severe in current society.  It is crucial for non-profit organizations to involve and create a coalition with governmental organization, for-profit enterprises, and citizens together to solve various social issues.  Impact investment has been playing a crucial role to build this coalition of philanthropists and investors.  Impact investment is a practice distinguished by its aim to general social and environmental benefits alongside financial returns.  Currently, there is more than $70 billion in assets under management by major traditional investment funds such as BlackRock, Credit Suisse, and Goldman Sachs.  As more financial and professional talent engages in solving social issues, we have seen non-profit organizations accelerating their capacity and speed to have social impact.  In his presentation, Matsuda introduces Omydiar network, one of the most impactful investment fund's strategy, to help us learn how we can structure more effective financial schemes to solve social issues. 

Akira Muto, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan, "Two Revisionist Powers in Eurasia and How to Deal with Them in the 21st Century"

The world today is full of uncertainties.  During the Cold War, the containment policy worked successfully against the single adversary, the Soviet Union, and led to the victory of liberal democracies.  However, today, liberal democracies are challenged by more than one major power - first and foremost by the two revisionist powers, Russia and China, and possibly more including Iran.  Is dual containment as suggested by the US Administration's National Security Strategy and National Defense Strategy a realistic and plausible policy?  In his research, Muto explores alternative policy options and makes suggestions for U.S.-Japan Alliance to build upon FOIP (Free and Open Indo-Pacific) which has been advocated by the Japanese government in recent years with a focus on the differences between adversaries for purposes of defending and reinforcing liberal institutions.  Muto prefers containment based on the balance of power tactics, as originally considered by George Kennan, rather than the "globalized" version of containment and defeating adversaries by means of war, which would be too costly.

Ramachandra Siddappa, Reliance Life Sciences, "A Scientific Visualization to Improve Biopharmaceuticals' Technical and Operational Management"

Biologics are drug products manufactured in, extracted from, or semi-synthesized from biological sources.  Demand for biologics is increasing.  The global pharmaceutical market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 9.4%, reaching $278 billion in revenue by the end of 2020.  This high rate of growth is driven by factors such as aging population and increased prevalence of chronic disease, especially in the western world.  However, the most important reason for such a high rate of increase in use of biopharmaceuticals is superior effectiveness in treating many diseases, including treating conditions for which there were previously few effective drug treatments available. 

Biologics have a very complex production process and are affected by a wide range of factors such as cell system, fermentation media, operation conditions, problems faced in scaleup and very long batch periods.  To meet the high demand of these lifesaving drugs and to overcome the challenges faced by biopharma industries, Siddappa has focused his research on strategic and operational decision making by applying mathematical programming techniques for production planning of biopharma manufacturing facilities for improved costs effectiveness and better capacity management.

Yosuke (Jack) Hatano

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Global Affiliate Visiting Scholar, 2018-20
Shizuoka Prefectural Government
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Yosuke Hatano is a global affiliate visiting scholar at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) for 2018-19 and 2019-20.  Hatano has over seven years experience in the global energy trading business and energy infrastructure development projects at both private companies and in the private sector, including time as a branch office representative in Indonesia.  He joined the local government of the Shizuoka prefecture in 2014 and has experience in tourism promotion and destination marketing.  He has also engaged in the policies for small- and medium-sized enterprises promoting and developing the regional economy and industry.  Most recently, Hatano worked on international general affairs between the Shizuoka and the world.  He received his masters degree in international relations from Waseda University in 2007.

