Series "What's brewing in post-3/11 Japan?" No.1: Frontline Pakistan and Disaster-stricken Japan
NUMATA Sadaaki / Former Japanese Ambassador to Pakistan
July 20, 2011
Series "What's brewing in post-3/11 Japan?" No.1:
Frontline Pakistan and Disaster-stricken Japan
NUMATA Sadaaki Former Japanese Ambassador to Pakistan
During my tenure there, Pakistan went through the heightening of tension resulting from the Islamist resistance to the U.S.-led military action in Afghanistan after 9/11 and the near war with India in May 2002. As I witnessed the people of this "frontline state" coping with security as a life and death issue, Japan appeared blissfully peaceful to me.
To us Japanese, the Great East Japan Earthquake was comparable as a crisis to 9/11, meriting the acronym 3/11. What 9/11 meant to Pakistan as a frontline state is naturally very different from what 3/11 means to Japan as a disaster-stricken state. However, Japan can learn certain things from Pakistan's experience.
The tracking and killing of Osama bin Laden by the U.S. military within Pakistan gave rise to the strong suspicion that Pakistan had been colluding with al-Qaeda and Taliban while helping the U.S. in the fight against terrorism. There is no proof that the top leaders of the Pakistani government or the military were engaging in such a double game.
However, Pakistan has long resented the fact that, though they had helped the U.S. with their Mujahideens fighting the Soviet troops in the Afghan war of 1979-89, the U.S. abandoned Pakistan after the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan. It cannot be denied that this led some in Pakistan to try, for Pakistan's survival, the dangerous game of holding on to U.S. support on the one hand and, on the other, conniving to have a pro-Pakistan (anti-Indian) regime in Afghanistan.
Japan has enjoyed peace for the past six decades as an ally of the U.S., and is in no position to try a dangerous double game for its own survival. However, Japan does need to be more sensitive to what is happening in the world, keenly grasp the situation in which it finds itself, and act with alacrity and agility. The Great East Japan Earthquake has bought to the fore a host of issues such as whether or not to have nuclear power generation, which could be linked to the question of the elimination of nuclear weapons, climate change and energy policy and the role of the supply chain in the global economy. Every single one of these issues has global implications, and does not allow itself to be handled from a myopic, purely domestic perspective.
We in Japan have faced the biggest adversity in the 66 years since our defeat in the Second World War. We can no longer take either safety or security for granted. It is argued that this leviathan disaster, compounded by the tsunami exceeding all assumptions and the severe nuclear accident, was not just a natural disaster but a man-made as well as a planning disaster. It has also raised the question that our pursuit of economic growth and prosperity may have incurred a considerable loss in the blessings of nature and the quality of life of the Japanese people.
Pakistan has found itself at the cross-section of civilizational, religious, ethnic and big-power rivalry fault lines. It has struggled to achieve national unity under the banner of Islam out of a mosaic of geographic, regional, ethnic and linguistic differences. The wars with India, Sunni-Shiite sectarian conflicts, terrorist attacks, as well as earthquakes and floods have claimed numerous lives, which almost seems like a fate for the Pakistani people.
In comparison, Japan is far more blessed in terms of geography, economic and social systems, national unity and other aspects, which has enabled it to play a leading role in the international community in support of Pakistan's stability. Pakistan expects Japan not to lose its confidence because of the disaster, but to rebuild the nation with vigour and continue to fulfill its international role including its assistance to Pakistan.
Since the earthquake, the local people in the affected areas have displayed their remarkable capabilities of the "genba"(or, "on-site"). There has also been an upsurge of the public communitarian spirit across the nation. The Reconstruction Design Council, the blue ribbon panel entrusted with the task of providing the blueprint for post-earthquake reconstruction, recommended that we appreciate anew the importance of "linkage" which
comes in many forms: people to people, community to community, company to company, municipalities to prefectural and national governments, local communities with other communities at home and abroad, eastern Japan with western Japan, and country to country.
It is now the responsibility of the political leaders to bring these "linkage" activities into reality. Unlike Pakistan still on the long and arduous path to democracy amidst the legacies of feudal landlords and tribal societies, Japan is a nation with a mature democracy, and as such, should be capable of doing this. Were we to prove incapable of doing it, we would have to consider seriously what might be at fault in Japan's political system.
