Weston Konishi

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

  • research projects
  • publications
  • conferences & workshops
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.
project details || From Rhetoric to Reality (1.51 MB)
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 strengt || hen the alliance in the long run.
project details || March 31–April 1, 2012, workshop agenda || March 31–April 1, 2012, workshop partcipants || April 2011 workshop
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.
interim report (2.65 MB) || project details
From Rhetoric to Reality: Foreign-Policy Making under the Democratic Party of Japan
Weston S. Konishi
April 2012, 112 pp
Description
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.
report (1.51 MB) || project details
Denuclearizing North Korea: Exploring Multilateral Approaches to Risk Reduction and Peace Regime Building
Weston S. Konishi
September 2011, 71 pp
Description
The final project report from a nongovernmental (Track 2) multinational working group led by IFPA to address security issues on the Korean peninsula.
project report (765 KB) || project details
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
Description
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 paper (164 KB) || workshop agenda || project details
Peacebuilding as a U.S.-Japan Alliance Mission: Developing a Complementary “Whole-of-Alliance” Approach
Weston S. Konishi
May 2011, 8 pp
Description
Summary of an April 29, 2011, workshop held in conjunction with the Osaka School of International Public Policy (OSIPP), Washington, D.C.
workshop summary (164 KB) || workshop agenda || project details
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
Description
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.
report (8.63 MB) || workshop details
U.S.-Japan Peacebuilding Cooperation: Roles and Recommendations
March 31 – April 1, 2012, Osaka School of International Public Policy, Osaka, Japan
Description
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.
project details || workshop agenda || workshop participants || April 2011 workshop
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)
Description
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.
workshop details || project details || workshop agenda || workshop summary (275 KB)
Risk Reduction & Confidence Building on the Korean Peninsula: Challenges, Opportunities & Implications for Regional Stability
January 19, 2011, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Description
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.
workshop details || workshop agenda || workshop report