In order to strengthen its network with Central European think tanks, the SPF Security Studies Program held the following open forum in cooperation with Slovakian think tank GLOBSEC in FY2021:
Topic: Technology & Security Nexus
Exiting Normal: EDTs (Emerging Disruptive Technologies) and Their Impact on Military Operations and Equipment
In order to further deepen the discourse on the potential for security cooperation between Japan and Europe, Japanese and European military officials and consultants engaged in an active discussion on “The Impact of Emerging Disruptive Technologies on Security Policy, Military Tactics, and Equipment.”
Topic:“Great Power Competition in East Asia”
Amid the European countries’ increasing interest in the Indo-Pacific based on their own motives and in light of the rebuilding of the U.S.-Europe transatlantic relationship becoming an issue after the G7 in June 2021, State Minister of Defense Yasuhide Nakayama was invited to speak at the forum.
Nakayama spoke on “maintaining and strengthening the framework for a free and open Indo-Pacific” and the “importance of cooperation in the Indo-Pacific between Japan, the U.S., and Europe” from the Japanese perspective. Researchers from European and American think tanks engaged in a thought-provoking discussion based on his speech.