The writer is Chairman, The English Speaking Union of Japan.
Frontline Pakistan and Disaster-stricken Japan
NUMATA Sadaaki Former Japanese Ambassador to Pakistan
During my tenure there, Pakistan went through the heightening of tension resulting from the Islamist resistance to the U.S.-led military action in Afghanistan after 9/11 and the near war with India in May 2002. As I witnessed the people of this "frontline state" coping with security as a life and death issue, Japan appeared blissfully peaceful to me.
To us Japanese, the Great East Japan Earthquake was comparable as a crisis to 9/11, meriting the acronym 3/11. What 9/11 meant to Pakistan as a frontline state is naturally very different from what 3/11 means to Japan as a disaster-stricken state. However, Japan can learn certain things from Pakistan's experience.
The tracking and killing of Osama bin Laden by the U.S. military within Pakistan gave rise to the strong suspicion that Pakistan had been colluding with al-Qaeda and Taliban while helping the U.S. in the fight against terrorism. There is no proof that the top leaders of the Pakistani government or the military were engaging in such a double game.
However, Pakistan has long resented the fact that, though they had helped the U.S. with their Mujahideens fighting the Soviet troops in the Afghan war of 1979-89, the U.S. abandoned Pakistan after the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan. It cannot be denied that this led some in Pakistan to try, for Pakistan's survival, the dangerous game of holding on to U.S. support on the one hand and, on the other, conniving to have a pro-Pakistan (anti-Indian) regime in Afghanistan.
Japan has enjoyed peace for the past six decades as an ally of the U.S., and is in no position to try a dangerous double game for its own survival. However, Japan does need to be more sensitive to what is happening in the world, keenly grasp the situation in which it finds itself, and act with alacrity and agility. The Great East Japan Earthquake has bought to the fore a host of issues such as whether or not to have nuclear power generation, which could be linked to the question of the elimination of nuclear weapons, climate change and energy policy and the role of the supply chain in the global economy. Every single one of these issues has global implications, and does not allow itself to be handled from a myopic, purely domestic perspective.
We in Japan have faced the biggest adversity in the 66 years since our defeat in the Second World War. We can no longer take either safety or security for granted. It is argued that this leviathan disaster, compounded by the tsunami exceeding all assumptions and the severe nuclear accident, was not just a natural disaster but a man-made as well as a planning disaster. It has also raised the question that our pursuit of economic growth and prosperity may have incurred a considerable loss in the blessings of nature and the quality of life of the Japanese people.
Pakistan has found itself at the cross-section of civilizational, religious, ethnic and big-power rivalry fault lines. It has struggled to achieve national unity under the banner of Islam out of a mosaic of geographic, regional, ethnic and linguistic differences. The wars with India, Sunni-Shiite sectarian conflicts, terrorist attacks, as well as earthquakes and floods have claimed numerous lives, which almost seems like a fate for the Pakistani people.
In comparison, Japan is far more blessed in terms of geography, economic and social systems, national unity and other aspects, which has enabled it to play a leading role in the international community in support of Pakistan's stability. Pakistan expects Japan not to lose its confidence because of the disaster, but to rebuild the nation with vigour and continue to fulfill its international role including its assistance to Pakistan.
Since the earthquake, the local people in the affected areas have displayed their remarkable capabilities of the "genba"(or, "on-site"). There has also been an upsurge of the public communitarian spirit across the nation. The Reconstruction Design Council, the blue ribbon panel entrusted with the task of providing the blueprint for post-earthquake reconstruction, recommended that we appreciate anew the importance of "linkage" which
comes in many forms: people to people, community to community, company to company, municipalities to prefectural and national governments, local communities with other communities at home and abroad, eastern Japan with western Japan, and country to country.
It is now the responsibility of the political leaders to bring these "linkage" activities into reality. Unlike Pakistan still on the long and arduous path to democracy amidst the legacies of feudal landlords and tribal societies, Japan is a nation with a mature democracy, and as such, should be capable of doing this. Were we to prove incapable of doing it, we would have to consider seriously what might be at fault in Japan's political system.
