Security Studies Unit (SSU)

The Security Studies Unit (SSU) of Institute for Future Initiatives (IFI) was established in the awareness of a pressing number of issues concerning the future of security in the East Asian region and its institutionalization, the reciprocal relations between security and economic interdependence, the rise of new conceptualizations of security and the examination of the related political processes.

SSU produces academic research and policy proposals on these topics, by means of international joint research activities with other academic institutions, for the advancement of mutual understanding between international actors, and for the dissemination in the general public of information and ideas about international political issues both inside and outside of Japan, with the support of several foundations in Japan and the U.S.

SSU has performed numerous activities, including hosting international joint research and international conferences, focusing in particular on relation between economy and security, the security structure of North-East Asia, the deepening the Japan-US alliance, the search for a way to enhance multilateral security cooperation, the strengthening of nuclear non-proliferation, and the formulation of a new concept of security.