Posts in category: SCA Sunset

A veteran Nigerian journalist and former Lagos State Commissioner Steve Ayorinde, launched his latest book, “30: Three Decades of The New Nigerian Cinema – A Bystander’s Verdict”, at an exclusive event attended by government officials and prominent figures from the film industry.

The book, which chronicles the remarkable growth of the Nigerian film industry, also known as Nollywood, was unveiled at an exclusive event on Thursday at the Mike Adenuga Center Ikoyi, Lagos.

The 183-page book is best described as a tribute to the landmark achievements and outstanding practitioners who have defined the Nigerian film industry in three decades.

In the book’s preface, Ayorinde shares the inspiration behind the endeavour.

He noted, “The book simply seeks to celebrate and document some of the outstanding films, directors, actors and landmark events, which have, in the past 30 years or thereabout, defined the industry we now celebrate today; without forgetting other legendary names that played their parts but who are no more on planet earth.”

Foregrounding the project’s significance in the book’s foreword, a respected scholar and Nollywood advocate, Jonathan Haynes, Professor of English at Long Island University, Brooklyn, U.S., emphasises his delight with the endeavour and highlights the author’s credibility.

“Ayorinde has moved around, but he’s never lost sight of the movies, and the fruits of decades of steady observation and judgement are here in this new book, which I’m pleased to be able to help welcome into the world”, he wrote.

From timeless classics like Asewo To Re Mecca, Living in Bondage, Glamour Girls and Mortal Inheritance to recent box office hits like King of Boys and Eyimofe, faces such as the legendary Taiwo Ajai-Lycett, Pete Edochie and Richard Mofe-Damijo to Bolanle Austen-Peters and Damini Egbuson, featured in the book.

Insight

The author also said the book presents a vibrant panorama of the films and personalities that have reshaped and revolutionised the Nigerian film industry in the past three decades.

The launch event was chaired by Mr Fayemi, who commended Mr Ayorinde for his efforts in his opening speech: “I must commend you for bearing witness to history and ensuring we do not lose a sense of who we are as Nigerians. I also need to commend all those who have excelled in this industry and are promoting our culture.”

The event also had in attendance top government officials, the Director-General of the Nigerian Copyright Commission, John Asein; Brian Etuk, Director of Special Duties, Nigeria Film Corporation (representing the Managing Director / CEO of the Nigeria Film Corporation, Chidia Maduekwe); among others.

Former Governors of Ekiti and Lagos States, Kayode Fayemi and Akinwunmi Ambode, and former Group Managing Director and CEO of First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Bisi Onasanya, were some of the dignitaries at the event.

The royal father of the day, Oba Olufolarin Ogunsanwo, Alare of Ilera kingdom, Epe Division Lagos State, expressed his delight, noting that it was a significant milestone in the growth of the Nigerian film industry.

Presenting the book, Ayorinde, whose compilation of the collection is borne out of years of honing his trade as a cub reporter, editor and columnist, editor-in-chief, jury member for film festivals and commissioner, shared the importance of collaboration in the future.

He said”: “The next 30 years has to be a concerted effort of all industry quarters the artistic and technical aspects collaborating with the governmental and corporate sectors.”

Steve Ayorinde

Ayorinde is a renowned journalist and former Lagos State Commissioner for Information & Strategy and later Tourism, Arts and Culture in Lagos State between 2015 and 2019.

He earned a Master’s in Globalization and Communications from the University of Leicester in the UK.

His career in journalism began in 1991 at the Guardian Newspapers before he moved on to The Comet. Years later, at The Punch, he became the Daily Editor of Nigeria’s largest circulation newspaper. He was also the MD/Editor-in-Chief of National Mirror newspapers between 2011 and 2013.

A prolific writer who has written several books, his works include A Critic’s Timeless Reports, Abokede: The Man, The Hill, The City and more. His latest, 30: Three Decades Of The New Nigerian Cinema – A Bystander’s Verdict” is a must-read for all film enthusiasts, researchers, and film practitioners.

