30 Years after the Gulf Crisis: How Japan should engage with the Middle East (August 7, 2020)
Online Seminar
30 years have passed since the Iraqi military invasion of Kuwait. 30 years ago on August 2, the Iraqi army suddenly invaded Kuwait and overran the entire country in a single day, triggering the “Gulf Crisis,” which evolved into the Gulf War in January of the following year and transformed the political structure of the Middle East. This incident caused an unprecedented crisis for those involved in business in the Middle East, as more than 420 Japanese residing in Iraq and Kuwait were prevented from leaving the country. In particular, the 213 people who were moved from Kuwait to Baghdad and detained as “hostages” (“Iraqi guests”) to be used as bargaining chips by the Iraqi government against the international community were put under extremely difficult situations. In other words, the Gulf Crisis was the first major incident in which the safety of many Japanese nationals was threatened, even though Japan had been steadily strengthening its economic and social relations with Middle Eastern countries since the 1970s.
Thus, the “Gulf Crisis hostage experience” raised serious questions about how to ensure the safety of Japanese nationals when operating in the Middle East not only in the government and business sectors but also in Japan as a whole. Since then, however, there has not been sufficient discussion or attempts to find a way to protect Japanese nationals. Since the Gulf War, there have been a series of events that have reinforced the perception that Japanese activities in the Middle East are fraught with risk, including the abduction and murder of NGOs and journalists after the Iraq War and during the Syrian Civil War. The victimization of 10 Japanese working in the petrochemical business in Algeria in 2013 by an armed group will be fresh in our memories.
In this special edition of the Thursday Forum on the Middle East, we invite those involved in this tragedy as they worked in Japanese embassies or trading companies’ branches in Iraq and Kuwait at the time to reflect on what happened on August 2, 30 years ago, why these businessmen were taken “hostage,” and what could have been done. We will then discuss what is needed for Japanese government and business officials, researchers, and journalists to conduct activities in Middle Eastern countries while ensuring their own safety in the future.
| Moderator and Interviewer | Keiko Sakai (Chiba University) / Shuji Hosaka (The Institute of Energy Economics, Japan) |
| Speakers |
Seiji Morimoto (Visiting Professor, Center for Middle East Studies, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, University of Tokyo, Counselor at the time, Embassy of Japan in Iraq)
Makoto Ohashi (Senior Research Fellow, Mitsui & Co. Institute for Strategic Studies)
|
| Date | Friday, August 7, 2020, 15:00-17:00 |
| Venue | Online via zoom (URL will be sent to all registered participants) |
| Co-sponsored |
Relational Studies on the Global Crises, Chiba University
JIME Center, IEEJ (Institute of Energy Economics, Japan)
|
| Language | Japanese |
| Registration |
For preparation purposes, please register using the registration form (https://forms.gle/2kX9vtqq5mQ1JsJ78).
(The URL of the above registration form has been updated [August 1, 2020])
|
| Contact |
For inquiries, please contact Hiroyuki Suzuki, Centre for Middle Eastern Studies, The University of Tokyo
c-hsuzuki87[at]g.ecc.u-tokyo.ac.jp
(Please replace [at] with @)
|
- Categories
- SEMINARS
