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The project Russian-Japanese Student International Collaborative Research Program 2020-2021 Northeast Asia since 2012 - Political and Economic Analysis
The project “Russian-Japanese Student International Collaborative Research Program 2020-2021 Northeast Asia since 2012 - Political and Economic Analysis” is implemented in the 2020/2021 academic year by the School of International Regional Studies of the Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs, National Research University Higher School of Economics (Russian Federation) and the Institute for Asian Studies and Regional Collaboration, Akita International University (Japan).
The collaborating research project with Akita International University is the first project of the HSE University Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs, where students from both countries (Russia and Japan) will conduct joint research in International Regional Studies.
Students' work will be aimed at studying such East Asian countries as Japan, the DPRK, Republic of Korea, and the Russian Federation in the context of interaction with these countries.
Analysis of the emerging political and economic directions, assessment of the development potential of the space of stable multidisciplinary interaction in the Northeast Asia region are the central tasks of the project.
The time frame for the research project goes down to 2012 - the year of the emergence of new public policy and economic development strategies in the NEA countries, shaped by both new domestic factors and the regional environment, as well as global processes.
The wide spectrum of interests in Northeast Asia is driven by both the region's critical importance in global affairs and the NEA countries' role in the world economy, their global political significance. The asymmetry of economic growth, each country's vector of politics coupled with other factors of a global nature form the features of the regional interaction, its place in broad international processes. Economic relations in Northeast Asia are developing alongside the intensification of the rivalry between nation-states, based on their strategic goals.
Students are assigned to work around four general topics:
1) International Conflicts in Extension of Domestic Politics
2) Economic Relations as Uniting and Disuniting Factors
3) Emergence of the New Cold War Structure
4) Regionalism in and around Northeast Asia
Within the framework of the project, the participants will prepare a literature review on the proposed topics; take a unique comprehensive course by HSE University and AIU lecturers and will make a presentation on the selected research areas.
By the end of the project, an international online conference will be held, where Russian and Japanese students will present the results of their research to a group of prominent scientists and experts
Akita International University
Youth round table “Russian-Japanese Student International Collaborative Research Program 2020-2021. Northeast Asia since 2012 - Political and Economic Analysis”
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On November 11th, the first meeting of both the Russian and Japanese sides of the project was held. Russian and Japanese students made an acquaintance with project supervisors − prof. Tetsuya Toyoda, Emamkulieva Elmira, Spitsyna Ksenia, and Vishnyakova Vera. The supervisors delivered welcoming remarks and outlined the direction of joint research between the students of HSE University and Akita International University. The participants introduced themselves and shared their expectations from the collaborative analysis of economic and political processes unfolding in Northeast Asia since 2012. Both sides emphasized their willingness to actively cooperate throughout the project.
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On November 17, 18, and 26, the meetings of Russian students with the project supervisors were held. During the meetings, the students presented their ideas and drafts of individual research to the project experts – Professor Tetsuya Toyoda from the Japanese side, Elmira Imamkulieva, and Ksenia Spitsyna from the Russian side. The ideas proposed by HSE students were based on the list of literature recommended by the project supervisors, using which the students wrote a review.
In a lively discussion, the participants once again discussed the features of Asia-Pacific regional dynamics, the key characteristics of the processes of economic regionalization, and the regional security architecture fragmentation. The specialists also commented on the presentations of the participants and, within the framework of individual consultations, helped them to formulate further directions of their research.
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Intensive cooperative work
From January 18, 2021, the students from the Higher School of Economics and Akita International University will start a week of intensive cooperative work, which includes a series of lectures by the project curators.
On January 18
A lecture "Northeast Asian Relations since 2012" will be held by professor T. Toyoda. The professor will touch upon burning issues of international politics in Northeast Asia. Following the lecture, students will participate in a workshop to exchange their views on the topic.
On January 19
Dr. K.A. Spitsyna will give a lecture on "Economic trends in Northeast Asia: countries and region" for the project participants. Then, the students will have an opportunity to listen to a lecture by associate professor V.V. Vishnyakova on "Cultural, Political, and Economic Potential of Cooperation between South Korea and Russia".
On January 20
Students will present preliminary outcomes of their research within the framework of four groups.
