Policy Management and International Strategy Studies | Tomoki Kamo, Dean of the Faculty of Policy Management
2025.04.01
On April 1, 2025, the Shonan Fujisawa Campus (SFC) welcomed new undergraduate and graduate students. To all new students, welcome to SFC.
The year 2025 also marks the 35th anniversary of the founding of the Faculty of Policy Management and the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies. It is fair to say that after 35 years, we are once again experiencing a transformation of the international order. The year 1990, when the faculties were founded, was the beginning of an age of uncertainty, a time when we strongly felt the fluidity of the international order as the structure of the Cold War collapsed. Now, a new age of uncertainty beyond that is dawning.
There is a concept known as the "third wave of democratization." This was the view of the international order shared by the international community 35 years ago. I was one of the students at the time who was strongly moved by this term. Samuel Huntington proposed this term in "The Third Wave." i The book described the global spread of democratization, which began in Southern Europe in the 1970s and then expanded to Latin America, East Asia, and Eastern Europe by the 1990s, as a "wave of democratization," and considered it a significant political trend of the late 20th century. Similarly, the question "The End of History?" posed by Francis Fukuyama in 1989 guided people's perception of the era. ii Later, in "The Origins of Political Order," Fukuyama noted that since the 1970s, riding on what Huntington called the "third wave of democratization," the number of democratic nations around the world had increased dramatically. He argued that "by the beginning of the twenty-first century, liberal democracy had become the default form of government, something taken for granted in the political climate." iii
After 35 years, the outlook for the future of the international order has completely changed. It is fair to say that the sentiment has shifted from optimism about the "rise of democracy and the retreat of authoritarianism" to caution about the "rise of authoritarianism and the retreat of democracy." There are also those who question the very idea of discussing the international order in a simple dichotomy of authoritarianism versus democracy.
If "The End of History" and the "third wave of democratization" were the perceptions of the era for carving out a future in the age of uncertainty since the 1990s, what is the perception for today? I encourage you to find and ask SFC faculty members. And please try to seek out a perception of the era for carving out the future. It is from there that the "policies" we pursue are derived.
SFC was created in 1990 as a place to cultivate the strength to carve out one's own future. Within this context, the Faculty of Policy Management has been engaged in education and research as a faculty dedicated to thinking about "policies" for shaping the future. As I have repeatedly shown in this Dean's Diary, the "policy" in Policy Management is understood as a broader concept than the policy in so-called public policy (for example, "The Book Cover of 'Hiraku Sogo Seisaku Gaku'" in the 'Okashira Nikki' of December 19, 2022 , and "Beyond 'Hiraku Sogo Seisaku Gaku'" in the 'Okashira Nikki' of July 5, 2023 ). And I believe our readers understand, through the book series "Hiraku Sogo Seisaku Gaku" (Opening Up Policy Management) , that SFC now organizes Policy Management as a field of study shaped by five academic domains.
What can be learned at the Faculty of Policy Management? What academic domains do we define as traversing the field of Policy Management? These are important questions for the faculty. We have welcomed faculty members who are passionate about thinking about "policies" to shape the future together with students, while discerning which academic domains remain important across eras and which domains should flexibly transform with the changing times ("Questions with No Right Answers," 'Okashira Nikki,' January 31, 2025 ).
One of the many focuses of Policy Management is the study of international strategy (area studies iv and international politics). The advance of globalization, the rise of emerging countries, and innovations in information and communication technology necessitate the formation of new mechanisms and rules in world politics. The ongoing competition between nations can be described as a competition to create international norms and rules. Also, at the regional level, governance that is appropriate for the actual conditions of the region is being sought at the national, local, and community levels. If we view political systems solely through the confrontational axis of authoritarianism vs. democracy, our resolution for understanding world politics will remain low. A feature of international strategy studies at SFC is to consider, present, and attempt to practice through the integrated and practical grasp and application of various academic domains in this complex world.
Policy issues do not necessarily emerge within a specific academic domain. To derive effective policy judgments for solving problems, perspectives from multiple academic domains are necessary. In general, the planning, formulation, and implementation of policies are an art that brings together all of humanity's intellectual activities, and are carried out by integrating various kinds of knowledge in an interdisciplinary manner, transcending the distinctions of existing discipline-oriented educational systems.
A typical example of this is the issue of war and peace, and issues related to Japan's security. Policy practice in these areas cannot be handled solely with academic knowledge from fields such as area studies and international politics. It is supported by the expertise, practical experience, organizational culture, and cooperation and coordination with various stakeholders both inside and outside the government agencies that have been responsible for policy formulation and implementation.
The issue of war and peace can be described as a typical cross-disciplinary field of study. This is why international strategy studies are positioned as a discipline that forms one wing of Policy Management at SFC. This is also the intention behind the personnel exchanges with government agencies that the Faculty of Policy Management and the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies have been conducting ("Personnel Exchanges with Government Agencies," 'Okashira Nikki,' May 27, 2024 ). At SFC, which is dedicated to academic research and the policy studies that lie beyond it, personnel exchanges with government agencies are at its core.
Thinking about policies to carve out a future in an age of uncertainty. In the education and research at SFC, the significance of deepening international strategy studies will only increase in the future. v
i Huntington, Samuel P. (1991) The Third Wave: Democratization in the Late Twentieth Century, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press (=1995, trans. Minoru Tsubogo, Juichi Nakamichi, and Yuzo Yabuno, "Daisan no Nami—Nijisseiki Kōhan no Minshuka," Sanrei Shobo; and =2023, trans. Go Kawanaka, "Daisan no Nami: Nijisseiki Kōhan no Minshuka," Hakusuisha).
ⅱ Fukuyama, Francis (1989) "The End of History" The National Interest, No.16, 3-18.
ⅲ Fukuyama, Francis (2011) The Origins of Political Order: From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution, London: Profile Books (=2013, trans. Hirotsugu Aida, "Seiji no Kigen—Jinrui Izen kara Furansu Kakumei made," Kodansha).
ⅳ As a collection of articles showing the current state of area studies at SFC, "'Area Studies Literacy: The Present and Future at SFC,' "SFC JOURNAL" Vol. 24, No. 2, was published in March 2025 .
ⅴ On April 1, 2025, Associate Professor Yasuhito Fukushima of the Faculty of Policy Management, who is in charge of "Space Policy" and "Space Security"; Professor (Non-tenured) Keizo Kitagawa of the Faculty of Policy Management, who is in charge of "State and Defense" and "Diplomacy and Strategy"; and Guest Professor (Part-time) Kazuhisa Shimada of the Faculty of Policy Management, who is in charge of "Japan's Defense Policy," will join the faculty, further expanding international strategy studies within Policy Management.