Not in Particular (N.I.P.)

N.I.P.

C3N14

Highly interactive with quite a few class presentations

International Political Economy, Japanese political economy, and East Asian Security

N.I.P.

taniguchi@sdm.keio.ac.jp

There will be a Class Facebook timeline

Overview:

The course is geared primarily toward those from overseas enrolled in the Graduate School of System Design and Management (SDM) intending to further pursue systems design/engineering approaches, while welcoming others from across the Keio community.


It starts from an overview of the genesis and the central concerns of the discipline of I.P.E. or international political economy. The class will then concentrate its focus first on a host of politico-economic challenges Japan is faced with, and second on the country's external environment, inter alia, the region's security equation. Politics and economics are inseparable in the real world, if not in the ivory tower. The course will guide you to look at Japan, the region, and the wider world in a more holistic way.


The knowledge on post WWII world history certainly helps, but no prior knowledge either about IPE, Japanese political economy or more generally about politics and economics is required. The only prerequisite is that you remain academically broad minded and curious. As for the language English will be used throughout, from class discussions, reading materials to presentations. Native Japanese speakers should encourage themselves to always speak not even a word in their mother tongue.


The instructor, Professor Tomohiko TANIGUCHI, is a tenured member of the faculty of Keio SDM. He is also an acting practitioner who has worked with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for the last six consecutive years, crafting key strategic messages for the PM to deliver to foreign audiences. If you are curious about the nation's diplomacy, foreign policy, national security discussions and how they are related to the country's economic constraints, this course is designed to cater to your academic interests. The members of the class, however, should follow the instructions to be given when need be as regards outward disclosure of information that is to be deemed sensitive.

Class Structure: For each meeting there will be reading assignment that is normally a journal paper or two of modest length. Exceptions include OECD's Japan Survey, of which entirety you will have had to read through before taking part in our first kick-off meeting. The total number of the papers the class will read amounts to slightly more than twenty. At each meeting you are strongly urged to volunteer to be a lead reader (or a duo of lead readers) to introduce the gist of the argument of the assigned paper to the class while provoking discussions pertinent to the paper. The tutor will use scarcely any slide presentations. This is for him to invite more interventions from the class.

Assigned readings:


[1] OECD, OECD Economic Surveys Japan: April 2017. One must download the paper at Keio's electronic library of KOSMOS, and read it through before taking part in our first meeting.

[2] "Benjamin Jerry Cohen on Currency Wars and reviving the ‘Political’ in International Political Economy," A full text and its print version both available and downloadable at http://www.theory-talks.org/search?q=benjamin+cohen

[3] Benjamin J. Cohen, "Robert Gilpin and the Early Development of International Political Economy" in Wolfgang Danspeckgruber eds., Robert Gilpin and International Relations: Reflections. Available and downloadable at the author's web site at http://www.polsci.ucsb.edu/sites/secure.lsit.ucsb.edu.poli.d7-2/files/sitefiles/people/cohen/recent/Gilpin.pdf

[4] Werner Abelhauser, "The Burden of Power: Military Aspects of International Financial Relations During the Long 1950s," in Marc Flandreau, et. al., ed., International Financial History in the Twentieth Century: System and Anarchy

[5] Jonathan Kirshner, "Currency and Coercion in the Twenty-First Century," in David M. Andrews eds., International Monetary Power

[6] Orde F. Kittrie, " New Sanctions for a New Century: Treasury's Innovative Use of Financial Sanctions," downloadable at https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1402265

[7] Juan C. Zarate, " Harnessing the Financial Furies: Smart Financial Power and National Security," downloadable at https://csis-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/legacy_files/files/publication/twq09octoberzarate.pdf

[8] Kyoji FUKAO, "Explaining Japan's Unproductive Two Decades," downloadable at https://www.rieti.go.jp/en/publications/summary/13100005.html

[9] Christopher A. Sims, "Fiscal Policy, Monetary Policy and Central Bank Independence," downloadable at http://sims.princeton.edu/yftp/JacksonHole16/JHpaper.pdf

[10] Adair Turner, "The Case for Monetary Finance -- An Essentially Political Issue," downloadable at https://www.imf.org/external/np/res/seminars/2015/arc/pdf/adair.pdf