On January 21
Dr. Kevin Hockmuth, assistant professor in Akita International University, will give a lecture on the topic "South Korea's relations with Japan and other neighbors - historical memory and domestic politics". After the break, Dr. E.E. Imamkuliyeva will give a lecture on "Energy projects between Russia and Northeast Asian countries".
On January 22
Students will present the results of their research conducted over the course of the project taking into consideration the curators’ comments on the submitted drafts.
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The second week of workshop
Within the three Russian-Japanese research groups, each of the students presented their individual research and acquainted the participants with the details and main results of their work.
On February 15
On February 15, the second week of workshop within the framework of the project "Northeast Asia since 2012 - Political and Economic Analysis” began. After an active discussion of individual work inside of groups and with the scientific experts of project, the students were asked by experts to formulate clearer titles for their group research and write joint abstracts to the final presentations of each group.
Based on the results of this task, students were able to formulate and discuss the following topics with professors:
1) "How can intergovernmental disputes be interfered with cooperation on different dimensions?"
2) "Economic relations as uniting and disuniting factors".
3) "Prospects of cooperation and confrontation in NEA in hard and soft power dimensions".
Moreover, the scientific supervisors of the project gave their comments and suggestions for improving the results of groups’ work.On February 16
The next day, the students taking the supervisors’ advices into account, continued their active work on the final presentations. As part of the joint work of Japanese and Russian students, the teams managed to form a comprehensive understanding of the problems under consideration and offer original solutions for next steps of discussion.
On February 17
On the third day of the working week, the teams were tasked to present not only the results of individual research but also to formulate their contribution to the scientific discussion on the topic under consideration , linking it with the problems of the group's collective research.
On February 18
The next two days of the workshops’ week were devoted to the completion of the group work of the HSE and AMU students. On February 18, participants made joint corrections of their presentations After that, the first research group made a final presentation on the topic "Analysis of intergovernmental conflicts from subnational levels: breaking down the structure of international economic and political conflicts in NEA from national to subnational level since 2012". Students highlighted issues such as territorial disputes in Northeast Asia, problematic aspects of historical memory in political relations, current situation of economic cooperation and energy security in region. At the end of the presentation, academic supervisors and students from other groups were able to ask questions and discuss the issues raised in more details.
On February 19
On February 19, two other research groups made their presentations. The topic of the second presentation was formulated as “Uniting and disuniting factors of economic relations in Northeast Asia”. Within the framework of this topic, the participants of the group discussed such aspects of relations in Northeast Asia as economic conflicts in the region, trends in innovative cooperation and prospects for the development of the cluster of innovative technologies in the Russian Far East, the role of electronic commerce, currency and financial problems in the region. In addition, they discussed the effect of the pandemic on the economic situation in the region. The theme of the third group was “Prospects of regionalization in Northeast Asia in terms of security structure and cultural integration”. In the context of the group research topic, the students discussed many issues such as possible formats for Russia's participation in the regional security architecture of the Indo-Pacific region, prospects for the development of security cooperation between Russia and Japan, the problem of the DPRK denuclearization. Students also noted the importance of cooperation in tourism and education, as well as cultural exchanges and the future of these activities in the region.
Outcomes
Thus, during the project, Russian and Japanese students studied and discussed many aspects and prospects of political and economic interaction in Northeast Asia. Over these weeks, students of the Higher School of Economics and Akita International University gained experience in international teamwork. Participants unanimously expressed their hopes for further cooperation.
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Final group presentations
final presentation - group 1
The first research group made a final presentation on the topic "Analysis of intergovernmental conflicts from subnational levels: breaking down the structure of international economic and political conflicts in NEA from national to subnational level since 2012"
final presentation - group 1
(PPTX, 20,42 Мб) final presentation - group 2
The topic of the second presentation was formulated as “Uniting and disuniting factors of economic relations in Northeast Asia”
final presentation - group 2
(PPTX, 2,44 Мб) final presentation - group 3
The theme of the third group was “Prospects of regionalization in Northeast Asia in terms of security structure and cultural integration”
final presentation - group 3
(PPTX, 4,69 Мб)
Supervisors
HSE University
Academic supervisor
Project supervisor
Research adviser
Akita International University
Project supervisor