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Ryo SAHASHI, professeur invité à l’EHESS

Ryo SAHASHI, professeur de relations internationales à l’Institut d’études avancées sur l’Asie de l’Université de Tokyo, participe au programme Professeurs invités de l’EHESS, sur proposition de Xavier Paulès (CCJ-CECMC), du 1er au 28 novembre 2025.

Biographie

Professor of International Relations, Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, The University of Tokyo

Ryo Sahashi is a Professor of International Relations, Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, the University of Tokyo. Professor Sahashi is currently leading a research project as a principal investigator exploring the continuity between the pre-modern and modern eras of the East Asian order. He is also conducting research on the impact of US-China rivalry and regional rivalries on order transformation. His recent books are US-China Rivalry: A Shift of American Strategy and Divided Worlds (Tokyo: Chuko, 2021), and he edits East Asian Order in the Post-Cold War Era (Tokyo: Keiso, 2020) and Asia Rising: A Handbook of History and International Relations in East, South and Southeast Asia (Springer, 2024). His recent articles appear on Pacific Affairs, Journal of Contemporary China, Contemporary Politics and China International Strategy Review. Dr. Sahashi received his B.A. from International Christian University and his Ph.D. from the University of Tokyo. He has been visiting scholars with Stanford University, the Wilson Center, and Seoul National University. He sits on government panels including the Council on the Use of Real Estate and the Advisory Board for Promoting Science and Technology Diplomacy.

Page personnelle : https://www.ioc.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/faculty/sahashi/

Conférences

1. Japan’s Revolutionary Military Change Continued: Why Do Weak Politicians Make it Happened?

Japan’s security policy is changing rapidly, with drastic increases to its defense budget and the acquisition of counterstrike capabilities. While the deteriorating security environment undeniably motivates Japan’s defense posture, the speed and extent of these recent changes still present a puzzle. Why was it under Kishida Fumio—a former leader of Kōchikai, the liberal and oft-considered pacifist faction within the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)—that Japan achieved its watershed moment on defense? My co-authoed article (2024) explains this change through the exigencies of Kishida’s domestic political survival. It was through his leadership of a minority faction within the LDP, his image as a dove, and support for fiscal discipline, that Kishida managed to find the largest common denominator among competing domestic political forces. Had it not been for Kishida, the speed and degree of Japan’s recent transformation in security policies would have been unlikely. These are the points discussed by Teraoka & Sahashi (2024), but this lecture will add a later addition to explain Japanese security policy and Japan-US relations by Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. The Ishiba Government, which has an even weaker party base than the Kishida Government and is also a minority ruling party government, is led by politicians who have originally criticised the postAbe security policy, but have taken over the traditional security policy since coming to power. The paper’s argument that weak party base make him conservative in security policy for survival remains useful.

► Inalco, séminaire « Circulation et usages politiques de normes en Asie de l’Est », le vendredi 14 novembre 12h-13h15, salon Borel, Maison de la recherche de l’Inalco, 2 rue de Lille, 75007 Paris

 

2. The Elliptical World: The Indo-Pacific and the future of international order

The post-Cold War order—characterized by globalization, U.S. dominance, and international cooperation—has decisively ended. While the post-9/11 era retained its broad framework, today’s world is fundamentally different. The U.S. is no longer the uncontested hegemon, its influence wanes, and global governance has stalled. Economic nationalism is on the rise, and China and Russia, once passive participants, are actively reshaping the status quo. The war in Ukraine has made this fragmentation undeniable, shifting the world from a single-centered structure to an increasingly bifurcated one. This shift has led to the bloc formation, with the U.S. consolidating alliances like the G7, while China, Russia, and their partners strengthen military and economic ties. The Global South, though sometimes cited as a “third pole,” remains fragmented, balancing expectations between the U.S. and China while favoring BRICS expansion. The U.S., despite its unparalleled power, struggles to convert strength into influence, demonstrating that order-building requires more than hard power. The Indo-Pacific reflects these global tensions, as the U.S. reconfigures its postwar “San Francisco System” into a broader “Indo-Pacific System.” However, despite its strategic outreach, few nations fully commit, preferring equilibrium between the U.S. and China. The optimism of the 1990s has vanished, replaced by uncertainty about whether the region will integrate or fragment further. In this new era, no single great power guarantees both security and prosperity. Middle and smaller states now acknowledge multiple actors as key stakeholders. This talk examines the transformation of the global and regional order—not from a single-nation perspective but by analyzing how international power shifts and how states navigate the evolving landscape of cooperation and competition.

► Sciences Po, CERI, conférence dans le cadre de l’observatoire de l’Indo-Pacifique, mercredi 19 novembre 10-12h, salle Pierre Hassner, 2ème étage, 28 rue des Saints Pères 75007 Paris

 

3. Japan-China relations

Japan has profound economic and social ties with China. The importance of stable relations with Beijing remains unchanged for Tokyo. In addition to demands from industry, there has been a sense of balance in political and government circles that emphasizes relations with China in Japan’s Asian diplomacy. With only a few exceptions, there is little belief in Japan that a third country can stabilize US-China relations by itself or that Japan should build a so-called bridge between them. Nevertheless, the Japanese government has demonstrated its hope that China will engage with the international community. This reflects Japan’s characteristic as a stability-seeker in Asian diplomacy (Sahashi 2020). The term “conditional inclusiveness” is also useful. Some policymakers emphasize that conditions are attached and that they want to insist that China accept the rules. China’s diplomatic approach to Japan has strengthened since Trump’s re-election, and SinoJapanese relations are currently improving rapidly. This lecture explains the logic behind this, particularly on the Japanese side, and how it builds on the tradition of Japanese diplomacy towards China over the past few decades, despite the rise of China.

► Conférence du CECMC/CRJ, lundi 24 novembre 10h30-12h30, salle 25A (Norbert Elias), bât. EHESS-Condorcet, 2 cours des humanités 93300 Aubervilliers

 


OpenEdition vous propose de citer ce billet de la manière suivante :
Monique Abud (20 octobre 2025). Ryo SAHASHI, professeur invité à l’EHESS. Carnets du Centre Chine (CNRS/EHESS). Consulté le 10 décembre 2025 à l’adresse https://doi.org/10.58079/14ze9


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