Working Group 2 on Middle Eastern and Islamic Alternatives

The circumstances in the Middle East and the Islamic world has become growingly complex with: the spread of extremism such as the “Islamic State,” tribal, regional, and ethnic conflicts; restructuring of the regional order led by Iran and Turkey; as well as the axis centering on Israel and Saudi Arabia. This working group aims to assess the new order in the Middle East and the Islamic world. 

活動記録

構成メンバー

Satoshi IKEUCHI

Professor

Satoshi Ikeuchi is Professor of the Division of Religion and Global Security at the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology (RCAST) of the University of Tokyo. He is the founding head of the RCAST Open Laboratory for Emergence Strategies (ROLES).

For the year 2022-2023, he is Senior Visiting Scholar in Residence at the Moshe Dayan Center (MDC) for Middle Eastern and African Studies of Tel Aviv University.

He is a scholar on Islamic political thought and the Middle East politics. As a leading public intellectual in Japan, he has been vigorously publishing on the Middle East and Islamic affairs.

His first publication based on his doctoral studies, Gendai Arabu-no Shakai Shiso: Shumatsuron-to Isramu-shugi (Contemporary Arab Social Thought: Eschatology and Islamism), was published in 2002 and earned Osaragi Jiro Prize for Critical Works. He also earned Suntory Prize for Social Sciences and Humanities in 2009 for his book Islamu Sekai-no Ronjikata (Methods of Discussing Islam).

His book on the Islamic State Isulamu Koku no Shogeki (The Impact of the Islamic State) published in January 2015 was a nation-wide best seller in Japan and awarded Mainichi Publishing Cultural Prize. His recent publication includes Saikusu Piko Kyotei: Hyakunen no Jubaku (Sykes-Picot Agreement: One Hundred Years of Obsession) in 2016 and Shiiaha to Sunniha (Shite and Sunnite) in 2018 both published from Shinchosha. He is the recipient of the 12th Nakasone Yasuhiro Prize in 2016 for his academic works and social engagements.

His collection of literary essays and book reviews Shomotsu not Unmei (The Fate of Books) published in 2006 and earned Mainichi Book Review Award for the year.

He was a visiting professor at the Alexandria University 2007-2008, Japan Scholar chair visiting scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in 2009 and Visiting Fellow at the Clare Hall, University of Cambridge in 2010. 

He specializes in Middle East politics and Arab-Islamic Thought, particularly on global Jihadism and its implications for international security.

Toshiya TSUJITA

Visiting Senior Research Fellow
Associate Professor, Center for the Study of Co* Design, Osaka University

Dr. Toshiya Tsujita is Associate Professor,  Center for the Study of Co* Design, Osaka University, concurrently a Visiting Senior Fellow at RCAST. 

He was a Project Research Associate/Adjunct Assistant Professor at the RCAST of the University of Tokyo from 2021-2022, working for ROLES, particularly on projects regarding Israel and the international security in the Middle East. 

Amane TANAKA

Project Researcher

Amane TANAKA is a Project Researcher at the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology (RCAST), the University of Tokyo.

His research interests include Contemporary Chinese Politics and China-Central Asia relations. He is a co-editor of Changing Politics and Social Groups in China: The Challenges of Transition (2013, in Japanese) and Chinese Muslims Area Studies (2012, in Japanese). In addition, he has published articles on China-Central Asia relations through the lens of the security-development nexus, China’s state-building processes under the CCP rule, and regional autonomy in Xinjiang in the 1950s.

Yukie TATTA

Project Researcher

Working Group 2 on Middle Eastern and Islamic Alternatives (Coordinator)
Israel Week @ UTokyo Komaba Research Campus
Working Group 5 on Indo-Pacific Transport Security (Coordinator)
Sub-Working Group 2 on Tabletop Exercises (Coordinator)

Nozomi KANO

Co-operative Research Fellow

Kohei TOYODA

Co-operative Research Fellow

Working Group 2 on Middle Eastern and Islamic Alternatives
Working Group 5 on Indo-Pacific Transport Security (Assistant Coordinator)
Sub-Working Group 2 on Tabletop Exercises (Assistant Coordinator)

Twitter: @toyodadesuyo

Akifumi IKEDA

Visiting Researcher, Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo/President, Toyo Eiwa University

Katsumi HIRANO

Chief Senior Researcher, Inter-disciplinary Studies Center, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization

Hitoshi SUZUKI

Chief Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization

Jun SAITO

Research Fellow, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization

Kohei IMAI

Research Fellow, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization

Masaki KAKIZAKI

Senior Associate Professor, Temple University Japan Campus

Dai YAMAO

Associate Professor, Faculty of Social and Cultural Studies Department, Kyushu University

Akiko YOSHIOKA

Chief Researcher, JIME Center, The Institute of Energy Economics, Japan

Yoko HIROSE

Professor, Faculty of Policy Management, Keio University

Noboru IWASE

Energy Analyst; Representative Manager, Friday Forum 

Jun HONNA

Professor, Ritsumeikan University

Tatsuya KIKUCHI

Associate Professor, Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology, The University of Tokyo

Saho MATSUMOTO

Professor, College of International Relations, Nihon University

Amane KOBAYASHI

Former Senior Researcher, JIME Center, The Institute of Energy
Economics, Japan (IEEJ)

Atsuko HIGASHINO

Professor, Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences
Specialised in international relations theory, European international politics, EU Eastern enlargement and external relations.