Seminar: Japan in the New Nuclear Age－In Search of Stability in an Uncertain World

The Economic Security Intelligence Lab (ESIL) at the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology (RCAST), The University of Tokyo, is pleased to co-host a public seminar with the Institute of Contemporary Asian Studies (ICAS) at Temple University, Japan Campus (TUJ) titled “Japan in the New Nuclear Age: In Search of Stability in an Uncertain World”

We will feature Ankit Panda, Stanton Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in the Nuclear Policy Program.

Nuclear weapons are returning to the fore of international statecraft in ways unseen since the Cold War. With major powers like Russia issuing threats of nuclear strikes, China and North Korea continuing to grow their arsenals, and new prospects for proliferation from the Middle East to Europe to East Asia, the world has been thrust into a new era of heightened nuclear risk. Moreover, the prospect of nuclear escalation is again shaping how political decision-makers and military establishments around the world think and act. But unlike the peril of the Cold War, a greater number of nuclear players and a plethora of new technologies, including AI and exotic new weapons, make the search for stability far from straightforward. How much of this new nuclear age is really “new”? What are the ways in which states can work to mitigate the worst risks?

Panda will share these insights based on his latest book: The New Nuclear Age: At the Precipice of Armageddon (Polity, 2025).

【Speaker:Ankit Panda】
Ankit Panda is the Stanton Senior Fellow in the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. His research interests include nuclear strategy, escalation, missiles and missile defense, space security, and U.S. alliances. He is the author of The New Nuclear Age: At the Precipice of Armageddon (Polity, 2025), Indo-Pacific Missile Arsenals: Avoiding Spirals and Mitigating Risks (Carnegie, 2023), and Kim Jong Un and the Bomb: Survival and Deterrence in North Korea (Hurst/Oxford, 2020). Panda is co-editor of New Approaches to Verifying and Monitoring North Korea’s Nuclear Arsenal (Carnegie, 2021). He has consulted for the United Nations in New York and Geneva, and his expertise has been sought by U.S. Strategic Command, Space Command, and Indo-Pacific Command. He has testified before both the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Strategic Forces and the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. A widely cited authority on North Korea’s nuclear program, Panda is also a frequent commentator in global media and has published in leading newspapers, magazines, and scholarly journals. He is editor-at-large at The Diplomat, where he hosts the Asia Geopolitics podcast.

【Moderator: Akira Igata】
Akira Igata is a Project Lecturer and heads the Economic Security Intelligence Laboratory (ESIL) at RCAST, The University of Tokyo. He holds affiliations with several international think tanks and policy institutions, including the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), Pacific Forum (PF), Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), the National Security College at the Australian National University (NSC, ANU), the European Values Center for Security Studies (EVC), and the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC).

We will ensure ample time for Q&A, and we encourage active participation from the audience.

Notes for participants
- For security reasons, no dangerous materials or food/beverages are allowed inside the venue. Please follow staff instructions during the event.
- Please present your valid photo ID (e.g., student ID or driver’s license) at the reception desk on the day of the event. For security reasons, participants who do not provide complete and accurate information regarding their identity, affiliation, and position may not be admitted.

Language: English