French Forces challenges in the Indo-Pacific
SCERU, alongside the Graduate School of Public Policy (GraSPP), will hold a public seminar
with Rear Admiral Geoffroy d’Andigné as the guest speaker. Captain Keitaro Ushirogata,
Senior Research Fellow of the JMSDF Command and Staff College, and Dr. Yee Kuang
Heng, Professor at GraSPP, will be the discussants.
The Joint Commander of Armed Forces in French Polynesia, Rear-Admiral Geoffroy
d’Andigné, will present a lecture on “French Forces Challenges in the Indo-Pacific” on 19
April, from 10:30 at the University of Tokyo. As a nation of the Indo-Pacific, with
territories, people and permanently stationed armed forces, France is an active
stakeholder in defense and security, contributing to the preservation of regional stability.
Rear-Admiral d’Andigné will lay out how France responsibly defends its sovereign interests
in the multilateral rules-based order it promotes, detailing the means, main missions,
areas of deployment and military cooperation practiced by the French Forces in the
Pacific.
The seminar will be chaired by Director Chiyuki Aoi with an opening address by Professor
Keisuke Iida, Dean of GraSPP.
Date & time:
Wednesday, April 19, 2023 | 10:30-11:45 (JST)
Venue:
SMBC Hall, 4th floor, International Academic Research Building, Hongo campus
Language:
English
Program:
Opening remarks by:
Dr. Keisuke Iida, Dean and Professor GraSPP
Speech by:
Rear Admiral Geoffroy d’Andigné,
Commander of the Armed Forces in French Polynesia
Commander of the Pacific Ocean and French Polynesian maritime zones
Commander of the Pacific Experimental Center
Commander of the French Polynesian Defense Base
Discussions with:
Captain Keitaro Ushirogata, Senior Research Fellow, JMSDF Command and Staff College
Dr. Yee Kuang Heng, Professor GraSPP
Chair:
Dr. Chiyuki Aoi, Professor GraSPP/SCERU)
Registration:
About the Guest Speaker:
Rear Admiral Geoffroy d’Andigné is Commander of the Armed Forces in French Polynesia, Commander of the Pacific Ocean and French Polynesian maritime zones, Commander of the Pacific Experimental Center and Commander of the French Polynesian Defense Base. He is an officer of the Legion of Honor and the National Order of Merit.
He studied at the Ecole Navale and the Ecole de Guerre. He served on the aviso (sloop) Commandant Bory in the Red Sea ARTIMON operation of 1991 and conducted operations in the Mediterranean aboard the SNA Améthyste. Then he took part in the MEDOR and MYRRHE 2000 missions in the Indian Ocean aboard the frigate Tourville, before taking command of the aviso Lieutenant of vessel Lavallée which was involved in the CORYMBE mission in the Gulf of Guinea in 2003. His subsequent career includes: Head of the navy’s BERYX operation cell at the CPCO following the tsunami in Sumatra, Head of the “studies” section of the “fleet crews and port sailors” office of the Navy’s military personnel management(2006), Director of Instruction on the helicopter carrier Jeanne d’Arc(2008 to 2010), participation in the ATALANTA mission, Chief of Staff of the Maritime Prefect of Brest(2010, including when the TK Bremen grounded in Erdeven), Commander of the anti-submarine frigate La Motte-Picquet(2012-2014) to lead three operations in support of dissuasion, Auditor at the NATO Defense College in Rome, and various leading positions of the Armed Forces General Staff(since 2015). He worked in particular on the military programming law and on the modernization of the Armed Forces Ministry. In 2021, he joined the naval staff as deputy “finance and support” force preparation officer and appointed to the current position in August 2022.
Discussants:
Captain Keitaro Ushirogata is Senior Research Fellow, Japan Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF) Command and Staff College. His major publications include: Kaiyo-Senryakuron, in Japanese(Comparative Analysis of Maritime Military Strategies -Area Denial, Sea Control, and Power Projection)(2019) and “Ousyu to Asia ni okeru kaku no shikiichi”, in Japanese (The Difference of Nuclear Threshold between Europe and Asia -Gedanken Experiment as to Non Strategic Nuclear Weapons) (Co-authored, 2023), edited by Iwama Yoko, Kakukyoyu no Genjitsu -NATO no keiken to Nihon (The Reality of Nuclear Sharing Arrangement -NATO’s Experience and Japan). He obtained his bachelor’s degree in Social Studies from National Defense Academy and earned MA in Policy Studies(2014) and PhD in International Relations(2017) from GRIPS. In JMSDF, he served as Operations Staff at Head Quarter Training Squadron, Navigation Officer of JS Mineyuki, Navigation Officer of JS Atago, Operations Staff at Headquarter Escort Fleet Force, Researcher at JMSDF Command and Staff College and Deputy Counsellor at National Ocean Policy Secretariat, Cabinet Office, Government of Japan.
Dr. Yee Kuang HENG is Professor at the Graduate School of Public Policy, The University of Tokyo. After completing his BSc (First Class Hons) and PhD in International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science, Dr. Heng held faculty posts lecturing at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland; the University of St Andrews in Scotland, and the National University of Singapore. In 2022, he was Senior Academic Visitor at the University of Cambridge’s Centre for Study of Existential Risk. Current research interests include futures ecosystems and existential risks; UK-Japan defence cooperation, and more broadly Japan’s military exercises with European powers in the Indo-Pacific. Recent publications include “UK-Japan military exercises and mutual strategic reassurance”, Defence Studies (2021); and “Japan’s significance for the United Kingdom’s shaping ambitions in the Indo-Pacific”, East Asian Policy (2022).