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Latest Policy Briefs and Reports
The International Court of Justice’s Advisory Opinion on Climate Change: A New Mandate for Climate Security
Report No.264 - January, 2026 • By Emma Whitaker and Atieh Khatibi
This report examines the historic advisory opinion delivered by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on July 23, 2025. The opinion reframes climate change as not just an environmental challenge, but a defining issue for human rights and global security. Sparked by the voices of Pacific youth and the lived realities of vulnerable nations, the ICJ’s opinion sends a clear message: climate action is now a legal obligation, not a policy preference. The advisory opinion is a watershed moment. It lays a powerful legal foundation for climate action rooted in justice, cooperation, and human security. But legal clarity is just the beginning. Real progress means weaving these principles into policy, practice, and everyday decisions—especially for those most at risk. The ICJ ruling offers a vision of climate protection as the bedrock of sustainable peace and security for generations to come.
Reclaiming Attention: From Digital Conflict to Democratic Dialogue
Policy Brief No.263 - January, 2026 • By Jordan Ryan
This policy brief poses the question: which human capacities does digital polarisation erode, and why does their erosion matter for democratic life? It references a comprehensive governance architecture developed by Toda Peace Institute, Lisa Schirch’s 'Blueprint for Prosocial Tech Design Governance and Social Media Impacts on Conflict and Democracy', which addresses the dynamics of digital polarisation threatening democratic governance and establishes policy frameworks, regulatory mechanisms, and design interventions for constraining platform harms. Drawing on Simone Weil’s analysis of attention, affliction, and uprootedness, the brief offers a theory of democratic capacity that clarifies what platform governance must protect and concludes with four policy actions that ground platform accountability in the democratic capacities it must preserve
Peace and Security in Northeast Asia
Thinking the Unthinkable: An East Asia without the US?
Report No.262 - December, 2025 • By Moon Chung-in
This report examines the relative decline of American power and status in East Asia, through a South Korean perspective. An ‘East Asia without the United States’ was once unthinkable because the American economic and military presence in the region was so dominant and beneficial to many of its countries. Hence, intellectuals in East Asian countries have begun to broaden their views on the matter and craft new narratives about America’s role in the area. This work addresses the convoluted dynamics that arise from this changing role of the world’s foremost superpower.
Peace and Security in Northeast Asia
Building Mutual Reassurance on the Korean Peninsula: Coordinating Japan, ROK, and US Approaches to North Korea's Nuclear Challenge
Policy Brief No.261 - December, 2025 • By Nishino Junya
This report addresses the denuclearization of North Korea which remains an indispensable objective not only for Japan but for the entire international community. Complete denuclearization has become a long-term goal rather than an immediately achievable outcome. The international community must simultaneously prevent North Korea from further expanding its nuclear arsenal and ensure that these weapons are never used. This dual approach—pursuing denuclearization while managing immediate nuclear risks—requires careful coordination among Japan, the Republic of Korea (ROK), and the United States.
Party Like Mamdani
Report No.260 - November, 2025 • By Debasish Roy Chowdhury
This report discusses the important lessons that the New York mayor-elect’s campaign masterclass has for India’s flailing democracy, particularly its ineffectual opposition parties that have failed to mount any meaningful pushback against Modi’s monopoly over power in more than a decade. Indian-born Zohran Mamdani’s victory speech laced with quotes of India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Bollywood music has added to the buzz, but his desi connection is not the only reason why Mamdani resonates across three oceans.