During June of 2016, the former and current presidents of the International Studies Association (ISA) visited Ritsumeikan University and conducted research exchange and lectures.
ISA is the largest and the most respected scholarly association in International Relations studies. It’s at about an exceptional the two recent presidents of ISA to give lectures at the same institution at about the same time.

Professor Amitav Acharya, the former president of ISA is the UNESCO Chair in Transnational Challenges and Governance and Distinguished Professor of International Relations at the School of International Service, American University, Washington, D.C. He is a distinguished professor in the field of theories of international relations and international relations in Asia-Pacific, and is the leading proponents of an agenda of the future IR called the Global IR, which transcend the debates between Western and Non-Western perspectives. The Graduate school of IR has invited him to visit since AY 2013.
The current president of the ISA, Professor T.V. Paul, James McGill Professor of International Relations at the department of Political Science at McGill University, is a prominent researcher of international relations, especially in international security, regional security and South Asia. His book, The Tradition of Non-use of Nuclear Weapons was selected for inclusion in the Peace Prize Laureate Exhibition honoring President Barack Obama by the Nobel Peace Center, Oslo.
During this visit, both professors made presentations on the paradigm shift of the international order in Asia, reflecting the rising power of China. Professor Acharya offered a new approach called “Security Pluralism” and Professor Paul discussed the importance of learning from past experiences when interacting with the rising power. They also taught graduate students and collaborated with researchers at Ritsumeikan.

These lectures and research workshops were promoted by the College and Graduate school of International Relations and the Ritsumeikan Global Innovation Research Organization (R-GIRO) led by Professor Jun Honna. This is an example of good practices of the collaboration in research and education.
In the globalized world and in Japan, the idea of international relations and security has been changing. The research in this field is crucially important for our future, which will we work with the globalized issues.
With international distinguished invited researchers and professors, College/ Graduate school of International Relations will enforce its research and education.