Shizuoka Prefectural Government

Yusuke (Ed) Matsuda

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Global Affiliate Visiting Scholar, 2018-19
Nippon Foundation
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Yusuke Matsuda is a global affiliate visiting scholar at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) for 2018-19.  As a graduate of Nihon University, Matsuda began his career as a physical education teacher at a private junior and senior high school in Tokyo.  There, he devised a special curriculum, "Sports English", teaching his Japanese students completely in English.  As an adviser to extracurricular club activities, he was able to bring the once minor track team to advance to national level track meets.  After moving on to the board of education in the adjacent prefecture of Chiba and serving as an analyst of educational policies, he completed his masters in educational leadership at Harvard University.  Upon his return to Japan, he worked as a consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers before establishing several non-profit organizations including Learning for All and Teach for Japan.  In 2017, he resigned his CEO position at Teach for Japan and pursued his second masters program at Stanford Graduate School of Business.  In addition to joining Shorenstein APARC, he is also a Country Manager at Crimson Education Japan. 

Matsuda is a member of the World Economic Forum Global Shapers Community and is also a Research Associate Professor at Kyoto University.  He earned his BA degree from Nihon University in the Department of Humanities and holds a Masters degree from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and the Harvard Graduate School of Education.  He was selected as one of the 100 most influential people in Japan (Nikkei Business) and has published his book "Google, Disney yorimo hatarakitai kyositsu (a classroom you want to work more than Google and Disney)" in 2014 from Diamond.

Nippon Foundation

Akira Muto

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Global Affiliate Visiting Scholar, 2018-19
Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Japan
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Akira Muto is a global affiliate visiting scholar at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) for 2018-19.  Muto has over 25 years of experience in the Foreign Ministry of Japan with background in Russia and policy planning.  He served as director of the Russian division, deputy director general (Ambassador) in charge of former Soviet Union states, as well as director of policy coordination division.  Additionally, he served as director of free trade agreement and economic partnership division and the director of the fourth division of Intelligence Service. As a diplomat, his previous assignments included Washington D.C., Moscow and Boston (Consul General).  In recent years, he served as Cabinet Councillor at National Security Secretariat and was engaged in various international security affairs.  His research interest covers strategic relations among US-Japan Alliance, Russia and China in the Asia-Pacific region.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan

Ramachandra Siddappa

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Global Affiliate Visiting Scholar, 2018-19
Reliance Life Sciences
rama_siddappa.jpg MS

Ramachandra Siddappa is a global affiliate visiting scholar at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) for 2018-19.  Siddappa has over 12 years of experience in handling production and operational technical management systems and has been with Reliance Life Sciences Pvt. Ltd., India since 2007.    In his current role as Senior Manager in the Production Management Group, some of his responsibilities include the production and technical operation of microbial and mammalian cell culture products; GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) aspects of manufacturing and documentation; audit management & compliance; technology transfer documentation and scale up design of recombinant products; equipment FAT (Factory Acceptance Test) & SAT (Site Acceptance Test) activity; and conducting & organizing internal training programs.

Prior to joining Reliance Life Sciences Pvt., Ltd., he worked for Shantha Biotechnics Pvt., Ltd. Hyderabad (Sanofi Division) in R&D upstream.  Siddappa received his post graduate degree in biotechnology from Kuvempu University, Karnatak, India in 2005.

Reliance Life Sciences
Seminars

Global Affiliates Research Presentations (session 3 of 5)

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The format of this presentation is each of the three speakers will have approximately 15 minutes to present their research.  This will be followed by a short period of 5-10 minutes for any questions or comments from the audience.

In this session of the Global Affiliates Research Presentations, the following will be presented:

Hiroto Akai, Ministry of Finance, Japan, "FinTech and Japanese Banks:  Implications for Fiscal Sustainability"

Although Japan has the world's largest government debt, the interest rate of the Japanese Government Bond (JGB) still remains lower than most major countries.  In the JGB market, Japanese banks play a key role as massive investors.  However, in recent years, many business environments surrounding Japanese banks have dramatically changed.  One of the biggest changes is FinTech.  Given the growth of FinTech, some researchers argue that it could disrupt traditional banking.  In his research, Akai provides an overview of the FinTech phenomenon, especially in the U.S., and tries to analyze the relationship between FinTech and incumbent banks.  Given the characteristics in Japan's financial market, Akai tries to clarify the impact of Fintech to the investment behavior of Japanese banks.