The book is now available in leading bookstores such as Roving Heights, Terra Kulture, Alliance Francaise, The Book Sellers, and the University of Ibadan bookshop. And is also available on Amazon, Okada Books, Smashwords and Lulu.

When I saw a WIRED piece on my Twitter feed this week emblazoned with the title “Pete Buttigieg Loves God, Beer, and His Electric Mustang,” I assumed that only one of two things could possibly be happening. Either this was a piece of vintage Butti-ganda from circa 2019 that was remaking the rounds, or I had inadvertently bitten into an accursed Proustian madeleine and been swept back in time. But the interview/adulatory write-up on America’s secretary of transportation is indeed, somehow, from the Year of Our Lord 2023.

To call it hagiographic would be something of an undersell. The piece — incidentally penned by someone who in 2016 described Hillary Clinton as “an idea, a world-historical heroine, light itself” — opens with two stanzas that similarly make the former mayor of Indiana’s fourth-largest city sound like a fusion of Jesus Christ and Aristotle:

The curious mind of Pete Buttigieg holds much of its functionality in reserve. Even as he discusses railroads and airlines, down to the pointillist data that is his current stock-in-trade, the US secretary of transportation comes off like a Mensa black card holder who might have a secret Go habit or a three-second Rubik’s Cube solution or a knack for supplying, off the top of his head, the day of the week for a random date in 1404, along with a non-condescending history of the Julian and Gregorian calendars.

As Secretary Buttigieg and I talked in his underfurnished corner office one afternoon in early spring, I slowly became aware that his cabinet job requires only a modest portion of his cognitive powers. Other mental facilities, no kidding, are apportioned to the Iliad, Puritan historiography, and Knausgaard’s Spring — though not in the original Norwegian (slacker). Fortunately, he was willing to devote yet another apse in his cathedral mind to making his ideas about three mighty themes — neoliberalism, masculinity, and Christianity — intelligible to me.

Following the absurd suggestion that the likes of Buttigieg and President Joe Biden may represent a nascent renaissance of “the religious left” (Buttigieg is an Episcopalian and Biden is a Catholic) we get to the interview itself. To give Buttigieg his due, he is better at sounding profound than your average liberal politician. Like Barack Obama, still the undisputed virtuoso of the shtick, he has a knack for communicating bland centrist orthodoxies with a superficial sheen of depth. He is capable of speaking about politics at some level of abstraction. He makes references to history. He refers to concepts like “modernity” and occasionally borrows words from other languages.

Throughout the conversation, most of what Buttigieg actually says is pretty conventional. He has the views and opinions on current events that one would reasonably expect an educated person of his background and class location to hold: liberal democratic capitalism is good; the utopian possibilities of 1990s globalization have failed to realize themselves; the invasion of Ukraine has been disruptive to the world order; traditional conceptions of masculinity are retrograde and conservative. The relevant issue here isn’t whether you agree or disagree, because the substance of the views themselves is almost beside the point. What matters is that Buttigieg exudes the right aura of sophistication and wonkish intelligence.

His act fares a bit less well in the second half of the interview, which is mostly taken up by a discussion of the role of faith in public policy. A few of the exchanges — like this one, in which Buttigieg swings dizzyingly from a reference to Paul the Apostle to a slogan you might associate with a sleazy evangelical salesman trying to hawk a used car — almost defy belief:

Q: Running [the Department of Transportation] seems to suit you. Are there more ways the challenges of transportation speak to your spiritual side?

A: There’s just a lot in the scriptural tradition around journeys, around roads, right? The conversion of Saint Paul happens on the road. I think we are all nearer to our spiritual potential when we’re on the move.

The closest we actually get to a description of how Christian faith informs Buttigieg’s political decision-making comes in the form of cookie-cutter compassion: “When you’re making public policy, you’re often asking yourself, ‘How does this choice help people who would have the least going for them?’ So that’s part of it.”