[11] Boris Groysberg, et. al., "Womenomics in Japan," Harvard Business School Case 417-002, February 2017

[12] "Japan’s Plan for Dynamic Engagement of All Citizens, Cabinet Decision on June 2, 2016," downloadable at https://www.kantei.go.jp/jp/singi/ichiokusoukatsuyaku/pdf/gaiyou_e.pdf

[13] "The Jamie Weinstein Show: Andy Marshall, November 28, 2017" Accessible at http://www.nationalreview.com/media/jamie-weinstein-show/jamie-weinstein-show-andy-marshall

[14] Under Secretary of Defense (Policy) 1999 Summer Study Final Report ASIA 2025 Organized by the Advisor to the Secretary of Defense for Net Assessment downloadable at https://archive.org/details/UnderSecretaryofDefenseUSDPolicy1999SummerStudyFinalReportASIA2025

[15] Thomas M. Skypek, " Evaluating Military Balances Through the Lens of Net Assessment: History and Application," downloadable at http://jmss.org/jmss/index.php/jmss/article/view/297

[16] Dan Blumenthal, et.al., Asian Alliances in the 21st Century, downloadable at http://www.aei.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Asian-Alliances-21st-Century.pdf

[17] Rory Medcalf and C. Raja Mohan, Responding to Indo-Pacific rivalry: Australia, India and middle power coalitions, downloadable at https://www.lowyinstitute.org/sites/default/files/responding_to_indo-pacific_rivalry_0_0.pdf

[18] Aaron L. Friedberg, " The Sources of Chinese Conduct: Explaining Beijing’s Assertiveness," downloadable at http://wws.princeton.edu/faculty-research/research/item/sources-chinese-conduct-explaining-beijings-assertiveness

[19] Bent Ole Gram Mortensen, "The Quest for Resources -- the Case of Greenland," downloadable at http://jmss.org/jmss/index.php/jmss/article/viewFile/530/516

[20] Nils Wang, " Arctic Security - An Equation with Multiple Unknowns," downloadable at http://jmss.org/jmss/index.php/jmss/article/view/526

[21] Giulio Pugliese, "Kantei diplomacy? Japan's hybrid leadership in foreign and security policy," obtainable through KOSMOS. Go first to Media Center, E-Journals/Databases. Choose E-Journals. Search for " The Pacific Review" and then get "オンラインアクセス (on-line access）." Click " Taylor & Francis Politics, International Relations & Area Studies Online Archive" Open "Volume 30 2017, Issue 2." The paper above is downloadable in its fullest.

[22] Jennifer Lind, "Japan’s Security Evolution," downloadable at https://www.cato.org/publications/policy-analysis/japans-security-evolution

[23] Celine Pajon, JAPAN and its Alliance with the US: Structure, Dynamics, Evolution to 2030, downloadable at https://www.ifri.org/en/publications/enotes/notes-de-lifri/us-japan-alliance-2030-structure-dynamics-evolution

Grading: A non-negotiable principle of "three strikes and you're out" holds, that is to say, if you are absent from our weekly class meetings for a total of three times, you are automatically going to be given NO credit. Again, be reminded that it is non-negotiable. The class proceeds in a manner that is highly interactive, which is the reason why the second principle, non-negotiable again, also holds, that is that you are urged to "speak out or go out." There will be no place in our meetings for a shy, silent, "lurker."


There will be a plenty of opportunities for you to make presentations, but no requirement for a mandatory paper, mid-term, or end-of-the-term. Instead, you will send your feedback and/or takeaways to the tutor, via the Keio SDM e-learning site, within twelve hours from the end of each meeting, to which your tutor will write back. What grade you will obtains at the end of the semester hence depends on 1) how actively you not only participated in but also led the class discussions and 2) how rich your feedback was, with weight of 70% and 30% each given to the two above.

Facebook: Apart from your feedback mentioned above, which you will use Keio SDM e-learning site to send to your tutor, urgent notices and lively exchanges of views and thoughts will be pronounced on our facebook timeline pages, to be launched at the beginning of the course. Joining the group is mandatory. You are requested to send your e-mail account, with which you log on to facebook, to your tutor so that you will be invited to the group.