Yasuhito Ando, Kozo Keikaku Engineering, "Use of AI in Architectural Design:  Defining Comfort in Residential Design"

In the construction industry, the use of IT, AI, and robotics is advancing with many used to respond to labor shortages and reduce costs.  However, the value of using a computer is not only to improve efficiency, but to possibly create new solutions beyond the limit of human established concepts.  Computational design is expected to derive optimal solutions that humans have never imagined in complex conditions. 

In the design of buildings, there are already examples of computer-based optimization of structure, design, cost and environment.  However, there is no example of realizing comfortable planning.  This is because the comfort is vague and difficult to design.  In his research, Ando examines how to find comfort definitions from housing design data.

Takanori Tomozawa, Ministry of Economy, Trade & Industry, Japan, "Innovation for Energy Policy & Companies in Japan —  Lessons Learned from Silicon Valley"

In the energy field, innovation is becoming more and more essential under the trends of decarbonization, digitaliation, decentralization, and so on.  Tomozawa's research objective is to find implications to improve the energy innovation capability of the Japanese government and companies.  To do so, Tomozawa has scrutinized the activities of other countries' energy companies, the energy innovation ecosystem especially in the Silicon Valley, and the discussion about future electricity system reform in California.  Silicon Valley is a place where high-technologies are developed before anywhere else in the world, where many emerging startups are created, and where there is a variety of opportunities to invest in innovations under the advanced legal system.  In his presentation, Tomozawa will share the lessons he has learned from Silicon Valley to achieve his objective. 

Hiroto Akai

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Global Affiliate Visiting Scholar, 2017-19
Ministry of Finance - Japan
hiroto_akai.jpg

Hiroto Akai is a global affiliate visiting scholar at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) for 2017-19.  Akai has served various positions at the Japanese Ministry of Finance and the Financial Services Agency.  Prior to joining Shorenstein APARC, he was Deputy Director of Policy Planning and Research Division, which is responsible for producing the Financial Statements Statistics of Japanese Corporations.  He assumed several tasks related to financial markets during his career.  He was Deputy Director of the Office of Foreign Exchange Reserve Management (2015-16), where he was responsible for portfolio management of Japan's FX reserves.  He also worked for Foreign Exchange and Markets Division (2008-09), where he was in charge of foreign exchange market policy during the global financial crisis.  He received a masters degree of economics from Hitotsubashi University in 2005.

 

 

Ministry of Finance, Japan

Yasuhito Ando

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Global Affiliate Visiting Scholar, 2018-19
Kozo Keikaku Engineering
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Yasuhito Ando is a global affiliate visiting scholar at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) for 2018-19.  Ando is currently the Managing Executive Officer of Kozo Keikaku Engineering where he is in charge of the U.S. marketing department.  While at KKE, he developed a system to calculate the structure of buildings and also consults on processes from development to design and construction.  Most recently, he was engaged in the planning department focusing on business and personnel planning as well as involved in the information communication system development and management of IoE (Internet of Everything) business. 

 

Kozo Keikaku Engineering

Takanori Tomozawa

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Global Affiliate Visiting Scholar, 2018-19
Ministry of Economy Trade & Industry - Japan
takanori_tomozawa.jpg PhD

Takanori Tomozawa is a global affiliate visiting scholar at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) for 2018-19.  Tomozawa has served various positions at the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.  Prior to joining Shorenstein APARC, he was Deputy Director of Energy Strategy Office, which is responsible for revising the Strategic Energy Plan of Japan.  He received his PhD degree in the Department of Technology Management for Innovation from the University of Tokyo in 2013.

METI, Japan
Seminars

Global Affiliates Research Presentations (session 2 of 5)

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The format of this presentation is each of the five speakers will have approximately 15 minutes to present their research.  This will be followed by a short period of 5-10 minutes for any questions or comments from the audience.

