Vanguard
The Japanese Policy Making in the Changing Times
A young global security expert Ken Jimbo specializes in Japan’s foreign and security policy with special emphasis on the post-9/11 global scenario. We talked with Associate Professor Jimbo about the JapanJapanese pmaking process in the changing times process and his visio Keio Universitonan Fujisawa Campus in the near future.
JIMBO, Ken
Associate ProfessorFaculty of Policy Management
Working in Think Tanks
My desire to create a cutting-edge
community in Japan in the field of foreign and security policy
similar to that the one found in the United States, prompted me to
join a Japanese think tank in 1999, the Japan Institute of
International Affairs (JIIA). As I had experienced, most American
policy debates at major think tanks and universities in the U.S. kept
quite close to real policy making in terms of both immediacy and
importance. In those days, Japanese policy making revolved around
discussions between politicians and government bureaucrats. Academic
discussion by researchers and other experts on the subject did not
find a place in the actual policy making process. I realized that
policy making should not simply follow some predetermined path fixed
by the government, but should be decided through an open discussion
amongst think tank researchers, academic researchers and politicians.
It should be based on evaluating various options that would finally
emerge through these debates. I wanted to try this idea at JIIA. 
I
worked at JIIA and the Japan Forum on International Relations for
about six years. My work at the two think tanks was quite satisfying,
as I had the opportunity to be involved in discussions regarding the
development and implementation of several important policies.
However, being in a managerial position, I gradually began to feel
dissatisfied with my position. I was involved in raising operating
funds from corporations in 2003, a time when the Japanese economic
performance was poor. I learned how hard it could be to manage a
corporation relying on corporate funding. I keenly sensed that
management and research could not be separated. I wanted a place
where I could be involved in the policy making process in the true
sense, and not just function as a “manager.” With this intent in
mind, I became a university professor at Keio University Shonan
Fujisawa Campus (SFC).
The New Security Framework After 9/11
The world security situation changed
dramatically after 9/11. Before this date, the conflict between
nations was the core component of international security framework.
The rules of international law could be applied to such conflicts,
and international crises and wars took a clearly visible form. It was
easy for a policy of deterrence to be created among nations where
they agreed not to attack each other because they knew that if one
country attacked then the other would retaliate. However, 9/11
changed this basic framework. The concept of deterrence could not be
applied to asymmetrical threats after 9/11. State actors were not
sure where to retaliate in the event of an attack, and it was not
clear to them when the war ended. The proliferation of weapons of
mass destruction was highly critical when armed groups and
terrorists were procuring these weapons and expanding their power
through them. The traditional logic of stability developed over the
course of international relations discussions in the past no longer
applied. Now we need to reconsider how imbalanced relationships
between nations and people, nations and goods, and nations and
corporations impact upon world security and stability. My main
research interest is to review the core logic of stability and
propose security policies in a changed context.
Envisioning SFC as a Policy Making Forum
In a realm of international security, problems dealing with nuclear weapons, the long-term role of the Japan-U.S. alliance, and the international community’s response to issues like terrorism should not be discussed exclusively by governments. To resolve these issues, scholars need to share their ideas and narrow the gap between government expertise and scholarly knowledge. Around the world today, academia and governments are drawing close to resolve contentious global issues. Universities must play a constructive and decisive role, and I intend to create an environment where the SFC faculty, administrative staff and students can discuss these matters with an eye to transforming society.My vision is to create a Japanese-style “revolving door” policy making framework where more and more SFC academics can enter the government, participate in real policy making, and then return to SFC to impart practical knowledge. Under the Abe administration, Japan attempted to create a National Security Council (NSC). However in the end a change in national leadership and the election of a new prime minister the bill was shelved. The Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda did not push the plan forward. The NSC was to serve as the headquarters for Japan’s foreign and security policy. I think it would be good for university professors and other members of the private sector to serve as staff members of the NSC secretariat and be involved in policy making. As staff members of the NSC secretariat, they would be key players in policy making, including formulating Japan’s medium- to long-term strategies and responding to international crises. But this scenario would be implemented only if academics and politicians respect each other’s opinion and earnestly strive to learn from each other’s experience. The fact that Japan attempted to create an NSC makes it one step short of creating a policy making forum like the one in the United States.
Inspired by Academics in Other Research Areas
SFC has both researchers who create
Internet infrastructure and researchers who generate web content
based on the infrastructure. I can conduct distance learning classes
in Japan, China, and South Korea precisely because I work at SFC,
which is home to both infrastructure and web-content experts, as
well. Various excellent fora exist within university faculties where
researchers in related fields share their knowledge and experiences.
If researchers from a variety of different fields become members of
the same forum, remote and recondite research fields can support and
enrich each other. For example, if I talk about the kinds of
geopolitical space used by terrorism, nuclear weapons, and other
threats to human security, a professor of space design from the
Faculty of Environment and Information Studies may share with me how
people have viewed the concept of space over the course of history.
The two of us can then use the same concepts of space and environment
to conduct research which was once considered belonging to entirely
different research fields. When we talk to each other, we can learn
and absorb much. This is very stimulating and interesting. At SFC, I
have learned that such “chemical reactions” occur and greatly
benefit research.
A Brief Background of Associate Professor
JIMBO, Ken
Associate Professor Jimbo specializes in international security, security in the Asia-Pacific region, regionalism in East Asia, and Japanese defense and security policy. Associate Professor Jimbo graduated from Keio University Faculty of Policy Management in 1996, completed the master’s program at Keio University Graduate School of Media and Governance in 1998, and earned a Ph.D. (Media and Governance) there in 2003. Today he works as a research fellow at the Tokyo Foundation while simultaneously holding several other positions. He has served as a member of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy’s Special Board of Inquiry for Examining “Japan’s 21st Century Vision,” a research fellow at the Japan Institute of International Affairs, and the director of research at the Japan Forum on International Relations.
(30 September 2009)
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