The writer is Chairman, The English Speaking Union of Japan.
The English-Speaking Union of Japan
「３．１１後の日本」シリーズ No.1: 「前線国家」パキスタンと「被災国家」日本
沼田貞昭 / 元パキスタン大使
2011年 7月 20日
パキスタンでは、筆者の在勤中に、９．１１後のアフガニスタンにおける米国主導の軍事行動に対する急進イスラムの反発による緊張が高まり、翌２００２年５月にはインドとの一触即発の危機が起きた。「前線国家」パキスタンの国民にとって安全保障は真に生きるか死ぬかの問題である様子を目の当たりにして、日本はとても天下泰平だと思った。
危機と言う意味では、われわれ日本人にとって、東日本大震災は、正に９．１１にも匹敵する３．１１であった。「前線国家」パキスタンにとっての９．１１と「被災国家」日本にとっての３．１１はもちろん大きく異なるが、日本としてパキスタンから学ぶべき点もいくつかある。
オサマ・ビンラーディンがパキスタン国内で米軍に発見され殺害されたことで、パキスタンはテロとの戦いで米国と協力しながら、アル・カーイダ、タリバンとも脈を通じていたのではないかとの疑惑が強まった。パキスタン政府・軍の最高幹部がそのようなダブル・ゲーム（二面外交）を行ってきたとの確証はない。
しかし、パキスタンには、１９７９―８９年のアフガン戦争でパキスタン出身のムジャヘディーンがソ連軍と戦って米国を助けたにも関わらず、米国はソ連軍の撤退後パキスタンを見捨てたとの恨みがかねてよりある。このことを背景として、自国の生存のために、一方で米国の支援を繋ぎとめつつ、他方でアフガニスタンには親パキスタン（反インド）の政体を実現しようとする危険なゲームを辞さない人々がいたことは否定できない。
過去６０年間米国との同盟の下で平和を享受してきた日本は、生存をかけて危険なダブル・ゲームを試みるような状況にはない。しかし、世界の動きに対する感度を一層磨いて、自分の置かれている状況を良く認識し、機敏に立ち回ることは必要である。東日本大震災が惹起した原発の是非論、ひいては核兵器廃絶論、気候変動・エネルギー政策論議、世界経済におけるサプライ・チェーンの役割等、どれ一つをとっても世界的広がりを持つ問題であることを考えると、国内のみを考えた近視眼的対応をすることは許されない。
われわれは敗戦以来６６年間最大の逆境に直面し、安全も安心ももはや当たり前ではないことを認識した。今回の大災害は、想定を越えた津波と過酷な原発事故が重なり、自然災害にとどまらない人的災害であると同時に計画災害であったとも言われる。経済成長と繁栄を追求するうちに日本の豊かな自然とか人々の生活の質もかなり失われてきたのではないかとの問題も提起されている。
パキスタンは、文明、宗教、民族、大国間抗争の活断層が交錯する所に位置し、異なる地理、地域、民族、言語のモザイクをイスラムの下で束ねるべく苦労してきた。インドとの戦い、スンニ対シーアの宗派間紛争、テロ、あるいは地震、洪水などにより夥しい数の犠牲者が出ることは、パキスタン国民にとってのいわば宿命となっている。
これに比べれば、日本は、地理、経済・社会制度、国民的一体性等の面ではるかに恵まれており、パキスタンの安定を支えるため国際社会の中で主導的な役割を果たしてきた。パキスタンが日本に期待しているのは、被災したからと言って自信を喪失することなく、活力を持って国土を再生し、対パキスタン支援を始めとする国際的役割を引き続き果たしていくことである。
震災以来、各被災地の人々は目覚ましい「現場力」を発揮し、また、国民の中で共同体精神の高まりも見られてきた。大震災復興の青写真を示した復興構想会議提言は、人と人、地域と地域、企業と企業、市町村と県と国、地域のコミュニティの内外、東日本と西日本、国と国を「つなぐ」ことの重要性を指摘している。