In this session of the Global Affiliates Research Presentations, the following will be presented:

Jiazhong Fang, PetroChina, "Sustainable Development of the Petroleum Industry"

Climate change has become more and more critical to the survival of humans.  If there is no appropriate control of the total greenhouse gas emissions over the next 10-20 years, emissions will drive global temperatures to rise 1.5-2oC.  Impacts related to climate change can be found in many segments of society such as human health, agriculture and food security, water supply, transportation, etc.  These same areas also impact the survival of the petroleum industry.  In his research, Fang has analyzed different scenarios about future clean energy implementation and emission reduction.  In this presentation, he shares potential solutions of the sustainable development of the petroleum industry. 

Ryoji Miyawaki, AAKEL Technologies, "Technology to Realize Decarbonization"

Decarbonization is one of the major issues of humanity.  It is, however, very difficult to solve under rapid population growth and modernization without innovation.  These days, many cleantech startups have been launched to aim to solve the issue with innovative approaches utilization cutting-edge technologies.  Miyawaki intends to share his insights into the latest trends of cleantech, the context behinds the trends, and the difference between the trends and the past Green New Deal which crashed in the late 2000s.

Hiro Nishinaka, Ishin Co., Ltd. "The State of Japanese Corporate Venture Capitals in the Silicon Valley"

Silicon Valley continues to attract attention as the center of tech startups and innovation.  A growing proportion of the most valuable companies in the U.S. are tech companies such as Silicon Valley-based tech giants Apple, Alphabet, and Facebook.  Therefore, many large Japanese enterprises have recently been organizing their own Corporate Venture Capitals (CVCs) to accelerate internal innovation, utilizing the Silicon Valley Startups' ecosystem.  However, many of these Japanese CVCs face similar common difficulties.  In his research, Nishinaka will share some insights into how large Japanese enterprises harness their CVCs to collaborate with startups to accelerate innovation effectively.

Hayato Watanabe, Hamamatsu Iwata Shinkin Bank, "The World of Japanese Manufacturing SMEs that Support Japan as a Manufacturing Powerhouse"

Japan's global market share is rapidly shrinking.  As a regional financial institution, the Hamamatsu Iwata Shinkin Bank focuses on supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with a majority of their customers in the vehicle engine parts industry.  There is an increasing possibility that the pyramid of parts supply centering on automobiles will collapse in the near future.  In such an era, it will be necessary for Japanese manufacturing SMEs to change their way of business in order to survive.  In his research, Watanabe shares his experience of proof of concept in Silicon Valley and provides suggestions on how Japanese manufacturing SMEs need to progress their business to expand their market share. 

Kosuke Yokota, Future Corporation, "Success Factors of FinTech in Japan"

The last decade has seen a disruption of the traditional banking industry, especially in the areas of payments, lending, wealth management, and retail banking.  This disruption is FinTech and includes 39 unicorns in the world, although not one Japanese company.  FinTech trends change every year.  In 2019, with Japan's shrinking millennial population, the battle for millennial deposits will become more aggressive as FinTech account products hit the market.  In his research, Yokota will share some insights into how Japan, which is an aging society, will proceed ahead of the world to accelerate FinTech innovation effectively. 

Jiazhong Fang

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Global Affiliate Visiting Scholar, 2018-19
PetroChina
fullsizeoutput_bd9d.jpeg PhD

Jiazhong Fang is a global affiliate visiting scholar at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) for 2018-19.  Fang works as the President and CEO of PetroKazakhstan Inc., a joint venture of PetroChina Company Ltd. and Kazkhstan national oil company, KazMunayGas (KMG).  Prior to this position, he has over 20 years of experience working internationally for PetroChina Overseas in Africa and central Asia, mainly focusing on exploration and development of oilfields.  He earned his PhD of Petroleum Engineering at the China Petroleum University, and his Master and Bachelor degree of Geology at Northwest University of China.  

