Professor Hugo Dobson
BA, MA (Leeds), MEd, PhD (Sheffield)
School of East Asian Studies
Professor of Japan's International Relations
Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences
Faculty Director of One University Strategy Delivery (Social Sciences)
Full contact details
School of East Asian Studies
Jessop West
1 Upper Hanover Street
Sheffield
S3 7RA
- Profile
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Hugo Dobson was awarded his PhD from the School of East Asian Studies at the University of Sheffield in 1998. His thesis explored Japan’s participation in United Nations-sponsored peacekeeping operations.
He has worked as a research fellow in the International Centre for Comparative Law and Politics at the University of Tokyo (1997-1999) and lecturer in the international relations of East Asia in the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Kent (1999-2000).
He returned to Sheffield in 2001 as a lecturer in Japan’s international relations, becoming a senior lecturer in 2005 and a professor in 2009. Hugo was Head of the School of East Asian Studies from 2013 to 2019.
His research interests are broadly divided into two strands. The first strand focuses upon Japan's role in international relations, multilateral organisations and global governance, especially the G7 and G20. He has participated in G7 and G20 engagement groups known as the Think 7 and Think 20 that act as an 'ideas bank'.
The second strand of his research explores the role of images in shaping our understanding of international relations and Japan’s role in the world, from postage stamps and logos to TV programmes such as The Simpsons.
He has been the recipient of a number of research grants and has been invited to teach and research at various institutions around the world including the University of Tokyo, Hosei University in Tokyo, Zurich University and Charles University in Prague.
- Qualifications
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BA, MA (Leeds)
MEd, PhD (Sheffield)
- Research interests
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Professor Dobson's research explores informal global summitry, in particular the Group of 7 (G7) and Group of 20 (G20).
In particular, he is interested in understanding how the Japanese government and people engage with these groups. To this end, he attended a number of G7 and G20 summits as a Policy Analyst in recent years.
He has recently published a book Unpacking the G20, while conducting research for another book on the role of former prime ministers in Japanese politics.
- Publications
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Books
- UNPACKING THE G20 Insights from the Summit.
- Japan's international relations: Politics, economics and security, third edition. Routledge.
- Nihon to Igirisu no Senso to Wakai. Hosei Daigaku Shuppankyoku.
- Introduction.
- Preface.
- The Group of 7/8. Taylor & Francis.
- Japan and the G7/8: 1975-2002.
- Japan and UN Peacekeeping New Pressures and New Responses. Routledge.
- Japan’s International Relations. Taylor & Francis.
- Japan and Britain at War and Peace. Routledge.
- The Group of 7/8. Routledge.
- Japan's International Relations. Routledge.
- Japan and UN Peacekeeping. Routledge.
Edited books
- Understanding prime ministerial leadership in the United Kingdom and Japan in the 21st century. Sage.
- Decoding Boundaries in Contemporary Japan; the eKoizumi administration and beyond. Routledge.
- Contested governance in Japan: Sites and issues. Taylor & Francis.
- Japan and Britain in the Contemporary World: Responses to Common Issues. Taylor & Francis.
- Global Governance and Japan. Routledge.
Journal articles
- Electoral reform and national security in Japan: from pork to foreign policy by Amy Catalinac. The Journal of Japanese studies, 45(2), 369-371.
- Understanding prime ministerial leadership in the United Kingdom and Japan in the 21st century: introduction to a special issue. Asian Journal of Comparative Politics, 8(1), 5-17.
- Japan's New Regional Reality: Geoeconomic Strategy in the Asia-Pacific. JOURNAL OF JAPANESE STUDIES, 48(1), 226-+.
- How Informality Can Address Emerging Issues: Making the Most of the G7. Global Policy. View this article in WRRO
- The Afterlives of Post-war Japanese Prime Ministers. Journal of Contemporary Asia, 49(1), 127-150. View this article in WRRO
- ‘Nihon Seiji ni Okeru Motoshusho no Tachiba – Ima no Sori ha Ittai Dare?’/’Former Prime Ministers in Japanese Politics: Who’s Sori Now?’. Kamizono, 18, 210-218.
- Non-western celebrity politics and diplomacy: introduction. Celebrity Studies, 8(2), 312-317. View this article in WRRO
- Is Japan really back? The “Abe Doctrine” and global governance. Journal of Contemporary Asia, 47(2), 199-224.
- China's G20 Leadership John Kirton London and New York: Routledge, 2016 xiv + 191 pp. £95.00 ISBN 978-0-472-47948-8. The China Quarterly, 228, 1108-1109.
