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On December 17th, 2022, Professor Nobumasa Akiyama, Dean of the Graduate School of International a­nd Public Policy at Hitotsubashi University, took part in the Asia Undercurrent webinar. This webinar was part of a webinar series organized by Nikkei Inc. a­nd the Japanese government. In this webinar, which was moderated by Sheila Smith (John E. Merow senior fellow for Asia-Pacific studies at the Council on Foreign Relations), Professor Akiyama discussed the possibility of “A World Without Nuclear Weapons” with other experts including Dr. Tytti Erästö (Senior Researcher, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute), a­nd Dr. Jeffery Lewis (Professor, Director, East Asia Nonproliferation Project). The panelists first talked about current nuclear weapons issues a­nd the multilateral non-proliferation regime. Professor Akiyama commented on the security dynamics in East Asia a­nd stressed the fact that Japan needs to heighten its diplomatic efforts to bring stability to this region. The panelists then went on to address the causes of the current nuclear issues as well as the perception of nuclear deterrence from the viewpoint of U.S. allies. Finally, the webinar ended with brief comments from each panelist on how to propel society toward a brighter future of a world without nuclear weapons.

On December 10, 2022, Professor Nobumasa Akiyama appeared as a moderator on a round-table discussion series released by the Sasakawa Peace Foundation, entitled "U.S. Nuclear Policy a­nd Deterrence Strategy: Russia-Ukraine War a­nd It's Implications for the Indo-Pacific." Other participants included Brad Roberts (Director at the Center for Global Security Research of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory), Sugio Takahashi (Head of the Defense Policy Division in the Policy Studies Department at the National Institute for Defense Studies), a­nd Masaru Murano (Japan Chair fellow at the Hudson Institute). In addition to introducing "The End of Nuclear Oblivion: The Era of Nuclear Weapons Restoration" (Keiso Shobo, 2019), edited by Prof. Akiyama a­nd Mr. Takahashi, as well as the Japanese translation of Mr. Roberts' book "The Case for U.S. Nuclear Weapons in the 21st Century" (Keiso Shobo, 2022), published this August, the panelists also expressed their opinions on the trends of US nuclear policy a­nd deterrence strategy, along with other issues such as the Russo-Ukrainian War a­nd the problems in the Indo-Pacific region, as well as Japan's perspective on global issues, a­nd arms control.

On December 8, 2022, Professor Nobumasa Akiyama, Dean of the School of International and Public Policy, was elected as a member of Japan’s International Group of Eminent Persons for a World Without Nuclear Weapons by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. This is a group whose establishment was announced by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida as“a forum in which participants from both nuclear and non-nuclear-weapon states will, aided by the involvement of incumbent and former political leaders around the globe, exchange ideas and thoughts beyond their respective national positions and engage in candid discussions concerning a concrete path towards the realization of a world without nuclear weapons.” Professor Akiyama is one of the three Japanese members who will be joined by twelve non-Japanese members.

On October 25, 2022, Professor Maiko Ichihara appeared on the live broadcast of the 11th Global Assembly of the World Movement for Democracy, held in Taipei. She moderated a session titled “Civil Society Reflection on Today's Challenges” and spoke with activists from Russia, Iran, and Hong Kong about the challenges that democratic societies face. The activists described the situation in their countries as well as the threats posed by the dictators of their respective countries towards democracy and human rights. In response to Professor Ichihara’s questions, the participants expressed their thoughts on how democracy could be promoted not only by the people of the countries covered, but by people from all across the world.

On October 6, 2022, Professor Nobumasa Akiyama appeared as a commentator on the news program Shinsou News, broadcast on the BS Nippon TV channel. There, he discussed the possibility of nuclear weapons being used in the four provinces that President Vladimir Putin recently designated as Russian territory. Professor Akiyama also used his expertise to explain the weapons implicated for use, such as low-yield nuclear weapons, in detail. Furthermore, he discussed with the other commentators the types of nuclear weapons that have been developed since the end of the Cold War a­nd how effective the latest nuclear weapons might be in achieving military a­nd political objectives. Finally, Professor Akiyama talked about the strategies used by both the US a­nd Russia in the ongoing nuclear deterrence debate between the two countries, a­nd stated his opinion on what is needed to prevent Russia from carrying out a nuclear attack.

