3 Role of Experts in Diplomacy

In shaping the future international order in the drastically changing world, it is becoming more apparent that free discussions on foreign policies among experts from the private sector, apart from the official view of each country, have an impact on the international public opinion as well as policy making of the governments.

Some examples may include: the World Economic Forum (Davos Forum), which has a major influence on the trade policies of each country; the Shangri-La Dialogue, which provides prominent experts and ministers of the world with an opportunity to discuss Asian security issues; the Munich Security Conference, which is a forum for a broad-ranging discussion of regional and global security issues, not limited to Europe alone; and the Manama Dialogue, which deals with the security issues in the Middle East. In major countries, there is an ever-increasing importance of developing think tanks and human resources capable of participating in such discussions, as well as making use of experts such as university professors.

In order to strengthen Japan's diplomacy in the mid- to long-term, the expansion of Japan's intellectual base in the areas of foreign policy and security, and promotion of diplomacy involving a wide range of public views are inevitable. With this view, MOFA provides subsidies to support Japanese think tanks' activities in those areas in order to strengthen their abilities on collection, analysis and dissemination of information as well as on making policy proposals. In addition, MOFA launched a new subsidy scheme in FY2017 that aims at supporting research and information dissemination of Japanese think tank in the areas of territory, sovereignty and history. Under the scheme, the Japan Institute of International Affairs (JIIA)¹ conducts such activities as collection, organization and public release of materials found in Japan and overseas as well as convention of open symposiums in Japan and in other countries. As a part of the outcome, JIIA released a video at the National Museum of Territory and Sovereignty that enables the audience to experience the view of an albatross flying over the Senkaku Islands and learn about the history and the nature of the Islands. Furthermore, some articles such as on aeronautical charts created by the U.S. government that referred to Takeshima as the Japanese territory were released. It is expected that the scheme will support Japanese think tank in accumulating historical records and knowledge pertaining to Japan's territory, sovereignty and history, and enhancing their information dissemination domestically and abroad.

• 1 The relevant section of the Japan Institute of International Affairs' website can be found here:https://www.jiia-jic.jp/en/