Reconsidering State, Human and Energy Security in the Age of Hybrid Warfare

On the 13th of June 2022 Nakanishi Hisae, Professor of the Graduate School of Global Studies at the Doshisha University, Kyoto, Japan, and Visiting Scholar at SOAS, University of London held a lecture at the Institute for Foreign Affairs and Trade (IFAT) entitled “Reconsidering State, Human and Energy Security in the Age of Hybrid Warfare”. The discussant was Gergely Salát, Senior Research Fellow at IFAT.

The speaker presented the more general dilemmas of security through the issue of Japanese energy security. The island nation is in a particularly vulnerable situation because it needs to obtain most of its energy resources via sea transport. Most of its oil comes from the Middle East, with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as its main suppliers. Australia is the largest supplier of natural gas. Japan has successfully diversified its import sources for liquefied natural gas, while oil imports remain heavily concentrated in a small number of Middle Eastern suppliers. At the same time, Japan has one of the largest oil stockholdings globally, which acts as insurance against geopolitical risks and large global shocks. Russia’s role is marginal, but due to the need for further diversification – although Japan is taking a stand against Moscow due to its attack on Ukraine -, it is not canceling energy cooperation and not withdrawing from the Sakhalin 1 and Sakhalin 2 gas projects. An increase in the role of green and renewable energies can be a solution for Japan to reduce its exposure.

Photos by: Institute for Foreign Affairs and Trade (IFAT)