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The inaugural ceremony of the Chair of the State of Qatar, a joint project based on the academic exchange agreement between Waseda University and Qatar University, was held on Monday, May 31, 2021. The aims of this project include exchanging expertise between the two institutions and contributing to the development of knowledge and understanding of the Islamic world, its people, and its heritage by supporting research activities in the fields of language, culture, religion, history, politics, economics, international relations, and other interdisciplinary fields related to Islamic civilization.

The virtual inaugural ceremony was attended by Hassan al-Derham (president of Qatar University), Aiji Tanaka (president of Waseda University), Hassan bin Mohammed Rafi al-Emadi (ambassador of Qatar to Japan), and Kazuo Sunaga (ambassador of Japan to Qatar).

The ceremony started with opening remarks given by Cesar Wazen, director of International Affairs Office at Qatar University, and by Professor Keiko Sakurai of the Faculty of International Research and Education at Waseda University. In her remarks, Professor Sakurai explained the background to the Qatar Chair project and expressed her gratitude to the people who have supported its development.

The welcome addresses given by President al-Derham and President Tanaka were followed by congratulatory addresses by Ambassador Hassan bin Mohammed Rafi al-Emadi and Kazuo Sunaga. It was then followed by Waseda Faculty of Letters, Arts and Sciences Professor Tetsuya Ohtoshi’s address in Arabic.

Professor Abdullah Baabood, who was appointed chair of the State of Qatar for Islamic Area Studies and a visiting professor at the Faculty of International Research and Education of Waseda University, spoke about the mission and objectives of the project. Other professors from Waseda University who are working on the Qatar Chair project, including Alexander Mallett (associate professor of the Faculty of International Research and Education), Woohyang Chloe Sim (assistant professor of the Faculty of International Research and Education), Matthew Gray (professor of the Faculty of International Research and Education), and Shohei Sato (associate Professor of the Faculty of Letters, Arts and Sciences), shared their respective research projects. The ceremony ended with a closing address by Professor Maji Christine Rhee, dean of the International Affairs Division at Waseda University.

The academic seminar on “Gulf-Asia Relations within the Changing Global Order” that followed the inaugural ceremony focused on relations between the Asia-Pacific and Gulf regions with their growing presence in the global economy in recent years and discussed the Gulf region’s relations with Japan, China, Korea, and India from political, economic and energy perspectives.

The seminar was moderated by Professor Abdullah Baabood and Professor Mahjoob Zweiri, also a director of the Gulf Studies Center at Qatar University. First, Anoush Ehteshami, professor at Durham University, gave an overview of Gulf-Asia relations. Then, Masakazu Toyoda (chairman and CEO of the Institute of Energy Economics, Japan), Bingbing Wu (State of Qatar Chair in Middle East Studies at Peking University), Kangsuk Kim (researcher at the GCC Institute of Dankook University, Korea) and Talmiz Ahmad (professor and former Indian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Oman), reported and discussed issues related to the current state of Gulf countries’ relations with Japan, China, Korea, and India, respectively.

Following the panelists’ talks, Professor Matthew Gray, summarized the discussion and asked follow-up questions. The panelists’ responses and vigorous discussion continued and ran over the scheduled time. It was a fruitful session as the need for further discussion on the future direction and outlook for Gulf-Asia relations was reaffirmed.06