Cosponsored with the International Foundation for Socio-Economic and Political Studies (the Gorbachev Foundation), Globalization Forum 2006 was held at the Headquarters of the Gorbachev Foundation in Moscow. Under the topic ‘Aggravation of the Situation in Eastern Asia and Ways to Solve the Crisis’, this year’s forum consisted of keynote speeches presented by experts from both Japan and Russia and a panel discussion, especially regarding the situation in Korean Peninsula. The panel discussion was lively because of the timing of the forum, which was held shortly after the nuclear test by North Korea as well as mid-term elections in the United States. With respect to the North Korean nuclear problem, many of the participants voiced the opinion that an early return to the six-nation talks was necessary, rather than taking hard line measures such as imposing sanctions, and Japan, China and Russia had important roles to play in the talks. In addition, the issue of the unification of two Koreas was analyzed from the perspective of the security in Eastern Asia.

Speakers
Russian side:
Mikhail Gorbachev, former President of the Soviet Union>
Mikhail Titarenko, Director, Institute of Far Eastern Studies, the Russian Academy of Sciences
Vladimir Lee, Professor at the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation
Aleksandr Vorontsov, Institute of Oriental Studies, the Russian Academy of Sciences
Vadim Medvedev, Adviser to Mikhail Gorbachev, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Japanese side:
Tadahiro Sekimoto, Chairman, Institute for International Socio-Economic Studies
Izumi Harada, Chief Fellow, Institute for International Socio-Economic Studies
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Yasuhide Yamanouchi, Professor at the New Institute for Social Knowledge and Collaboration: Kumon Center, Tama University