PetroChina

Ryoji Miyawaki

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Global Affiliate Visiting Scholar, 2018-19
AAKEL Technologies
ryoji_miyawaki.jpg MBA

Ryoji Miyawaki is a global affiliate visiting scholar at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) for 2018-19. Miyawaki has over 20 years of experience in the energy industry as a business consultant with a background in digital technology, business strategy, marketing strategy and change management.  He was head of the utility industry at Accenture Japan from 2011 to 2018 as a management director.  Currently, he is the CEO at AAKEL Technologies Inc., a company for realizing decarbonization utilizing digital innovation in Japan.  His research interests cover energy market trading, P2P trading with blockchain, distributed energy resource optimization and artificial intelligence.

 

AAKEL Technologies
Ishin Co., Ltd.
Hamamatsu Shinkin Bank

Kosuke Yokota

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Global Affiliate Visiting Scholar, 2018-19
Future Corporation
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Kosuke Yokota is a global affiliate visiting scholar at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) for 2018-19.  Yokota is a section manager of Future Architect, Inc., an IT consulting firm in Japan.  He has over 10 years of experience in IT consulting and system designing, specifically financial industry systems.  Yokota graduated form Tohoku University with a masters degree in nuclear physics.  While at Shorenstein APARC, his research will focus on the Silicon Valley tech innovation ecosystem and the organic collaboration between universities, startups, venture capital and government.  

Future Corporation
Seminars

Global Affiliates Research Presentations (session 1 of 5)

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The format of this presentation is each of the four speakers will have approximately 15 minutes to present their research.  This will be followed by a short period of 5-10 minutes for any questions or comments from the audience.

In this session of the Global Affiliates Research Presentations, the following will be presented:

Tetsuji Ito, Development Bank of Japan, "Major League Baseball Team Management and Their Contribution to Regional Economy — with Comparison and Suggestions to Japanese Professional Baseball"

The average annual salary of an MLB player has more than quadrupled since 1995 reaching the current high of over $4 million.  Since 1995, the highest annual salary went from $10 million to now well over $30 million and is expected to continue to rise.  This has been made possible by the growth of the MLB's market size itself - currently at $100 billion which is more than seven times higher than the 1995 levels.  However, the average attendance per MLB game is decreasing and the average age of the MLB fan is increasing which could be a problem.  On the other hand, the Japanese professional baseball market has grown by only 1.5 times over the same period. In his research, Ito analyzes MLB's growth factors and studies their contribution to the regional economy, as well as their implications for the Japanese professional baseball market and regional economy.

Yangming Li, PetroChina, "The Potential Uses of AI for China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC)"

Similar to other international oil and gas companies, the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) is facing big challenges.  At the same time, Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology has been adopted everywhere and will be applied widely to the oil and gas industry.  These big companies, such as Shell and BP, are trying to rapidly scale and replicate AI technologies to improve their operational performances.  In his research, Li analyzes CNPC's current situation and its corporate strategy.  Li explains AI's application directions and benefits for CNPC's major business units such as enterprise management, oil exploration, refinery and gas stations, etc.  In his presentation, he will provide suggestions that CNPC may take AI as a new kernel of corporate strategy and outlines some considerations when implementing AI. 

Yuki Sakai, Mitsubishi Electric, "Software Quality Assurance for Collaboration with Startups"

Advanced technology, especially Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology, accelerates the cycle of business innovation.  Recently, many startups have developed AI-based software products.  Automotive makers, their suppliers and others collaborate on software development with startups as partners for their new products.  However, the gap of software requirements between the startups' products and automotive products can cause quality issues.  What can firms do for the startups to ensure software quality?  In his research, Sakai investigates software engineering for quality assurance for AI-based software products. 

Col. Masahiro Shizu, Japan Air Self Defense Force, "Relation in Cross Domain Operations Between Japan and the U.S."

