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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.

This news release from the Japan Center for International Exchange discusses the recent meeting of the Sunnylands Initiative on Enhancing Democratic Partnership held in Odawara, Japan, over the course of two days in August 2022 and attended by Professor Maiko Ichihara. 30 prominent practitioners and scholars, including the professor, gathered in Odawara to discuss the importance of defending and strengthening democratic governance and human rights in the Indo-Pacific region. Participants addressed the importance of involving the private sector as well as youth and talked about how Japan could exercise leadership. As an outcome of the meeting, the participants wrote out the Odawara Statement which was presented to Japanese Diet members and journalists.

On August 6, 2022, Professor Akiyama participated in a panel discussion on NHK World Japan where it broadcast an episode on the risk of a nuclear war. The panel members discussed the topic of Russia’s threat to use nuclear weapons in the Russo-Ukrainian War as well as the prospects of nuclear deterrance and arms control in the East Asian region. Concerning the strengthening of nuclear weapons in the East-Asian region, namely by North Korea and China, the panel discussed the need to strengthen nuclear deterrence, but expressed a negative position on the nuclear option for Japan and South Korea, and discussed the importance of the alliance with the United States. The episode concluded with the debate on “deterrence vs. disarmament” and the professor emphasized the need for more talks between the actors to create a foundation for more arms control negotiations.