Building Peace in an Unpredictable World: Global Implications of Trump 2.0

Building Peace in an Unpredictable World: Global Implications of Trump 2.0

Public Seminar, Tokyo

7 February, 2025

On Friday 7 February, Toda Peace Institute’s Director and Senior Research Fellows presented a public seminar in Tokyo. The theme of the seminar was Building Peace in an Unpredictable World: Global Implications of Trump 2.0. There were 67 people present with many more watching a live feed and video recording. There was general agreement that the old liberal world order and the rules that governed it were being challenged and subverted by Trump 2.0. Before and since the workshop, many of the anxieties shared in it have come to pass.  

For example, after Trump’s inauguration there was an immediate US withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement. The United States Agency for International Development was abolished with dire humanitarian consequences  for the global South.  In relation to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Trump’s Riyadh Meeting between US and Russian officials unilaterally broke the sanctions regime against Russia. Since then the US has voted with Russia, North Korea and Israel at the United Nations to reject two UN resolutions on the Russian invasion. The US has engaged in co-ercive diplomacy to secure Ukrainian Rare Earth minerals and has indicated that continued US support for Ukraine is not guaranteed nor is there any promised post ceasefire security guarantees.  Many of these issues were anticipated at the seminar as we focused on confidence building and reassurance between nations, challenges to democracy, the rediscovery of global security architecture, social media and cohesion and the challenges from climate change. 

Following an opening scene-setting presentation from Toda Peace Institute Director, Kevin P. Clements, each of the Senior Research Fellows presented on the following topics

• Stein Tønnesson: “The Need for Reassurance in a Volatile World.

• Olivia Dreier: “Can Democracy Survive the Polarising Forces of Our Times”

• Keith Krause: “Peace in Pieces: Rebuilding Global Security Architectures”

• Lisa Schirch: “Designing a Digital Public Square to Defend Democracy”

• Janani Vivekananda: “Opportunities for Peace in a Changing Climate”

The presentations will soon be available on the TPI YouTube channel.