Japan's Security / Peace & Stability of the International Community
Information Collection and Analysis on the International Affairs
Increasingly uncertain international environment
Japan is facing the most severe and complex security environment since the end of World War II. The region surrounding Japan is witnessing rapid military expansion, including nuclear and missile capabilities, and the pressure of unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force is ever-present. In addition, the persistent deployment of information warfare through the dissemination of disinformation is resulting in an increasingly ambiguous distinction between peacetime and wartime conditions. As we face an increasingly uncertain international environment, collecting and analyzing information accurately in order to protect Japan’s national interests and ensure the security of Japanese people is essential.
Information Collection and Analysis on the international affairs
(1) Work of Intelligence and Analysis Service (IAS)
Intelligence and Analysis Service (IAS) is a specialized service that collects and analyzes information on international affairs with a view to providing intelligence that contributes to Japan's foreign policy and security. IAS produces objective and evidence-based intelligence, independently from policy departments in charge of formulating foreign policy, while also bearing in mind developments in the international situation and key international events. IAS contributes to the formulation and decision-making of foreign and security policy by directly providing such intelligence in a timely manner to Minister for Foreign Affairs, policy departments within MOFA, and the Prime Minister's Office as well as the National Security Secretariat.
Leveraging analysts’ regional and sector-based expertise, IAS conducts all-source analysis (comprehensive analysis through various information sources) based on information obtained through overseas missions of MOFA, open source information collected through the use of emerging technologies such as AI, among other sources.
(2) History and Overview of Intelligence and Analysis Service (IAS)
MOFA has consistently strengthened its information collection and analysis capabilities in response to evolving international developments. In 1993, following the end of the Cold War, Intelligence and Analysis Bureau was established to address needs to objectively assess the international circumstances. Subsequently, as there was a growing demand to rapidly and flexibly respond to the transformation of the international situation, including the 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States and the subsequent situation in Iraq, intelligence and Analysis Bureau war reorganized to Intelligence and Analysis Service (IAS) in 2004.
In order to adapt to an increasingly severe and complex security environment, IAS was restructured into the Management group and the Analysis group in 2022 - the former responsible for overall organizational coordination, and the latter for analyzing the international situation.
The importance of collecting and analyzing information on international affairs will continue to rise, and IAS will continue to strengthen its intelligence capabilities in various ways.