The security environment surrounding the world is constantly changing.  Under these circumstances, Japan has been continuously implementing various efforts to achieve peace, independence, and the stability of the region.  However, with limited resources, it is difficult to respond to the current environment.  Therefore, it is time for Japan to adopt and practice a new strategy rather than conventional strategy.  This is the concept of the so-called "Cross Domain Operation" and is becoming more widely used around the world.  In his research, Shizu will consider possible roles and ways of cooperation between Japan and the United States under the strong Japan-U.S. alliance. 

Tetsuji Ito

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Global Affiliate Visiting Scholar, 2018-19
Development Bank of Japan
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Tetsuji Ito is a global affiliate visiting scholar at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) for 2018-19.  Ito joined the Development Bank of Japan in 1995, and has been in charge of financing various fields, such as railway companies, urban development projects, and airline industries, etc.  Prior to joining APARC, he was Deputy General Manager and was responsible for planning corporate strategy and financing energy sectors, including the nuclear power related industry after the Great East Japan Earthquake.  Ito received his bachelor's degree of law from Tokyo University in 1995. 

Development Bank of Japan

Yangming Li

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Global Affiliate Visiting Scholar, 2018-19
PetroChina
yangming_li.jpg MBA

Yangming Li is a global affiliate visiting scholar at the Watler H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) for 2018-19.  Li has over 30 years of experience in the IT domain.  Most recently, he was the President of Beijing Richfit Information Technology Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation.  He oversaw 3,000 employees and was responsible for developing and implementing a market-focused, platform-based and internationalize business strategy.  He earned his bachelors degree in mathematics from Xiamen University and his MBA from Tsinghua University. 

 

 

PetroChina

Yuki Sakai

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Global Affiliate Visiting Scholar, 2018-19
Mitsubishi Electric
yuki_sakai.jpg PhD

Yuki Sakai is a global affiliate visiting scholar at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) for 2018-19.  Sakai works for the research and development department at Mitsubishi Electric Corp., as an electric and electronic manufacturer in Japan.  He is a researcher in software engineering and user interface design for car navigation systems.  He received his PhD degree in Computer Science from Osaka University in 2013.  During his fellowship at Shorenstein APARC, his research will focus on joint research and development with startups. 

Mitsubishi Electric

Col. Masahiro Shizu

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Global Affiliate Visiting Scholar, 2018-19
Japan Air Self Defense Force
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Col. Masahiro Shizu is a global affiliate visiting scholar at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) for 2018-19. Shizu has almost 20 years of experience at the Japanese Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  In his experience, he has been a member of the Joint Staff Office and the Air Staff Office as well as commanded units of the Japan Air Self Defense Force.  Most recently, Shizu was part of the Defense Planning and Policy Department where he was responsible for acquisition of defense equipment and creating future military strategy, operational plans and capabilities.

Japan Air Self Defense Force
Seminars

North Korea: Five Numbers You Need to Know

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North Korea is the land of punditry, controversy and bad intelligence.  Policy debates swirl in Washington over how U.S. policy should address this foreign policy challenge.  Much of these debates is informed by a mix of opinion, ideology and politics.   How do we make sense of it all? Victor Cha and his Beyond Parallel microsite at CSIS try to cut through the noise to bring data to the study of North Korea and foreign policy.  He will discuss five data points that are critical to an understanding of the North Korea problem today and its policy challenges.

