The Sigur Center for Asian Studies will proudly host Ambassador Kazuhiko Togo, Visiting Professor at Kyoto Sangyo University and former Ambassador of Japan to the Netherlands, and Professor Emeritus Yoshihide Soeya of Keio University, for the second edition of our 2021 Sigur Center Lecture Series.

Although Japan sees the U.S.-Japan alliance as the foundation of regional peace and stability, it is also concerned about the intensification of great power rivalry between the United States and China, and between the United States and Russia. Two leading Japanese experts of international relations, Professors Yoshihide Soeya and Kazuhiko Togo, will discuss Japanese perspectives on great power competition and the challenges and opportunities this competition presents for Japan’s foreign policy. They will examine how Japan can and should promote regional stability and peace by pursuing a middle-power diplomacy. In addition to evaluating Japan’s vision for a “Free and Open Indo-Pacific” region and the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue among Japan, the United States, Australia, and India, Professors Soeya and Togo will analyze Japan’s relations with South Korea, Russia, and various countries in Southeast Asia.

After sharing individual commentaries, Professors Soeya and Togo will then turn to a conversation with the moderator, Mike Mochizuki, Japan-US Relations Chair in Memory of Gaston Sigur at the George Washington University, and then finally to an audience Q&A.

This event is free, open to the public, and will be recorded. @GWUSigurCenter