It’s unclear how the likes of stranded passengers forced to pay larcenous fares by under-regulated corporate airlines or underpaid railworkers being forced back to their jobs without sick pay fits into this pristine moral equation, but it ultimately doesn’t matter. When politics are reduced to pure fan culture, the affectations of intelligence or compassion take on a greater salience than their application in the real world. Politics become something you have rather than something you do. And over the past decade or so, Buttigieg has had as many different political identities as he has fawning profiles referencing his tastes in literature and his socks.

He’s been both a declared champion of quality public services and a corporate consultant pushing for their privatization. He’s unequivocally backed universal health care but also been its fierce opponent. He’s liberalism’s golden boy du jour but courted the Tea Party during his first run for elected office in 2010. A profile or interview that was even remotely interested in interrogating Buttigieg beyond the level of gesture and affect might have thought to probe these shifts at least a little bit.

But again, doing so would ultimately be beside the point. The political and media culture that produces and celebrates figures like Pete Buttigieg isn’t remotely concerned with ideological consistency. Its devotees are not looking for champions of a particular program, legislative agenda, or belief system, but rather mascots who bear the right credentials and cultural signifiers.

What really lies inside the “cathedral mind” of America’s Secretary of Transportation? As mere mortals, it’s not for us to know. He “comes off” like a Mensa black card holder who reads Knausgaard or might cite a random day of the week from 1404 and, evidently, that’s all that really matters.

Cleveland, Ohio, was at the heart of the American industrial revolution more than 100 years ago.

It was a crucial centre of heavy industry, and the home of one of the original US billionaires, John D Rockefeller.

Benefiting from the city’s location on Lake Erie and a series of rail lines nearby, Rockefeller’s Standard Oil made Cleveland the centre of American petroleum production.

However, Cleveland, like other parts of the US industrial heartlands, saw a decline in more recent years as industries and the refineries moved away, leaving factory closures and unemployment in their wake.

The city is now is seeking to reinvent itself as the leader of the new American green energy revolution.

Earlier this week Justin Bibb, mayor of Cleveland, told me about the city’s history and its plans as he prepared to lead a delegation to Ireland.

As part of the visit over the next few days, the group is hoping to generate Irish business investment in the northeast Ohio region.

Globalisation had a negative impact on our city, in terms of the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) and other free trade agreements, which really decimated our urban core. I’m trying to make up for lost time

—  Cleveland mayor Justin Bibb

“Cleveland has a long and really, quite frankly, an amazing storied history. We were once the sixth-largest city in the country. At the height of the industrial revolution, we were home to the world’s first billionaire, John D Rockefeller, who started Standard Oil. We elected the first black mayor of any big city in the country, at the height of the civil rights movement. We are also the birthplace of the environmental justice movement because our river caught on fire in the 1960s.”

He says that following the fire, the then mayor toured the country talking about pollution and the impact industries were having on climate and waterways.

Bibb says this led to the introduction of clean water legislation and ultimately to the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency in the US.

He says that just as Rockefeller and Standard Oil, with its refineries, kick-started an industrial revolution, Cleveland wants to move towards an economy built around green energy, high technology and healthcare.

“We are moving away from the ‘rust belt’ to what others have called the ‘silicon heartland’.

“Globalisation had a negative impact on our city, in terms of the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) and other free trade agreements, which really decimated our urban core. And unlike other cities, we were late to the game in terms of moving quickly in the technology and service sector economy in the digital economy. And as mayor, since I took office last year, I’m trying to make up for lost time, and make sure we can be a leader in not just advanced manufacturing but [also] in healthcare.

“We just did a ribbon cutting to launch the second-only private sector, quantum computer in Cleveland with IBM and Cleveland Clinic. And so we’re going to be leading the nation, really leading the world, in quantum healthcare, computing and analytics and analytics and advanced manufacturing.”

After years of Irish politicians travelling to the US to seek investment, the Cleveland delegation is looking at possible greater Irish involvement in its economy

The Cleveland Clinic is the city’s biggest employer with about 56,000 workers. He says the Cleveland Clinic operates a number of hospitals throughout the region and also has a presence in Abu Dhabi and in London.