victor cha small
Victor Cha holds the D.S. Song-KF Professorship in Government and International Affairs at Georgetown University. In 2009, he was also named as Senior Adviser for Asia and Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. He left the White House in 2007 after serving since 2004 as Director for Asian Affairs at the National Security Council.  At the White House, he was responsible primarily for Japan, the Korean peninsula, Australia/New Zealand and Pacific Island nation affairs.  Dr. Cha was also the Deputy Head of Delegation for the United States at the Six Party Talks in Beijing, and received two Outstanding Service commendations during his tenure at the NSC.  He is the author of five books, including the award-winning Alignment Despite Antagonism: The United States-Korea-Japan Security Triangle (Stanford University Press) (winner of the 2000 Ohira Book Prize), and The Impossible State: North Korea, Past and Future (Harper Collins Ecco, 2012) which was selected by Foreign Affairs as a “Best Book on the Asia-Pacific for 2012.” His newest book is Powerplay: Origins of the American Alliance System in Asia (Princeton University Press, 2016). He has testified before Congress numerous times on Asian security issues.  In 2018, he joined NBC and MSNBC as a News Contributor.  Prior to joining NBC, he had been a guest analyst for various media including CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, The Colbert Report, Sports Illustrated, ESPN, Fox News, PBS, Huffington Post, Wall Street Journal, MSNBC, CNBC, BBC, and National Public Radio.  His op-eds have appeared in the Washington Post, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Foreign Policy, Japan Times, and Financial Times. He holds a B.A., an M.I.A., and a Ph.D. from Columbia University, as well as an M.A. from Oxford University.

 

 

 

 

Philippines Conference Room
Encina Hall, 3rd Floor
616 Serra Mall, Stanford, CA 94305

Victor Cha <i>Professor of Government, Georgetown University</i>
Seminars
Korean Studies Colloquium Series

Five years after Crimea’s illegal annexation, the issue is no closer to resolution

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This article originally appeared at Brookings.

 

March 18 marks the fifth anniversary of Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea, which capped the most blatant land grab in Europe since World War II. While the simmering conflict in Donbas now dominates the headlines, it is possible to see a path to resolution there. It is much more difficult with Crimea, which will remain a problem between Kyiv and Moscow, and between the West and Russia, for years—if not decades—to come.

THE TAKING OF CRIMEA

In late February 2014, just days after the end of the Maidan Revolution and Victor Yanukovych’s flight from Kyiv, “little green men”—a term coined by Ukrainians—began seizing key facilities on the Crimean peninsula. The little green men were clearly professional soldiers by their bearing, carried Russian weapons, and wore Russian combat fatigues, but they had no identifying insignia. Vladimir Putin originally denied they were Russian soldiers; that April, he confirmed they were.

By early March, the Russian military had control of Crimea. Crimean authorities then proposed a referendum, which was held on March 16. It proved an illegitimate sham. To begin with, the referendum was illegal under Ukrainian law. Moreover, it offered voters two choices: to join Russia, or to restore Crimea’s 1992 constitution, which would have entailed significantly greater autonomy from Kyiv. Those on the peninsula who favored Crimea remaining a part of Ukraine under the current constitutional arrangements found no box to check.

The referendum unsurprisingly produced a Soviet-style result: 97 percent allegedly voted to join Russia with a turnout of 83 percent. A true referendum, fairly conducted, might have shown a significant number of Crimean voters in favor of joining Russia. Some 60 percent were ethnic Russians, and many might have concluded their economic situation would be better as a part Russia.

It was not, however, a fair referendum. It was conducted in polling places under armed guard, with no credible international observers, and with Russian journalists reporting that they had been allowed to vote. Two months later, a member of Putin’s Human Rights Council let slip that turnout had been more like 30 percent, with only half voting to join Russia.

Regardless, Moscow wasted no time. Crimean and Russian officials signed a “treaty of accession” just two days later, on March 18. Spurred by a fiery Putin speech, ratification by Russia’s rubberstamp Federation Assembly and Federation Council was finished by March 21.

ATTEMPTS TO JUSTIFY

Moscow’s actions violated the agreement among the post-Soviet states in 1991 to accept the then-existing republic borders. Those actions also violated commitments to respect Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and independence that Russia made in the 1994 Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances for Ukraine and 1997 Ukrainian-Russian Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Partnership.

In late March 2014, Russia had to use its veto to block a U.N. Security Council resolution that, among other things, expressed support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity (there were 13 yes votes and one abstention). The Russians could not, however, veto a resolution in the U.N. General Assembly. It passed 100-11, affirming Ukraine’s territorial integrity and terming the Crimean referendum invalid.

