In an online discussion meeting organized by the Kyoto Peacebuilding Center and supported by the Peacebuilding Association of Japan and ACUNS Tokyo Office held on 12 January, President José Ramos-Horta called for reforming the Security Council to meet the traditional and new challenges posed to Humanity, particularly by Artificial Intelligence by expanding the numbers of permanent and non-permanent members to overcome the legacy of the Cold War. Ambassador Shinyo found it necessary to abolish the permanent membership in the long run and create a new forum for cooperation not only between the Great Powers but also between the so-called global or middle-power countries and the Global South. Mr. Chikvaidze suggested a major restructuring to include G20 members and the African Union in the UN Security Council. Please see the details of their views by clicking here.
Franz Baumann “What to do to Stop the Earth Melts Down” (06/01/2024)
Franz Baumann, the new ACUNS President, suggests that while the climate crisis is, in fact, a fossil fuel crisis, the old mantra that mitigating global heating can be achieved without cost, inconvenience, or change is fading. Whatever Big Oil’s rearguard actions, the open question is: Before the climate tips, will whatever is politically possible prove to be ecologically sufficient, or will the ecologically necessary miraculously become politically possible? The answer is if only that plan from Rio would be resuscitated. Please click here for his full article.
Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir: “Japan should develop its own unique diplomacy based on its own vision.” (NHK WORLD-JAPAN)
Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mahathir, who visited Japan to attend the Japan-Asian Summit, gave an interview to NHK on December 15, and stated that while Southeast Asia has become a site of intense conflict between the United States and China, Japan has set itself apart from both countries. He urged that Japan should develop its own unique diplomacy based on its own vision. See his interview with NHK.
Pearl Harbor Joint Japan-US Memorial Ceremony (09/12/2023)
Mr. TANIMOTO Masakuni delivered a special message from Mr. ETO Seishiro, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee of the National Diet of Japan, at the Joint Japan-US Memorial Ceremony at Pearl Harbor on December 8, 2023. Please click here for details.
UN Report “UN Transitions in a Fractured Multilateral Environment”
The United Nations has just issued a report indicating that many UN peace operations are now in a spate of drawdowns, reconfigurations, and terminations. For the full report, please click here.
2023 Trilateral President’s Meeting of UNA-CHINA, UNA-JAPAN and UNA-ROK (17/11/2023)
The meeting of the presidents of the United Nations Associations of the three countries, Japan, China, and South Korea, was held for two days, from August 21 to 22, 2023. It was held at the Guest House of the China United Nations Association in Beijing for the first time in four years. The participants actively discussed “Reform and Improvement of the Global Governance System,” “UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,” and “Diversity of Civilizations.” From left in the photo are KWAAK Young Hoon, president of the Korean United Nations Association, WANG Chao, president of the Chinese United Nations Association, and Yasushi AKASHI, vice president of the United Nations Association of Japan. Please click here for the full report.
“An African View: Contemporary Global Security Crisis and the United Nations” (10/11/2023)
A group of diplomats, government officials and scholars met and discussed the contemporary global issues with Mr. Ibrahim Gambari, a scholar and diplomat, who served as the Chief of Staff to Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari from 2020 to 2023, and the United Nations as the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs and Special Envoys.
“Global Crises and United Nations Response and Innovations: Lessons Learned, Challenges and Prospects.” (09/11/2023)
On 9 November 2023, Professor Ibrahim Gambari joined the Director of UNU-IAS, Prof. Shinobu Yume Yamaguchi, in a conversation on “Global Crises and United Nations Response and Innovations: Lessons Learned, Challenges and Prospects.” Professor Gambari is the former Chief of Staff to the President of Nigeria, the Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the United Nations, and the Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations for political and other affairs. In response to questions, he pointed out the lack of national and international leadership as the main reason for the world’s inability to address challenging interlinked global crises, including climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, and conflict in Ukraine and Gaza. He thought the UN Security Council needed to be reformed to reflect the actual state of the world, consisting of more countries and populations that existed when the United Nations was created more than 75 years ago.
Online Message from President Jose Ramos-Horta of the Republic of Timor-Leste (06/11/2023)
President Jose Ramos-Horta of the Republic of Timor-Leste spoke online to more than 1000 participants of the SDGs Global Governance Summit 2023 Tokyo held on 6 November 2023 in Shibuya City, Tokyo. Please click here for the video message.
Mr. Sponeck, Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq: “Mourning is NOT Enough.” (05/11/2023)
Hans von Sponeck, Former UN Assistant-Secretary-General and Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq, expresses his outrage about the hypocrisy of heads of state and foreign ministers flocking to Tel Aviv with one-sided messages and adding the fig leaf not to forget humanitarian aid and completely ignoring the context, the ‘why’ it all happened. Please click here for his full message.