今や、このような「つなぐ」行為を実現していくことが政治指導者の責務である。封建地主と部族社会が混在する中で民主制の実現に向けて長く険しい道のりを歩いているパキスタンに比べれば日本では成熟した民主主義が定着しており、これは可能な筈である。もしそれができないとすれば、われわれとして、今日の日本の政治制度にどんな欠陥があるのか真剣に考える必要がある。
（筆者は日本英語交流連盟会長。）
危機と言う意味では、われわれ日本人にとって、東日本大震災は、正に９．１１にも匹敵する３．１１であった。「前線国家」パキスタンにとっての９．１１と「被災国家」日本にとっての３．１１はもちろん大きく異なるが、日本としてパキスタンから学ぶべき点もいくつかある。
オサマ・ビンラーディンがパキスタン国内で米軍に発見され殺害されたことで、パキスタンはテロとの戦いで米国と協力しながら、アル・カーイダ、タリバンとも脈を通じていたのではないかとの疑惑が強まった。パキスタン政府・軍の最高幹部がそのようなダブル・ゲーム（二面外交）を行ってきたとの確証はない。
しかし、パキスタンには、１９７９―８９年のアフガン戦争でパキスタン出身のムジャヘディーンがソ連軍と戦って米国を助けたにも関わらず、米国はソ連軍の撤退後パキスタンを見捨てたとの恨みがかねてよりある。このことを背景として、自国の生存のために、一方で米国の支援を繋ぎとめつつ、他方でアフガニスタンには親パキスタン（反インド）の政体を実現しようとする危険なゲームを辞さない人々がいたことは否定できない。
過去６０年間米国との同盟の下で平和を享受してきた日本は、生存をかけて危険なダブル・ゲームを試みるような状況にはない。しかし、世界の動きに対する感度を一層磨いて、自分の置かれている状況を良く認識し、機敏に立ち回ることは必要である。東日本大震災が惹起した原発の是非論、ひいては核兵器廃絶論、気候変動・エネルギー政策論議、世界経済におけるサプライ・チェーンの役割等、どれ一つをとっても世界的広がりを持つ問題であることを考えると、国内のみを考えた近視眼的対応をすることは許されない。
われわれは敗戦以来６６年間最大の逆境に直面し、安全も安心ももはや当たり前ではないことを認識した。今回の大災害は、想定を越えた津波と過酷な原発事故が重なり、自然災害にとどまらない人的災害であると同時に計画災害であったとも言われる。経済成長と繁栄を追求するうちに日本の豊かな自然とか人々の生活の質もかなり失われてきたのではないかとの問題も提起されている。
パキスタンは、文明、宗教、民族、大国間抗争の活断層が交錯する所に位置し、異なる地理、地域、民族、言語のモザイクをイスラムの下で束ねるべく苦労してきた。インドとの戦い、スンニ対シーアの宗派間紛争、テロ、あるいは地震、洪水などにより夥しい数の犠牲者が出ることは、パキスタン国民にとってのいわば宿命となっている。
これに比べれば、日本は、地理、経済・社会制度、国民的一体性等の面ではるかに恵まれており、パキスタンの安定を支えるため国際社会の中で主導的な役割を果たしてきた。パキスタンが日本に期待しているのは、被災したからと言って自信を喪失することなく、活力を持って国土を再生し、対パキスタン支援を始めとする国際的役割を引き続き果たしていくことである。
震災以来、各被災地の人々は目覚ましい「現場力」を発揮し、また、国民の中で共同体精神の高まりも見られてきた。大震災復興の青写真を示した復興構想会議提言は、人と人、地域と地域、企業と企業、市町村と県と国、地域のコミュニティの内外、東日本と西日本、国と国を「つなぐ」ことの重要性を指摘している。
今や、このような「つなぐ」行為を実現していくことが政治指導者の責務である。封建地主と部族社会が混在する中で民主制の実現に向けて長く険しい道のりを歩いているパキスタンに比べれば日本では成熟した民主主義が定着しており、これは可能な筈である。もしそれができないとすれば、われわれとして、今日の日本の政治制度にどんな欠陥があるのか真剣に考える必要がある。
（筆者は日本英語交流連盟会長。）
一般社団法人 日本英語交流連盟