As part of the move towards green tech and high tech, the mayor points to the manufacture of electric batteries in the region and the decision by Intel to invest $20 billion in a new manufacturing facility near Columbus, Ohio, about two hours from Cleveland.

Bibb says his city hopes to attract supply chain companies that will be doing business with the new large Intel plant.

The Cleveland delegation’s visit to Ireland comes as the first direct air link between the city and Ireland is being launched. There is a long connection between Cleveland and Co Mayo, with large numbers of people emigrating, particularly from Achill, to the city. The mayor will be visiting Achill, which is twinned with Cleveland, this weekend.

He will also meet the US ambassador to Ireland, Claire Cronin, and with business and political interests in Dublin.

After years of Irish politicians travelling to the US to seek investment, the Cleveland delegation is looking at possible greater Irish involvement in its economy.

“We want to tell the Cleveland comeback story to all the key stakeholders that we meet and interact with in Ireland throughout the course of our time there. And number two, we want to let people know that Cleveland is open and ready for business. And how can we create more commercial partnerships to export our goods to Ireland or have Irish companies invest in Cleveland and export their goods to us as well to create a mutually beneficial partnership.”

On Friday, Chinese President Xi Jinping chaired the China-Central Asia Summit in Xi’an, northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, and delivered a keynote speech, proposing to build a China-Central Asia community with a shared future, featuring mutual assistance, common development, universal security and everlasting friendship.

According to recent surveys by CGTN, about 85 percent of the global respondents highly think of China’s concept of “building a community with a shared future for mankind” and believe that this concept is exemplified by the high-level cooperation between China and Central Asian countries, which is based on mutual respect, equality, and mutual benefit.

Ten years ago, Xi put forward the initiative of jointly building a Silk Road Economic Belt during his first visit to Central Asia as Chinese president. Over the past decade, China and Central Asian countries have worked closely together to fully revive the Silk Road and have made great achievements in practical cooperation in various fields. A stable, prosperous, harmonious and interconnected Central Asia is evolving into a dynamic model of peace, stability, and long-term prosperity for the rest of the world.

In the survey, 89.7 percent of the respondents from developing countries recognize the achievements of China and the five Central Asian countries and believe that inclusiveness and cooperation could hold the world together. Still, 89.6 percent have urged countries to strengthen cooperation with a more open attitude in order to promote the modernization processes of China and the five Central Asian countries.

“Transformations around the world, unseen in a century, are unfolding at a fast pace. Changes in the world, in our times, and in historical trajectory are taking place in ways like never before,” said Xi, stating that the China-Central Asia community with a shared future should adhere to universal security. “No one has the right to sow discord or stoke confrontation in the region, let alone seeking selfish political interests,” he added.

Xi’s statement is agreed by 85.6 percent of the respondents, who call on countries to jointly build a balanced, functional and sustainable security framework. A further 90.4 percent from developing countries are deeply concerned about this. In addition, 77.7 percent believe that Cold War mentality and power politics are threatening global security and becoming a major challenge to world peace.

Security is the foundation for development, and development guarantees security. A dynamic, prospering Central Asia will help people in the region achieve their aspirations for a better life. It will also drive the global economic recovery. China calls on other countries to set the pace for the Belt and Road cooperation by emphasizing win-win cooperation and shared progress. Some 86.9 percent of respondents from developing countries strongly agree that development is the key to resolving global issues and improving well-being for all. 

About 84.7 percent believe that it is valuable for countries to adhere to diversified cooperation and jointly maintain stable economic development as globalization faces challenges. Moreover, 91 percent from developing countries appreciate the efforts made by China and Central Asian countries.

In his speech, Xi called for deepening cultural mutual learning and increasing mutual understanding. Nearly 80.3 percent agree that civilization diversity has a positive impact on world development and 94.2 percent believe that we should adhere to the common values of “peace, development, equity, justice, democracy, and freedom” in order to build a better world, and expect China and the five Central Asian countries to play a new, greater role in this regard.

The data is collected from two global surveys conducted by CGTN. The survey covered 7,718 respondents from 36 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Pakistan, India, South Africa, Brazil and Mexico, among others.