Changes to the Calendar: They are NOT INFREQUENT, for your tutor often accompanies Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for his journeys abroad. To substitute the cancelled meetings you are more often than not requested to come not at 10:45 but at 9:00. We will then have three-straight-hour meetings. Notices of the changes will be pronounced both on our facebook pages and from the school's administration.

Be aware that there will be "double-header" meetings that begin NOT at 10:45 but at 9:00 for the following days: October 9 and 30, November 20, and December 18.

e-learningを開講しない

No.1 2018/09/25 Introduction (By Tomohiko TANIGUCHI)
The class will know in-depth of who the tutor is like. He will briefly speak on what he does with Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo ABE, and at his office. The class will then discuss OECD's paper [1] to learn more about Japanese economy and the direction in which it is headed. About Japanese economic problems we will learn more in-depth later. It is however at this juncture better to get yourselves exposed to where Japan stands economically to stimulate your interests.

No.2 2018/10/02 Introduction to IPE (By S.A.B.)
What is IPE? To familiarize yourselves with what the discipline is about you are going to read two papers, [2] and [3], before joining our second session. One or two lead-reader (s) or a duo (or a two) shall first walk the class through the papers' discussions.

No.3 2018/10/09 Military Aspects of International Financial Relations (By S.A.B.)
A volunteer will introduce the gist of the assigned paper [4] and provoke class discussions. The next volunteer will do the same on paper [5].

No.4 2018/10/09 Sanctions against North Korea and other rogue states (By S.A.B.)
The New York based dollar clearance mechanism can work as an alternative, and indeed the most powerful, means of sanctions against such regimes as Pyongyang. A volunteer (or two, or a duo or two, as usual) will first read Orde F. Kittrie [6] and Juan C. Zarate [7].

No.5 2018/10/30 Japan's economic difficulties (By S.A.B.)
We will pay heed to some of the economic challenges Japan is faced with by reading Fukao [8]. Among key concepts we will learn that TFP has gained salience.

No.6 2018/10/30 Unique to Japan? (By S.A.B.)
The meeting will begin at 10:45 to end at 12:15. Again the volunteer reader will make a slide presentation and lead Class for further discussions. By the next meeting Class will read Bradford Lee "The Economic Context of Strategic Competition." As usual, there must be one volunteer lead-reader.

No.7 2018/11/06 How can Japan regain its economic prowess if necessary and/or possible? (By S.A.B.)
This is for us to learn more of the womenomics debate, and what the Government of Japan aims at doing by reading [11] and [12].

No.8 2018/11/13 Intermission (By S.A.B.)
No reading material will be assigned for this meeting. Before we will shift our focus to hard-core strategic issues, pertinent also to IPE's areas of interest, the class will discuss questions of all kinds to be raised by the members.

No.9 2018/11/20 Asia 2025 (By S.A.B.)
We will first learn more about what the post-war hegemon of the United States has traditionally viewed external challenges by obtaining knowledge of a legendary strategic thinker, Andrew Marshall (his own podcast [13]) and also by discussing one of his achievements known to be most prescient: Asia 2025 [14]. As usual leader-presenter(s) must first work on the above mentioned subjects.

No.10 2018/11/20 Net Assessment -- the past and the present (By S.A.B.)
Further to the previous meeting we will yet again deal with the crux of net assessment by reading Thomas M. Skypek [15]. Also, we will look at how it is applied to analyzing current affairs by reading [16].

No.11 2018/11/27 China Question (By S.A.B.)
While far from monolithic as a country, China nonetheless has exhibited consistency in its military expansion. What responses has it caused in the Indo-Pacific region? About the question the class will read both [17] and [18].

No.12 2018/12/04 New Challenges (By S.A.B.)
With the melting of Arctic ice a new security equation is emerging. We will look at what is going on up around the pole by reading two papers of [19] and [20].

No.13 2018/12/18 Directions in which Japan is headed 1) (By S.A.B.)
Based on what we will have thus far taken a look at, we will use the remaining two sessions to see what Japan's responses are. First we will examine Japan's diplomatic posture by reading [21].

No.14 2018/12/18 Directions in which Japan is headed 2) (By S.A.B.)
Further to our 13th session we will conclude the course by paying heed to Japan's changing military posture. The materials to be read are [22] and [23].

No.15 A substitute meeting may be scheduled. (By S.A.B.)
To be specified later when need be.

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