On September 29, 2022, an interview by Ms. Sascha Hannig Nunez, assistant at GGR, with the director of the Political Capital Institute, Mr. Peter Kreko, was released on the Forum 2000 website. The Forum 2000 is a foundation that pursues the legacy of the late Czech president, Vaclav Havel, by supporting the values of democracy a­nd human rights. It holds an annual conference in Prague each year, along with a multitude of other events such as online chats a­nd festivals to promote democracy. Ms. Hannig served as an interviewer on one of the online chats a­nd discussed with Mr. Kreko the current leader of Hungary, Victor Orban, a­nd the concept of informational democracy. Mr. Kreko talked about the impact that the Hungarian leader has had on other illiberal governments a­nd how he has gained the support of the people who have not benefited from the regime, such as the destitute or impoverished. Moreover, he distinguished Victor Orban f­rom the famous populist a­nd former US president, Donald Trump, a­nd stated that, as the Russo-Ukrainian War prolongs, it gives more room for people li­ke Orban, Trump, a­nd o­ther Western populists to gain attention a­nd promote a sense of nationalism that puts the protection of their own people first.

On October 1, 2022, a new fact-checking organization, the Japan Fact-check Center (JFC), was established, and Professor Maiko Ichihara was appointed as a member of its steering committee. JFC is a non-profit organization established for the purpose of maintaining and improving the integrity of the Internet communication space, which has become an important foundation of democracy. The Center’s mission is to focus on questionable information on the Internet, to verify its authenticity based on evidence, and to promote media literacy in the digital age.

On September 5, 2022, Professor Nobumasa Akiyama appeared as a commentator on the BS11+ channel news program Inside OUT Broadcast where he talked about the recent NPT conference as well as the pursuit of a “world without nuclear weapons”. The professor commented on the process of the negotiations at the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference, which he attended as an advisor to the Japanese delegation, and the atmosphere during the conference. He also discussed the non-adoption of the conference's final resolution, explaining why Russia could not come to terms with the final document, and outlined the significant points of this year’s conference. Focusing on the Russia-Ukraine war, professor Akiyama also talked about the state of Ukraine's nuclear power plants and Russia's usage of nuclear weapons. The session concluded with a discussion on what actions Japan should take to further promote nuclear weapons reduction and nuclear nonproliferation amidst the tense situation in the East Asian region and while being under the U.S. nuclear umbrella.

Professor Nobumasa Akiyama appeared on a talk series produced by the Sasakawa Peace Foundation entitled “The End of Nuclear Oblivion in the Ukrainian War” which was recorded in April a­nd released as a podcast on August 19. Three years have passed since the publication of the book that Professor Akiyama co-authored, The End of Nuclear Oblivion: The Era of Nuclear Weapons Restoration. In the book, the issue of nuclear weapons, which went from “unused”, “unusable” weapons to “usable” weapons due to the nuclear strategies of Russia and China, was discussed. That issue has become more realistic than ever as a result of the Ukrainian War. Professor Akiyama was joined by other scholars who specialize in arms control a­nd nuclear strategy as they discussed the increased nuclear threat posed by the war in Ukraine. The second episode took on a broad view of nuclear possession a­nd arms control, with discussions on the relationship between nuclear weapons a­nd other weapons, as well as the role of arms control in war.

Professor Nobumasa Akiyama appeared on a talk series produced by the Sasakawa Peace Foundation entitled “The End of Nuclear Oblivion in the Ukrainian War” which was recorded in April and released as a podcast on August 19. Three years have passed since the publication of the book that Professor Akiyama co-wrote-“The End of Nuclear Oblivion: The Era of Nuclear Weapons Restoration”, which was released in 2019. In the book, the issue of nuclear weapons, which went from “unused”, “unusable” weapons to “usable” weapons due to the nuclear strategies of Russia and China, was discussed. That issue has become more realistic than ever as a result of the Ukrainian War. Professor Akiyama was joined by other scholars who specialize in arms control and nuclear strategy as they discussed the increased nuclear threat posed by the war in Ukraine. In this first episode, they talked about how Russia and the United States perceive the threat of nuclear weapons in the war and what deterrence and arms control aim to achieve.