Human Security - development of the policy#4

There is another question. Should positive interventions be carried out internationally,
if genocide happens or if the safety situation deteriorates, such as in the cases ofRwanda and Afghanistan? Human security is so hard to discuss. There is an argumentthat positive interventions should be carried out if situations deteriorate. Such an idea
about positive interventions came out along with the fact that when the Rwandan
genocide and other genocides happened, international society did not do anything forfear of making mistakes. A report was issued on the theme of “responsibility to protect”,
mainly conducted by Canada, and I think such a concept is important from a moral
point of view. While many refugees in Rwanda, who had been ousted from refugee
camps, had difficulties in the jungle, there should have been more interventions.
Because there was no intervention, some members of humanitarian organizations
walked or rode on four wheel drive vehicles, in order to find and save those people. At
that time, neither PKO nor UN forces came. I think that was a prudent judgment of themajor nations to avoid further conflicts. They thought it might have intensified theconflict. But, there is an argument that they should do something, rather it is their duty
to do something. However, this idea has not been agreed easily among nations.
Currently within the UN, discussions continue about human security and the necessityof interventions. Morally speaking, there is an obligation to intervene, but interventions
can result in warfare. It is hard to decide if interventions are good or not.
Admitting to the necessity of interventions as a last resort, I believe it is more realisticto rely on as many preventative and diplomatic efforts as possible to avoid suchsituations. Especially nations, which are developing and in the past experienced
colonization (out of the 192 member nations in UN,) and who make up most of the UN
membership, fear the possibility of renewed oppression and interference in various
ways by huge nations, once they admit to the right of intervention. There is still noconsensus about how much and what forms of foreign influence can be applied whenhuman security is threatened domestically, though its necessity is acknowledged. That
is to say, many and various actions are undertaken, but there are still no clear answers
about it.
I want you to keep one thing in your mind. When we talk about the use of military force,
we tend to think of it as a solution to the conflict that happens between nations. As amatter of fact, after World War II, there were few wars in which military force was used

between nations. Rather we have seen the collapse of nations and the antagonisms thatsprang from it, threats against ethnic groups, and threats against civilian populations.
And we must ask ourselves what kind of military intervention is most effective to deal
with them? There are various discussions in Japan about what to do when invasions byforeign powers happen, what protection for a nation is necessary. What is really needed
here is a clear understanding of what military action is most effective under suchsituations, when there is a threat of being invaded by some enemy power. There areinteresting discussions and research these days to consider what sorts of interventions
are necessary. There will be more interventions in which we see the efforts made by
military and police power to protect civilians and at the same time to suppress people
that threat civilians. I think this kind of intervention is really difficult to execute by
only offering political reasons. I don’t think we can prove these days that huge military
power solves political problems.
I believe what is most required from now on under such circumstances is to achieve
human security with the aid of appropriate military power which meets a specific need.
The most dangerous situation today is widely recognized to be Darfur, in Sudan. There
are four million people there; yet, there are no organized international interventions.
One reason for it is the Sudan government would not allow a UN intervention, hiding
behind its sovereignty. Along with this, the forces from the African federation areincapable of dealing with it. Besides, the Sudanese government would not agree on
negotiations in which the UN will support the African federation without its directintervention. Even under such circumstances, we are sitting by and watching
genocide-like situations unfold. It is really hard to reach a final answer, but this is thereality we are facing now.
Although there are many other cases like Sudan, the situation in Africa is getting better
compared to the time when I used to work there. Except for Darfur, I have such
impressions; but, conflicts involving bloody kinship feuds and neighboring people still
continue. I think the biggest problem which the U.S. is facing is that she does not know
how to solve conflicts expanding between civilians, such as the one between the Shi’aand the Sunni in Iraq.
Therefore, I want you to understand today that you are living in this complex world. Itis really hard to feel its reality if you are in a rich and peaceful country like Japan
unless you open your eyes very widely. TV and newspapers in Japan cannot convey andtell the truth about the world; you must choose your sources of information carefully. I
have a feeling of dissatisfaction about this. Much information is available to you. If you
have questions at the university, your teachers can help you with them. You may ask
yourself, what kind of world do we live in? You may also ask yourself: what roles do wehave? Japan is a second-ranked economic power. I am questioning you now: is it good forJapan to be so introvert and show its back toward other nations in the world? To me,Japan cares only about what is going on inside of the country. I feel so strongly because I
happened to work outside and stayed closely with people left to deal with the mostterrible situations. In the past, it was not always this way, Japan used to politicallypractice, implement, and discuss international contributions. Now, for example,development assistance is decreasing. Compared to ten years ago, Japanese funds fordevelopmentassistancearesharplydecreasing.

The

government’s

financial

restructuring may be one reason, but from development assistance perspectives, it is
one tiny fraction of the budget. ODA funds are much more curtailed than public
investment and national defense. Please ask yourself if it is good or not. ODA should beimplemented, at least to Africa, because the Japanese government once promised theywould double the size of ODA to African nations.
Japan is a member of the G8 and will also be the chairman of the G8 next year. TheTokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) will also be held inTokyo. In this sense, Japanese leadership and commitment to Africa should bedisplayed next year. I wonder how many of you already know about it. When I attended
an international conference, someone told that next year Japan has the best
opportunity to demonstrate its leadership. But nobody reacted to that comment. Why isthis? There is much expectation for Japan. There are so many nations that want tofollow the same path as Japan has done, knowing that Japanese people are sohard-working that they achieved a tremendous economic success and recovery after thewar; the country developed and spread scientific technologies; the living standard inJapan is evenly expanding. I do not know until when they will keep saying this, but weneed to answer such expectations. This is not anything hypocritical, but good for thesecurity of Japan. Japan is an island country in which so many people live, and theproduction base is gradually moving to neighboring countries. In order to keep ourcurrent living standards and security, we should exchange and communicate with othernations based on mutual trust. I’d like you to realize that cherishing international
relationships and cooperating with other nations will even enhance the security of ourcountry.

Finally, I’d like to stress the importance of recovering the ODA budget; Japan has theopportunity to take leadership next year, and since you are the leaders of the future, I
want you to enjoy college life as well as to expand your own world views. I wouldn’t say
what academic field is better for you to study because I really don’t know. But, I think I
can say this, “Study hard!”
This is the end of today’s lecture from me. Thank you for listening.