Message from the President
Akihiko Tanaka
The world in the 21st century witnesses both bright opportunities to human society as well as uncertainty and risk which may cause catastrophic crisis. It is a blessing that many of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), including the reduction of extreme poverty, have been achieved. But it will not be as easy to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which was agreed internationally in 2015. In addition, some countries have experienced drastic political changes, and one cannot rule out the possibility that world politics is radically destabilized. There are a whole host of difficult policy issues, such as geopolitical conflicts, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, the increase in terrorism, the difficulty of escaping vulnerability, the middle income trap, and the challenges involved in realizing democratic governance based on the rule of law.
The mission of GRIPS is to conduct policy studies that address these issues and to provide graduate education for leaders of the next generation based on the results of the studies. G-cube is a program particularly carefully crafted to fulfil this mission. It fosters broad perspectives supported by historical as well as technical knowledge. It cultivates the imagination and creativity of students so that they will be able to deal with those issues that have no easy answers. I hope you will join this intellectual and practical effort at GRIPS.
Kazushi Takahashi
Program Director, Professor
The program aims to foster students who will play leading roles in the international arena in the future. To be a leader, one may need to acquire a wide range of skills, such as the ability to analyze the current situation correctly, the deep knowledge to support it, the perspective to identify a desirable future, and the high level of communication and negotiation abilities. G-Cube is full of new attempts to cultivate these abilities. We welcome students who wish to become the top leader in the next generation with a strong will, cool head, and warm heart.
Tsunekawa Keiichi
Deputy Director
The world today faces tremendous uncertainties. The rise of China and other emerging states and the decline of the advanced industrial states have led to severe international frictions and domestic xenophobia in many countries. The climate change apparently causes bush or forest fires at dried-up regions whereas extraordinary rainfalls in other parts of the world precipitated floods along rivers and coasts. To these catastrophes can be added the massive outbreak of desert locusts (probably another result of the climate change) and the Coronavirus contagion that threaten people’s life all over the world. The extant institutions and arrangements, both domestic and international, cannot cope with these unprecedented problems effectively. We face the challenge of searching for innovative new mechanisms to tackle above-mentioned uncertainties. This is the task that G-Cube students expectedly take on as top global leaders in the future.
Yoko Kijima
Associate Director, Vice President, Professor
Students in G Cube program have diverse experiences from all over the world. Most of the courses are specially tailored for G-cube students, which provides suitable environment for understanding their policy issues from a broad and deep perspective by interacting with colleagues and faculty members actively. For their dissertation, students have been challenging new research themes based on their working experiences and analytical skills obtained in the coursework.
Yusuke Takagi
Associate Director, Associate Professor
G-cube program is full of highly motivated students and faculty. Most of the students already have a certain working experience in various institutions. Because they are from different countries or regions, they often play the role of the representatives of each country or region and compete with each other. At the same time, they can nurture communication skills and life-long friendship through various assignments they have to work as a team. We the faculty are very much excited at working with this vibrant student body. We look forward to seeing you as a new member of our dynamic journey.