Tánaiste Micheál Martin has questioned whether the triple lock mechanism for deploying the Defence Forces overseas remains “fit for purpose”.

Under the triple lock mechanism, any major Irish deployment abroad for peacekeeping or European Union missions requires the approval of the Government and the Dáil and the backing of a United Nations resolution.

The Tánaiste, who is also the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence, was speaking on Thursday in the Dáil on the matter as statements were heard on the new consultative forum on international security policy.

The four-day forum in Dublin, Cork and Galway, will take place in June and is to be chaired by Prof Louise Richardson, the former vice chancellor of the University of Oxford.

Mr Martin said the forum needed to examine what the imposition of the UN Security Council veto meant for Ireland.

“The increasing use of the veto is limiting the council’s ability to fulfil its mandate for the maintenance of international peace and security,” he said.

“The forum needs to examine what this means for Ireland’s ability to pursue an independent foreign policy, including the implications for the triple lock.

“With the experience of recent years, can we genuinely and honestly say that the triple lock remains fit for purpose?”

The Fianna Fáil leader also said that Ireland’s policy of military neutrality must be an important part of the discussion at the forum.

“Equally, these questions must not be reduced to a simplistic binary choice, staying as we are today, or immediately seeking to join a military alliance such as Nato are not the only options,” he said.

“There is a more nuanced, informed and layered discussion to be had unpacking and examining our long standing policy of military neutrality, while at the same time, exploring the full spectrum of policy options that are available to us as a sovereign state and a committed member of the European Union.”

Mr Martin also said Ireland was a highly globalised country and could no longer rely on its geographic isolation for “our security, nor believe that we can isolate ourselves from world events”.

He said the Government was not prejudging the outcome of any of the discussions at the forum and that there was “no hidden agenda at play”.

Sinn Féin TD Matt Carthy said his party was disappointed the forum was “less about public discussion than it is about an attempt to reshape public opinion” and there was no role for Opposition in the discussion.

“The proposed format of the consultative forum minimises the input of the public and Opposition parties,” he said.

“Those contributing will be appointed by Government, and their contributions will lead to a report authored solely by the forums chair, also appointed by Government.”

The Cavan-Monaghan TD said a more appropriate forum would have been a Citizens’ Assembly. Mr Carthy said in any public discussion Sinn Féin would vociferously advocate for neutrality.

He said reports of a secret deal with the British Government to have the RAF secure the State’s airspace “again starkly point to an ongoing policy of signing up to international military missions while ignoring the incapacity to address our own domestic defence needs”.

As the Government scales up in investment in the Defence Forces, Mr Martin has said expects the Irish Naval Service’s two new Inshore Patrol Vessels (IPVs) to begin work in the Irish Sea early next year after their arrival in Cork from New Zealand at the weekend.

The two ships, Rotoiti and Pukaki which were bought from the New Zealand navy at a cost of €26 million, arrived in Cork on Sunday following a 10,000 nautical mile voyage on board the transport vessel, Happy Dynamic and have been offloaded and towed into the Naval Base at Haulbowline.

Speaking earlier this week at Haulbowline, Mr Martin pointed out that the latest addition to the Naval Service’s fleet required fewer crew than the ships that they were replacing which would mean they could be at sea on a more consistent basis given staff issues in the service.

“The Government has acknowledged there are ongoing challenges in the Naval Service and these are being addressed as part of a planned approach to regeneration of the Naval Service. This has seen the withdrawal of three ships from service – LÉ Orla, LÉ Ciara and LÉ Eithne and their replacement on a phased basis.”

The two new IPVs have a crewing requirement of just 20 each as opposed to a crewing requirement of 39 for the larger LE Orla and LE Ciara which they are replacing, and Mr Martin explained that this will enable the Naval Service to operate more regular patrols throughout Irish waters.

The two ships, named after two lakes in New Zealand, were built between 2005 and 2008 and served as New Zealand navy Fishery Inshore Patrol Vessels to patrol within 24 nautical miles of the shore but they were deemed surplus to requirements and were withdrawn from service in 2019.

