This paper critically examines the transformation of Japan’s Official Development Assistance (ODA), highlighting strategic shifts towards fostering stronger security cooperation with Southeast Asian countries. Last year, the Japanese government also introduced a new cooperation framework distinct from ODA, aimed at benefiting the armed forces and related organisations of developing countries in terms of security cooperation, called the Official Security Assistance (OSA) framework. With this new framework, the government has already provided some defence equipment such as coastal surveillance radars and patrol boats to improve the security capabilities of Bangladesh and the Philippines. Against this major and drastic shift within Japan’s history of government assistance, most civil society organisations in Japan have responded and advocated to maintain the “non-war” principle of Japan’s ODA and instead empower non-military-based approaches to security such as human security. However, looking into the details of their discussion, there are various positions of understanding about the significance of military approaches, particularly reflecting the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and even the new round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The paper discusses, in these uncertain and complex contexts, what educational advancements civil society needs to foster - that are responsive to the evolving needs of global communities in the 21st century.

Speaker Biography

Kiyotaka Takahashi
Keisen University, Japan

Professor Kiyotaka Takahashi graduated from Sophia University with a Bachelor of Science in Physics and the University of Manchester with a Master of Philosophy in Social Anthropology, and subsequently worked as a development consultant in a private company for 5 years. He then served as a research and advocacy officer in a non-profit humanitarian organisation for about 10 years. Professor Takahashi was also a member of the Development Project Accountability Committee of Foreign Affairs in Japan. With these experiences, he moved on to teaching development studies and peace-building in Keisen University in Tokyo. He has published several articles on development cooperation and peace-building, and recently contributed a short article on human security and conflict in the book titled What is Real Globalization? (2023, Rural Culture Association), and another on the current situation of development and environmental refugees in the upcoming Encyclopedia of Peace Studies, edited by the Peace Studies Association of Japan, in June.

About the Presenter(s)
Professor Kiyotaka Takahashi teaches development studies and peace-building at Keisen University in Tokyo.

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