Russian officials sought to justify the referendum as an act of self-determination. It was not an easy argument for the Kremlin to make, given the history of the two bloody wars that Russia waged in the 1990s and early 2000s to prevent Chechnya from exercising a right of self-determination.

Russian officials also cited Western recognition of Kosovo as justification. But that did not provide a particularly good model. Serbia subjected hundreds of thousands of Kosovar Albanians to ethnic-cleansing in 1999; by contrast, no ethnic-cleansing occurred in Crimea. Kosovo negotiated with Serbia to reach an amicable separation for years before declaring independence unilaterally. There were no negotiations with Kyiv over Crimea’s fate, and it took less than a month from the appearance of the little green men to Crimea’s annexation.

The military seizure of Crimea provoked a storm of criticism. The United States and European Union applied visa and financial sanctions, as well as prohibited their ships and aircraft from traveling to Crimea without Ukrainian permission. Those sanctions were minor, however, compared to those applied on Russia after it launched a proxy conflict in Donbas in April 2014, and particularly after a Russian-provided surface-to-air missile downed a Malaysian Air airliner carrying some 300 passengers.

Whereas Ukrainian forces on Crimea did not resist the Russian invasion (in part at the urging of the West), Kyiv resisted the appearance of little green men in Donbas. Before long, the Ukrainians found themselves fighting Russian troops as well as “separatist” forces. That conflict is now about to enter its sixth year.

Finding a settlement in Donbas has taken higher priority over resolving the status of Crimea—understandable given that some 13,000 have died and two million been displaced in the fighting in eastern Ukraine. Moscow seems to see the simmering conflict as a useful means to pressure and distract Kyiv, both to make instituting domestic reform more difficult and to hinder the deepening of ties between Ukraine and Europe.

Resolving the Donbas conflict will not prove easy. For example, the Kremlin may not be prepared to settle until it has some idea of where Ukraine fits in the broader European order, that is, its relationship with the European Union and NATO. But Russia has expressed no interest in annexing Donbas. While the seizure of Crimea proved very popular with the broader Russia public, the quagmire in Donbas has not. The most biting Western economic sanctions would come off of Russia if it left Donbas. At some point, the Kremlin may calculate that the costs outweigh the benefits and consent to a settlement that would allow restoration of Ukrainian sovereignty there.

Moscow will not, on the other hand, willingly give up Crimea. Russians assert a historical claim to the peninsula; Catherine the Great annexed the peninsula in 1783 following a war between Russia and the Ottoman Empire. (That said, Crimea was transferred from the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1954, and, as noted above, the republics that emerged from the wreckage of the Soviet Union in 1991 agreed to accept the borders as then drawn.)

Retaining Crimea is especially important to Putin, who can offer the Russian people no real prospect of anything other than a stagnant economy and thus plays the nationalism and Russia-as-a-great-power cards. He gained a significant boost in public popularity (much of which has now dissipated) from the rapid and relatively bloodless takeover of the peninsula. Moreover, it offers a vehicle for Russia to maintain a festering border dispute with Ukraine, which the Kremlin may see as discouraging NATO members from getting too close to Ukraine.

Kyiv at present lacks the political, economic, and military leverage to force a return. Perhaps the most plausible route would require that Ukraine get its economic act together, dramatically rein in corruption, draw in large amounts of foreign investment, and realize its full economic potential, and then let the people in Crimea—who have seen no dramatic economic boom after becoming part of Russia—conclude that their economic lot would be better off back as a part of Ukraine.

For the West, Russia’s seizure and annexation of Crimea pose a fundamental challenge to the European order and the norms established by the 1975 Helsinki Final Act. The United States and Europe should continue their policy of non-recognition of Crimea’s illegal incorporation. They should also maintain Crimea-related sanctions on Russia, if for no other reason than to signal that such land grabs have no place in 21st-century Europe.

 

 

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