New Delhi [India], May 18 (ANI/SRV): The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has released the latest updates for the Social Science syllabus for Classes 9 and 10 for the academic year 2023-24. The new syllabus includes a number of changes, both in terms of content and structure.

For students in classes 9 and 10, social science is essential. It is one of the required subjects for the Class 10 Board exams and considerably impacts how well you perform overall. Making a plan for success before studying for any exam is crucial. You must be aware of which chapters are crucial and which are worth less in terms of marks. Let’s examine the most recent CBSE Class 9 Social Science Syllabus for 2023-24 & CBSE Class 10 Social Science Syllabus 2023-24 in depth today to comprehend the key adjustments that the CBSE has implemented.

Also Read | Vijay Varma Recalls Stylist Refused To Dress Him For Cannes 2013 Debut; Here’s Why.

Changes in Content

One of the most significant changes in the new syllabus is the addition of new topics. For example, in Class 9, students will now study about the French Revolution in detail, socialism in Europe, and the rise of Hitler. In Class 10, students will learn about the Indian National Movement, the Cold War, and the United Nations.

Also Read | Dasara OTT Release: Hindi Version of Nani and Keerthy Suresh’s Film to Stream on Netflix From May 25!.

Moreover, Some Chapters/Topics will be assessed through interdisciplinary projects and periodic assessments only as well as a new topic “Significance of Role of G20” has been introduced in Economics Chapter – Globalization and the Indian Economy.

In addition to adding new topics, the new syllabus has also made some changes to the content of existing topics. For example, in Class 9, the chapter on “Forest, Society and Colonialism” has been expanded to include more information about the impact of colonialism on forests and forest-dependent communities.

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Changes in Structure

The new syllabus has also been restructured to make it more student-friendly. For example, the chapters in each subject have been grouped together by theme. This will make it easier for students to see how the different topics are related to each other.

In addition, the new syllabus has been written in a more engaging style. This will help students to stay motivated and interested in the material.

Recommended Links:

For CBSE Question Banks Class 10 2023-24 for Board Exams – Click Here

For CBSE Class 10 Syllabus 2023-24 for Board Exams – Click Here

For CBSE Class 9 Syllabus for 2023-24 Exams – Click Here

For CBSE Sample Paper Class 10 2023-24 for Board Exams – Click Here

For NCERT Exemplar Class 10 Maths 2023-24 for Board Exams – Click Here

Benefits of the New Syllabus

The new CBSE Social Science syllabus for Classes 9 and 10 has a number of benefits. First, it will help students to develop a deeper understanding of the world around them. Second, it will prepare them for the challenges of the 21st century. Third, it will help them to become more well-rounded individuals.

How to Prepare for the New Syllabus?

There are a number of things that students can do to prepare for the new CBSE Social Science syllabus. First, they should read the syllabus carefully and make sure that they understand the content. Second, they should practice answering questions on the new topics. Third, they should use revision materials, such as textbooks and CBSE Question Banks Class 10.

Oswaal Books offer a wide range of books for CBSE students, including textbooks, CBSE Question Banks Class 10 2023-24, and revision guides. The books are written by experienced teachers and experts, and they are packed with information and practice questions.

Therefore, it serves as an excellent resource for students who are preparing for the new CBSE Social Science syllabus. The books are well equipped and designed exclusively keeping in mind, the latest changes and modifications in the syllabus and hence they will help students to understand the content, practice answering questions, and revise for the exams.

The new CBSE Social Science syllabus for Classes 9 and 10 is a significant improvement over the previous syllabus. It is more comprehensive, engaging, and student-friendly. Students who prepare for the new syllabus using Oswaal Books will be well-positioned to succeed in their exams.

This story has been provided by SRV. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/SRV)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)

Seoul and Tokyo are under intense outside pressure to reconcile their historical differences and help forge a unified Far East security front to stand up to China and North Korea.

