Date & Time: Friday, June 8th, 2018 5:40 - 7:30 pm
Venue: Room 322, Research and Lecture Building, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies
Speaker: Dr. Hikaru Yamashita (National Institute for Defense Studies), Prof. Hideaki Shinoda (Tokyo University of Foreign Studies)
Theme: Global Peacekeeping, International Criminal Court, and Africa
Presentation Title:
"Global Peacekeeping Cooperation: Contexts, Patterns, and Implications" by Dr. Hikaru Yamashita
"AU's Withdrawal from ICC in the Age of Partnership Peacekeeping" by Prof. Hideaki Shinoda
Report:
The two-hour conference focused on global peacekeeping by two presenters. Dr. Yamashita Hikaru and Porfessor Shinoda Hideaki. Dr. Yamashita presented an overview of his new edited book entitled Evolving Patterns of Peacekeeping: International Cooperation at Work. The lecture presented the content of each chapter of the book. He explained why peacekeeping cooperation can be considered as a "regime", indicating that peacekeeping is a "conflict management tool that takes the form of a field mission organized by agents of international society and equipped with security components that may resort to non-punitive, tactical uses of violence. He spoke about the contexts actors while explaining peacekeeping operation. Some important aspects of peacekeeping operations were also highlighted and explained: operational collaboration, joint decision-making, and capacity building assistance. He concluded by teasing out the relevance of the African peacekeeping for global cooperation, and called out for future plans towards global peacekeeping.
The second part of the conference was presented by Professor Shinoda, who dealt with the withdrawal of the African Union from the International Criminal Court (ICC) in this era of partnership peacekeeping. He began with a brief historical and legal background of the ICC and the membership component. There was an overview of ICC and Africa. He indicated that ten out of eleven cases under investigation at the ICC involve African countries which has either stirred controversies over the motive behind the establishment of ICC. The lecture also presented the AU's withdrawal strategy document - an official document for AU members to tender in their intentions to quit the ICC. Some of the countries in Africa that are currently considering withdrawal. The lecture clearly showed dynamism of the cooperation and the tension between the international community and Africa in the age of globalization.
