To mark the opening in April this year of its new Center for Relational Studies on Global Crises, a 'kick-off' seminar was held at Chiba University on 1 June 2017. Following the keynote lecture, participants took part in a panel discussion under the heading 'How to Deal with Global Crises: from the viewpoint of Europe, North America, Asia and the Middle East'. All three discussants were from the new center. Mizushima Jiro spoke about the challenges for democracy in Europe from the rise of populist politics, Ishido Hikari examined the impact of the Trump administration's 'America first' policy on Asia and Sakai Keiko addressed some of the factors motivating ISIS in the Middle East. The discussion was skillfully led by Oishi Akiko and involved a debate about the effect of arguments and language on contemporary politics.
Interpretation of global politics is an area to which a perspective from border studies has much to offer and UBRJ is looking forward to contributing to the Center for Relational Studies on Global Crises pioneering research.
Eurasia Unit for Border Research (Japan)
