Sarah Tanke

Please tell us about your research project.

During my stay in Oxford, I hope to further develop the research I started during my PhD which attempts to fill a gap in the contemporary academic literature via a comprehensive study of Japan’s diplomatic engagement with the United Nations. Covering the entire period of Japan’s UN membership from 1956 to 2020, the analysis works at three main levels—namely the central themes of Japan’s UN diplomacy, its financial contributions to the UN, and Japanese diplomatic practice. Japan’s relationship with the UN must be seen in the context of the general rise of multilateralism since the mid-twentieth century, the evolution of the country’s world role and power, a constitution renouncing war, and a foreign policy characterized by an alliance with the United States. Against this background, my research asks how and why Japan cooperates at the UN. My postdoctoral research project examines the role of emotions in Japanese foreign policy, particularly with regard to the multilateral level. The symbolic dimension has been an important part of my previous research as well, where recognition is highlighted as one factor explaining Japan’s multilateral diplomacy at the UN. However, despite Japan being a major actor on the international scene, there is some, but not enough research on the role emotions can play in its diplomacy and foreign policy.

Could you please tell us more about your scholarship/exchange programme?

I am here thanks to the OxPo (Oxford – Sciences Po) programme which each year sends one Sciences Po postdoc to spend one year at the University of Oxford. Via this exchange programme, I am affiliated with the Maison Française d’Oxford, the Department of Politics and International Relations (DPIR) and Nuffield College.

First impressions of Oxford/the University?

It is a beautiful place, very dynamic and the omnipresent academic atmosphere is incredibly stimulating.