Integration of Global Concerns into ODA

As the preface of its Constitution determines,1 Japan has established peaceful cooperation with all nations as a priority. Since 1951, when Japan recovered political independence, it has been seeking to play a positive role in the international community based upon the principles set forth in the Constitution. However, just as political interpretations of the Constitution vary, so do concepts of international cooperation and policies on particular issues. While the words ‘international cooperation’ have been widely used since the 1950s (and even earlier), concepts using the word ‘global’ such as ‘global issues’, ‘global governance’ and ‘globalization’ have proliferated since the early 1990s. The global concept is a reflection of the international situation since the cold war, with huge numbers of people and wide areas of the former communist bloc becoming integrated into the market economy and democratic society. The sense of sharing a global environment has become stronger than ever. More importantly, it has become widely recognized that many actors other than nation states and the organizations they comprise them are playing various, sometimes decisive, roles in influencing the world, creating a new agenda and posing new challenges.