"President's Choice" April 19, 2023
Chiba University Released President's Choice Lecture Series on Official YouTube Channel
We have released the 3rd President's Choice Lecture on our Official YouTube Channel. It is one of our initiatives towards the Vison, "Social Engagement."
The third President's Choice Lecture series was moderated by Professor Kiichi Fujiwara, a Special Advisor to the President. We invited Professor Keiko Sakai, a leading researcher in Middle Eastern and Arab regional studies with a particular emphasis on Iraq, to give a lecture entitled "Reflections on 20 Years Since the Iraq War: Navigating Conflict, Regional Studies, and International Politics." Following the lecture, Professor Sakai, Professor Fujihara, and I engaged in a discussion where Professor Sakai spoke extensively about her research and her thoughts on capacity development.
Let me introduce Professor Sakai, a leading Iraqi political and social studies scholar. Professor Sakai has been playing a central role in Iraqi studies for over 30 years by empirically analyzing domestic politics in Iraq and positioning it within the context of Middle Eastern and international politics. One of her notable works is "The Structure of Domination of the Hussein Iraq Regime," which was published in Japanese. Additionally, she co-edited a book entitled "Iraq since the Invasion: People and Politics in a State of Conflict," with Philip Marfleet, which was published by Routledge in 2020 and offered insightful analyses of politics and society after the invasion of Iraq. Professor Sakai's scope of research extends beyond Iraq to the Middle Eastern region. In fact, she has published a comprehensive textbook titled "Middle Eastern Politics" through Yuhikaku Publishing.
In addition to her expertise in analyzing Middle Eastern politics, not limited to Iraq alone, Professor Sakai has made significant contributions to interdisciplinary academic research. During her time at the Institute of Developing Economies, she played a central role in fostering collaborative research among scholars from diverse disciplines, thereby creating a network of regional studies researchers that extended beyond the Middle Eastern studies field. Furthermore, she has offered valuable insights into research on regions outside the Middle East and is widely regarded as a leader in the field of regional studies in Japan.
Besides her academic work, Professor Sakai has also been actively engaged in media outreach as well. She has appeared on television programs to discuss various events, including the Gulf War in 1991 and the Iraq War in 2003, and many people may have seen her in these contexts. Her ability to communicate complex insights to a broad audience is truly remarkable, and her contributions as a trusted expert are highly admirable.
I encourage everyone to take a closer look at her work.
YouTube URLhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKgJg7_sgz8
