Weston Konishi

Weston S. Konishi is director of Asia-Pacific studies at at the Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis, where he specializes in Japan and Asi policy issues. 

research
publications
events

  • Research

    Rowing Together: Developing Parallel Paths to Stability, Denuclearization and a Peace Regime on the Korean Peninsula

    With generous support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, IFPA has launched this new project that focuses primary attention on the U.S.-ROK-China triangle as the key dynamic in helping to shape a peaceful and denuclearized Korean Peninsula.

     
    After Hatoyama: Preparing for Japanese Foreign Policy in Transition

    This project studies the challenges that the recently elected Japanese government faces as it tries to develop viable alternatives to the bilateralism on which its foreign policy has been predicated for over fifty years.

     
    Peacebuilding as a U.S.-Japan Alliance Mission

    Working together with partners from Osaka University’s School of International Public Policy (OSIPP) and others, IFPA has undertaken this project to examine U.S.-Japan peacebuilding collaboration and how it could strengthen the alliance in the long run.

     
    Peace Regime Building for a Nuclear Weapon-free Korean Peninsula: Next Steps for Capacity Building

    In cooperation with institutional partners in Northeast Asia, IFPA is leading a nongovernmental multinational working group to discuss, research, and draft a joint proposal for a Korean peace regime that complements related inter-Korean efforts and facilitates North Korean denuclearization.

     

  • Publications

    U.S.-Japan Peacebuilding Cooperation: Recommendations toward a Whole-of-Alliance Approach
    Co-edited by Weston S. Konishi and Hoshino Toshiya
    October 2012, 172 pp

    U.S.-Japan Peacebuilding Cooperation: Roles and Recommendations toward a Whole-of-Alliance Approach is a compendium of workshop papers written by U.S., Japanese, and other experts and provides a comprehensive examination of how bilateral peacebuilding cooperation can be enhanced, both in the context of bilateral whole-of-alliance cooperation and as an effective mechanism for international peacebuilding operations. With case studies of peacebuilding operations in Sudan and Afghanistan, this report seeks to illuminate the obstacles and opportunities of U.S.-Japan peacebuilding cooperation in real-world scenarios. A list of policy recommendations at the end of the report provides further points of consideration for both policy makers and students of U.S.-Japan alliance relations and international peacebuilding alike.

     
    From Rhetoric to Reality: Foreign-Policy Making under the Democratic Party of Japan
    Weston S. Konishi
    April 2012, 112 pp

    This report examines the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ)’s foreign-policy making since it took power in 2009. Prepared as part of a project supported by the Smith Richardson Foundation, the report looks at the key people, policies, and processes that have come to underlie the DPJ’s foreign-policy making as a ruling party, and it includes an attempt to define and categorize four main foreign policy strains within the party. Rather than focus on the current state of U.S.-Japan relations, this study examines Japan’s broader diplomatic and strategic activity beyond the bilateral relationship while considering how these actions might impact the U.S.-Japan relationship in the future.

     
    Denuclearizing North Korea: Exploring Multilateral Approaches to Risk Reduction and Peace Regime Building
    Weston S. Konishi
    September 2011, 71 pp

    The final project report from a nongovernmental (Track 2) multinational working group led by IFPA to address security issues on the Korean peninsula.

     
    The U.S. Approach to Peacebuilding: From a Whole-of-Government to a Whole-of-Alliance Approach with Japan
    Weston S. Konishi and Charles T. McClean
    June 2011, 14 pp

    This paper was first presented at a one-day bilateral workshop on April 29, 2011, held in conjunction with the Osaka School of International Public Policy (OSIPP) in Washington, D.C. In the papers, authors aim to assess each government's “whole-of-government” or interagency coordination of peacebuilding policies and to identify priorities, assets, and expertise as applied to Afghanistan and Sudan. The goal of the project is to explore the strengths and weaknesses of both the United States and Japan’s respective initiatives with an eye toward how the two allies can best cooperate and work synergistically in a “whole of alliance” approach to peacebuilding operations in vulnerable or failing states.

     
    Peacebuilding as a U.S.-Japan Alliance Mission: Developing a Complementary “Whole-of-Alliance” Approach
    Weston S. Konishi
    May 2011, 8 pp

    Summary of an April 29, 2011, workshop held in conjunction with the Osaka School of International Public Policy (OSIPP), Washington, D.C.

     
    Risk Reduction & Confidence Building on the Korean Peninsula: Challenges, Opportunities & Implications for Regional Stability
    Workshop report by Charles M. Perry, Jacquelyn K. Davis, and Weston S. Konishi
    May 2011, 21 pp

    Report on a January 19, 2011, workshop that brought together approximately fifty prominent policymakers and experts from the United States, the People’s Republic of China, and the Republic of Korea for in-depth discussions focusing on the current security situation on and surrounding the Korean Peninsula and prospects for greater cooperation among the three nations represented at the workshop.

     

  • Events

    Rowing Together: Developing Parallel Paths to Stability, Denuclearization and a Peace Regime on the Korean Peninsula
    May 9 – May 10, 2012, Beijing

    The first of two workshops held as part of the Rowing Together: Developing Parallel Paths to Stability, Denuclearization, and a Peace Regime on the Korean Peninsula project. The event was jointly organized by IFPA, the Beijing-based China Institute of International Studies (CIIS), and the Seoul-based Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security (IFANS) and included leading experts from China, South Korea, and the United States.

     
    U.S.-Japan Peacebuilding Cooperation: Roles and Recommendations
    March 31 – April 1, 2012, Osaka School of International Public Policy, Osaka, Japan

    This workshop, organized by IFPA and the Osaka School of International Public Policy (OSIPP), was part of IFPA's ongoing Peacebuilding as a U.S.-Japan Alliance Mission project.

     
    Peacebuilding as a U.S.-Japan Alliance Mission: Developing a Complementary “Whole-of-Alliance” Approach
    April 29, 2011, Washington, D.C., Center for Global Partnership (CGP), Partner Institution: Osaka University, Osaka School of International Public Policy (OSIPP)

    The purpose of this event was to convene a group of experts and practitioners to discuss ways to enhance cooperation between the United States and Japan in international peacebuilding operations. The workshop discussions were led by seven core research members representing U.S., Japanese, and UN perspectives on peacebuilding approaches, using Afghanistan and Sudan as case studies. Other participants were drawn from the government and NGO sectors and contributed to an open exchange of ideas about how Japan and the United States can best cooperate and work synergistically in a “whole-of-alliance” approach to peacebuilding operations in vulnerable or failing states.

     
    Risk Reduction & Confidence Building on the Korean Peninsula: Challenges, Opportunities & Implications for Regional Stability
    January 19, 2011, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    A one-day trilateral dialogue organized by IFPA, the Institute for Foreign Affairs and National Security (IFANS), and the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) and supported by the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency.