Rapid baseline study – Community mediation practices in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao

Community mediation serves as a cornerstone of conflict prevention and management in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), offering a culturally grounded approach to addressing family disputes, clan feuds, and other locally driven tensions. This report presents findings from a rapid baseline study conducted by the Sasakawa Peace Foundation in partnership with Conciliation Resources, examining how a diverse range of actors practice mediation across the region. By mapping community-based mediation as it operates in practice, the study offers a foundational reference for peacebuilding efforts and informs policy development in BARMM.

Report: Grey zone games: Lessons from the 2025 AJUS simulation

Each year since 2023, the United States Studies Centre (USSC) has convened a ‘Strategy Simu-lation’ in which senior Australian, Japanese, and US (AJUS) experts engage with a simulated strategic crisis in the Indo-Pacific. Working in national teams, AJUS experts draft policy recommendations for their respective political leaderships (simulated by a control team) in responding to the evolving crisis, negotiating both internally and trilaterally in shaping national policy responses. The Strategy Simulation provides an opportunity to refine and ‘stress test’ AJUS trilateral approaches to regional strategy while tracking how AJUS trilateral strategic dynamics are evolving in response to changes in the Indo-Pacific strategic environment.

By Sasakawa Peace Foundation, Strategy and Deterrence Program

The Potential and Challenges of Rare Earth Mining at Minamitorishima: Can It Strengthen Japan's Economic Security?

China has been tightening its restrictions on rare earth exports, leading to widespread impacts such as temporary suspensions of automobile production in Japan, Europe, and the United States. While countries are working to secure alternative sources of rare earths outside China, growing attention has turned to Japan’s easternmost territory, Minamitorishima, and its potential for rare earth mining. Can extraction at a remote island located far from the mainland, at depths of 6,000 meters beneath the seabed, succeed? To what extent could it contribute to reducing dependence on China? This paper examines the challenges and prospects for commercialization of rare earth mining in the Minamitorishima area.

By OPRI Perspectives

Introducing SPF Reports on the Rohingya Refugee Crisis

The Rohingya refugee crisis, now in its eighth year, represents one of the world’s most protracted humanitarian emergencies. With over 1.1 million stateless Rohingyas sheltering in Bangladesh—primarily in Cox’s Bazar and Bhasan Char—the crisis has evolved beyond a humanitarian issue into a multidimensional challenge involving regional security, diplomatic deadlock, and livelihood vulnerabilities. To address these complexities, the Sasakawa Peace Foundation has published two key reports.

SPF Policy Proposal: Policy Recommendation on Enhancing the Foundation for Human Resource Base of Defense Capabilities

As part of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation's project "Security Strategy Studies" (2024-), which aims to provide insights and proposals on Japan’s security strategy by utilizing a third-party perspective, we are pleased to issue our policy proposal “Policy Recommendation on Enhancing the Foundation for Human Resource Base of Defense Capabilities.” This proposal focuses on strengthening the human resource base of Japan’s defense capabilities. To contribute to enhancing the capabilities of Self-Defense Forces (SDF) personnel, the project brings together experts—including policymakers and practitioners—to explore bold and innovative ideas beyond existing frameworks.

By Sasakawa Peace Foundation, Japan-U.S. and Security Studies Unit, General Affairs and Networking Program

Ocean Newsletter No.598

Ocean Newsletter No. 598 is now available.