Deutsches Institut für Japanstudien
German Institute for Japanese Studies

DIJ Forum
Thursday, 5 October 2023, 18.30 – 20.00 (JST)Building peace with weapons. Germany’s
New Security Policy and Japan’s Take
Claus Leggewie, Giessen University
Hideshi Tokuchi, Research Institute for Peace and Security
In February 2022, Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz proclaimed a Zeitenwende (“epochal shift”)
denoting a shift away from close economic ties with Russia and announcing a massive investment inGermany's defense capabilities. In response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, these measures weremeant to meet the economic and political challenges faced by a country that had previously relied on
pacifist politics. They meant no less than a watershed. After 1945, Germany, like Japan, as a defeatednation in World War Two had focused on economic growth and peaceful development. Drawing on ahistorical perspective of Germany’s “long remilitarization” from the Korean War to the Armed Forces’
missions in Afghanistan and Mali, this talk will evaluate what the Zeitenwende means for Germany’spresent and future with a particular focus on German security policy. It will also assess how the national,European, and international perspectives for Germany have changed since 2022. Professor Tokuchi
will comment on Professor Leggewie’s presentation providing a Japanese view on the changing global
security landscape. After the presentations, the discussion will be opened to the floor. The event will befollowed by a networking reception.
Claus LEGGEWIE is holder of the Ludwig Börne professorship and director of the “Panel on PlanetaryThinking” at Giessen University. From 2007 to 2015, he was director of the Institute for Advanced Study inthe Humanities (KWI) in Essen where he established the research area Climate and Cultures, the first of its
kind in Germany, and founded the Center for Global Cooperation Research (KHK/ GCR21) in Duisburg.
From 2008 to 2016, he was a member of the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU). In fall2021 he was Honorary Fellow at the Thomas Mann House in Los Angeles. Leggewie received several
awards, including the Federal Cross of Merit (Bundesverdienstkreuz 1. Klasse) and the Volkmar andMargret Sander-Prize (New York University).
Hideshi TOKUCHI served as Japan's first-ever Vice-Minister of Defense for International Affairs from 2014
to 2015, after completing several senior assignments in the Ministry of Defense, including the DirectorGeneral of Defense Policy Bureau, of Budget and Equipment Bureau, of Personnel and Education Bureau,and of Operations Bureau. He has been the President of the Research Institute for Peace and Security(RIPS), an independent think-tank in Tokyo, since June 2021. He earned his Bachelor of Laws degree fromthe University of Tokyo in 1979 and his Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy (M.A.L.D.) degree from theFletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in 1986.
The event will be held in English, admission is free. To participate onsite at the DIJ please register via
email at forum@dijtokyo.org. For online participation via Zoom please register via our website.
Deutsches Institut für Japanstudien – German Institute for Japanese Studies
Jochi Kioizaka Bld. 2F, 7-1 Kioicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-0094 Tel:03 - 3222 5198, Fax: 03 3222 5420