On 22nd and 23rd October 2015 the inaugural GS2N symposium, which was funded by the Griffith Asia Institute (GAI), the School of Government and International Relations (SGIR), and the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), was held in an attempt to encourage early career researchers to engage in the study of Australia-Japan relations.
The symposium was a PhD-led initiative, which brought together over 50 people from policy, academic journals, and universities. This group included sixteen PhD candidates (including six nationalities) from nine Australian universities. Our academic panels consisted of seven leading academics from the fields of International Relations, Security, and Japan studies, discussing the prospects and trends of increased security cooperation. These included seven academics, from, University of Melbourne, the Australian National University, NIDS (Tokyo), and Griffith University. The keynote speaker at the symposium was Japan’s Consul-General, Ms Yoko Yanagisawa. The objective of the symposium was to analyse the Australia-Japan bilateral relationship, but more specifically to locate the prospects and trends of security cooperation between the two nations. The aim of the symposium was to identify key areas in which the relationship faces challenges and opportunities in their effort to strengthen security ties.
Following the symposium, GS2N, with the ongoing support of the aforementioned sponsors, seeks to expand upon the challenges and recommendations outlined in this document. In addition to continued research in the area, GS2N will seek to continue and expand upon collaboration, and participate in a regional symposium to further identify challenges the relationship faces within the region.
The Griffith University Security Studies Network is on Twitter at @GrifUniSecNet.
To view more photographs of the event, please visit the GS2N symposium Facebook album.