Both geographically and culturally, the Far East is removed from Russia’s war of attrition in Eastern Europe. The crises afflicting East Asia may have the potential of escalating into full-bore wars, but they have little in common with the events in Europe. Nevertheless, Beijing, Taipei, Manila, Seoul and Tokyo are drawing critical lessons from Russia’s aggression on Ukraine – and changing the security landscape in the Far East as a result.

Old-fashioned war returns

Like the Europeans, the East Asians have had to wake up to the reality that, once again, the world is afflicted by traditional warfare, with national armies involved and soldiers engaged in World War I-style trench combat. Furthermore, authoritarians such as President Vladimir Putin in Russia, President Alexander Lukashenko in Belarus, President Xi Jinping in China and supreme leader Kim Jong-un in North Korea, effectively undermine global stability.  Reluctantly, the West, which had grown complacent during the short period of globalization after the end of the Cold War, has had to react to this new threat – as many argue, from a position of weakness.

The Asian allies and friends of the United States have had to accept the need for a considerably more robust defense than they deemed necessary when the world seemed to firmly embrace the “Washington Consensus” of liberal democracy, market economy, free trade and the rule of law.

President Biden’s declaration of full military support to Taiwan has assuaged some fears.

The tremendous shock arrived during the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump (2017-2021) when South Korea and Japan, America’s most critical Asian allies, learned that U.S. military support was not an unconditional guarantee. In Japan’s case, doubts emerged about the feasibility of a full-scale U.S. military response should China attack the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea. (Both Japan and China claim these islands, currently under Tokyo’s control.) Since President Joe Biden moved to the Oval Office in January 2021, the U.S. foreign and security policy has eschewed Mr. Trump’s transactional approach and returned to a more traditional, predictable posture. President Biden’s declaration of full military support to Taiwan has assuaged some fears. However, once the Pandora’s box of distrust in the U.S. defense commitments opened, suspicions in the Far East lingered.

The legacy of Shinzo Abe

China’s growth to a would-be hegemon of continental Asia leaves the local safeguarding of peace and stability in the Far East primarily to the geopolitical postures of Japan and South Korea. 

The late Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (2006-2007 and 2012-2020) had made it a central point of his security policy to reduce the overdependence of Japan on the U.S. umbrella. He did this by ramping up the country’s defense capacities, sparking a national debate over Article 9 of the Japanese constitution, sometimes called the “no war” clause, and the country’s pacifist approach to security. 

Read more about Japan’s approach to security

Most notably, Prime Minister Abe increased the international profile of Japan. The single emphasis on the alliance with the U.S. gave way to a more diverse national security approach. Its most significant result was the intensification of bilateral and multilateral relations with India. Mr. Abe was the driving force behind the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (the Quad), comprising the U.S., Japan, India and Australia. 

South Korea firms its defenses

In the case of South Korea, we witnessed a change in security policies after the country’s presidency went from the liberal Moon Jae-in to the conservative Yoon Suk-yeol in May 2022. Seoul is now steering a more resolute course in dealing with North Korea, enhancing its military cooperation with the U.S. and striving to build a more self-reliant defense industry. 

With the increased reach of the North Korean ballistic missiles (they may soon be able to carry their warheads to the American mainland), Seoul must take into account the North’s enhanced nuclear blackmail vis-a-vis the U.S. and the implications that such blackmail may have for South Korea’s heavy reliance on the U.S. for national defense. 

In this game of strategies, South Korea and Japan are forced to reflect on their bilateral ties. It may surprise many that although Seoul and Tokyo each have a vital defense alliance with Washington, their relations are not where they should be. Until recently, they were marred by mutual resentment and suspicion. Like Sino-Japanese relations, recent history also weighs heavily on the exchanges between Japan and South Korea.

Massive human rights violations occurred, with Koreans being recruited as forced labor and Korean women forced into prostitution.

With China’s rise as the new world power, geopolitical interests in the Far East have been changing. While Europe has a comprehensive security architecture in NATO, Asia has not created a regional multilateral security framework. 

