Dr. Haruyuki Shimada, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)

This Talk elaborated Japanese Government role in providing assistance to Afghanistan, in particular, explained the rationale behind the Japanese Government involvement in the war on terror after the 9-11. Dr. Shimada explained the reasons for the government of Japan resumed its full fledge assistance to Afghanistan after the collapse of Taliban. After tracking the history of Japanese involvement in assisting the country, Dr. Shimada also elaborated the following aspects: the kind of Japanese projects in the country, the dilemma of military and non-military assistance, and the problems between providing development aid and security assistance. At the end of the talk, the participants were invited to discuss of how Japan and its people should behave in the context of peace building in Afghanistan.

The Special Talk was held at Ritsumeikan University Kinugasa Campus, on January 7, 2016, hosted by the Ritsumeikan Global Innovation Research Organization (R-GIRO) and Ritsumeikan University's Graduate School of International Relations.

Approximately 40 participants attended the workshop.