On Monday 28 January 2008, Akio Kawato (Visiting Professor, Waseda University) will lead a discussion meeting on "Japan’s Relations with Central Asia and Japan’s Policy" from 11 am - 12.15 pm.
Akio Kawato is probably the only diplomat to have witnessed all of the major events of the demise of the Soviet Union and the birth of modern-day Russia: the Brezhnev years, the inauguration of Gorbachev, the coup d'etat, the fall of the Soviet Union, Yeltsin’s shelling of Parliament and the transfer of power from Yeltsin to Putin.
He has published four books on Russia. His perceptive prediction in his second book, written in 1989, that "A serious attempt of reform would bring the Soviet economy to total collapse" proved to be an insightful and accurate reflection of events in Russia in 1992.
In his diplomatic career, Mr Kawato served in the Soviet Union, West Germany, Russia, Sweden, as Consul-General in Boston, and as Ambassador to both Uzbekistan and to Tajikistan. He has also travelled extensively in Asia. He is hesitant to impose so-called "Western" values on developing countries, but believes that economic development always creates individual, more democratic societies with greater respect for human rights.
His thoughts and reflections formed during his time as a diplomat are summed up in two books: How Japan’s Diplomacy ticks and The End of Meanings, which discusses how liberalism and other European values are losing their efficacy.
He left the diplomatic service in 2004 and took on the role of Chief Economist at the Research Institute of Capital Formation of the Development Bank of Japan in which he worked to identify the major challenges that Japanese politics will face in the future as China rises and 500 years of Western domination in world affairs appears to be coming to an end. In September 2006, he started to work on a free-lance basis, presiding over his own blog Japan and World Trends (www.akiokawato.com), which is designed for intellectuals to exchange views internationally and aims to prevent conflicts arising from misunderstandings and misconceptions.
This meeting will be chaired by Oksana Antonenko, Senior Fellow, Russia and Eurasia and will take place on the First Floor at Arundel House, 13-15 Arundel Street, Temple Place, London WC2R 3DX.
If you would like to attend this meeting, please RSVP Jessica Philips on philips@iiss.org or Tel 020 7379 7676