In 1910, the Japanese Empire, its military prowess enhanced by the victory in the Russo-Japanese War in 1905, annexed the Korean Peninsula as a Japanese colony. Earlier, in 1894-1895, Japan occupied the island of Taiwan as a colony. While its rule over Taiwan was perceived as positive by many locals, the occupation of Korea caused extreme enmity among the local population. Japan pursued a policy of deliberately eradicating Korean culture: historical monuments were destroyed, and there was a suppressive campaign against the Korean language. Also, massive human rights violations occurred, with Koreans being recruited as forced labor and Korean women forced into prostitution.

However, Korean demands for reparations and an apology for the war crimes committed by the Japanese occupiers have been falling on deaf ears in Tokyo. The new South Korean president won the office in part because of the promise to pursue a tougher line in Korean-Japanese negotiations. There can be no doubt that in both countries, substantial segments of the electorates oppose revisions of the official history and reject a reconciliation along the lines of the new beginning in Franco-German relations after World War II. But as time passes and the horrific abuses of the Japanese colonial regime fade in living memory, the two democratic neighbors might finally move closer. Bilateral tourism, particularly younger generations visiting, may help mutual understanding. 

New geopolitical profile of the G7

In early May 2023, Korean President Yoon visited Japan at the invitation of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. That was the first bilateral summit in the Japanese capital in nearly 12 years. The time gap alone indicates a rocky relationship with frequent irritants. The media described the event as a breakthrough and a new chapter between the two countries, but only time will tell if this is the case. The two sides are under intense pressure to intensify their economic, political and cultural relations.

Japan is the chair of the Group of Seven (G7) for the current year. Prime Minister Kishida announced that he had invited President Yoon as a special guest to the G7 summit in Hiroshima. As Russia and China are coming together, the G7, originally a forum focused on economic issues, has acquired considerable geopolitical clout. Earlier on, Prime Minister Kishida had already extended an invitation to India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

Read more on the Asian powers

Obviously, in years to come, the platform of the seven biggest economies will have to deal primarily with the challenge posed by China to a world order in which the influence of the West is threatened like never before since the Cold War. That is expected to be reflected in the agenda of G7.

While Japan and South Korea are rivals in several industries like shipping, steel and car production, and while in the field of soft power, especially entertainment, South Korea is catching up with Japan, there is enough scope for the two countries to pursue common interests in the global economy. Indeed, Japan would like South Korea to be less pliant toward China. However, in dealing with Beijing, Tokyo and Seoul are bound by divergent interests.

Concerns about North Korea

Every realistic geopolitical scenario for East Asia must deal primarily with the military threat from North Korea. The regime in Pyongyang is the most totalitarian, closed and secretive country in the world. The hotspot with the most imminent threat to peace and stability in the Far East is the border dividing the Korean Peninsula. Even Beijing has little sway in containing the unpredictable North Korean ally. 

Economic and political cooperation between South Korea and Japan will grow, in great part due to American pressure.

The Pyongyang regime sees the possession of nuclear arms as life insurance. Kim Jong-un is convinced – probably rightly – that without them, his regime would have gone the way of those of Saddam Hussain in Iraq or Muammar Qaddafi in Libya. 

China seems incapable of halting Pyongyang’s nuclear program. Beijing’s problem is that, with growing North Korean nuclear capacities, other Far East countries may deploy them as well – an unwelcome prospect for China. At the beginning of the year, President Yoon mentioned for the first time that with the growing threats from the North, Seoul might opt for nuclear weapons or invite the deployment of an American nuclear deterrent on South Korean soil (which has not been the case since the U.S. withdrew its nuclear weapons from South Korea in 1991). 

That stands in contrast with Prime Minister Kishida’s plan to raise the issue of nuclear disarmament at the G7 summit in Hiroshima, where, together with Nagasaki, nuclear weapons were used for the first time in a conflict. Of course, a regional buildup might also motivate Japan to join the nuclear powers. Today, due to its long reliance on atomic energy generation, Japan is the only nonnuclear weapon state in possession of a full nuclear fuel cycle. Beijing, Pyongyang, Seoul and Washington know it would not take Japan long to acquire a potent nuclear deterrent.

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