RELEASE EMBARGO DATE: APR. 30, 2013 AT 9 AM

Panel: New World Disorder (Regency Room)
Date/Time: Tuesday, April 30, 2013 / 10:15-11:30
Talking Points for: Tanaka Akihiko, Japan International Cooperation Agency

There are at least three sources of disorder in the current world system: financial crisis in Europe, inter-state politics in Asia, and fragility and domestic violence from the dry area stretching from Afghanistan to the Sahel region in Africa. The financial crisis in Europe is largely caused by the incongruence of the monetary union and the fiscal responsibility in European attempts of creating a 21st century style political/economic entity going beyond traditional sovereign states. Inter-state politics continues to produce conflicts in Asia and the Middle East: North Korea, Iran, East and South China Seas. The traditional sovereign states, sometimes reinforced by nationalism, are engaged in the games of power politics. Intra-state conflicts characterize politics in countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and Mali. Transnational extremists penetrate into these areas where no effective sovereign states govern their territory. In other words, the current disorder in the world is derived from (1) movements beyond sovereignty, (2) interaction among traditional sovereigns, and (3) conditions lacking effective sovereignty.