- Risk State: Japan's Foreign Policy in an Age of Uncertainty, by Sebastian Maslow, Ra Mason, and Paul O'Shea, eds.. Japan Forum, 28(1), 128-129.
- China’s Presidency of the G20 Hangzhou: On Global Leadership and Strategy. Global Summitry, 1(2), 151-170. View this article in WRRO
- Masculinity and Japan’s Foreign Relations by Yumiko Mikanagi. The Journal of Japanese Studies, 40(1), 259-262.
- Japan's Diplomatic Double Whammy: Hosting TICAD-IV and the G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit. Japanese Studies, 32(2), 237-253. View this article in WRRO
- Where are the women in global governance? Leaders, wives and hegemonic masculinity in the G8 and G20 summits. Global Society, 26(4), 429-449.
- "Seoul-searching": The 2010 G-20 Seoul summit. Global Governance, 18(3), 363-381. View this article in WRRO
- Managing the Medusa: Japan-USA relations in GX summitry. The Pacific Review(2), 175-198. View this article in WRRO
- Japan's response to the changing global order: the case of a "Gaggle of Gs". International Relations of the Asia-Pacific, 12(2), 229-257. View this article in WRRO
- Japanese postage stamps: propaganda and decision making. Japan Forum, 14(1), 21-39.
- Japan and the changing global balance of power: The view from the summit. Politics, 30(SUPPL. 1), 33-42. View this article in WRRO
- Thomas U. Berger, Mike M. Mochizuki, and Jistuo Tsuchiyama, eds., Japan in International Politics: The Foreign Policies of an Adaptive State. Journal of Cold War Studies, 12(1), 166-167.
- Review: Emerging Powers in Global Governance. International Journal: Canada's Journal of Global Policy Analysis, 64(3), 856-858.
- Pedagogy of Democracy: Feminism and the Cold War in the US Occupation of Japanby Mire Koikari. Gender & History, 21(2), 449-450.
- Book Review: GOVERNMENTS AND THEORIES OF GOVERNANCE Daniel P. Aldrich, Site Fights: Divisive Facilities and Civil Society in Japan and the West (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2008, 254 pp., $39.95 hbk.). Millennium: Journal of International Studies, 37(3), 820-821.
- Japan's Aggressive Legalism: Law and Foreign Trade Politics Beyond the WTO (review). The Journal of Japanese Studies, 36(1), 118-122.
- NORMALIZING JAPAN: Politics, Identity, and the Evolution of Security Practice.. PACIFIC AFFAIRS, 82(1), 135-137.
- The 2008 Hokkaido-Toyako G8 Summit: neither summit nor plummet. Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus, 6(11). View this article in WRRO
- Mister Sparkle Meets the Yakuza: Depictions of Japan in The Simpsons. The Journal of Popular Culture, 39(1), 44-68.
- Book Review: A Public Betrayed: An Inside Look at Japanese Media Atrocities and their Warnings to the West. European Journal of Communication, 20(2), 263-266.
- Introduction: East Asian postage stamps as socio-political artefacts. East Asia, 22(2), 3-7.
- Rethinking Japan's “lost decade”. Global Society, 19(2), 211-223.
- The stamp of approval: Decision-making processes and policies in Japan and the UK. East Asia, 22(2), 56-76.
- The Russian Far East and Pacific Asia: Unfulfilled Potential. Asian Business & Management, 3(1), 139-141.
- Japan and the G8 Evian Summit: Bilateralism, East Asianism and Multilateralization. G8 Governance, 9. View this article in WRRO
- Japan and the East Asian Financial Crisis: Patterns, Motivations and Instrumentalisation of Japanese Regional Economic Diplomacy. European Journal of East Asian Studies, 1(2), 177-197. View this article in WRRO
- Book reviews. International Peacekeeping, 8(3), 141-145.
- Book reviews. International Peacekeeping, 7(2), 182-189.
- Book reviews. International Peacekeeping, 6(2), 195-203.
- Regional approaches to peacekeeping activities: The case of the ASEAN regional forum. International Peacekeeping, 6(2), 152-171.
- The failure of the Tripartite pact: Familiarity breeding contempt between Japan and Germany, 1940–45. Japan Forum, 11(2), 179-190.
- Reviews. The Pacific Review, 12(3), 499-514.
- Japan’s Aging Peace: Pacifism and Militarism in the Twenty-First Century. Japanese Studies, 1-2.
- Japan’s Role in the New Global Economic Governance: Domestic and International Factors. ASIEN: The German Journal on Contemporary Asia, 128, 79-94. View this article in WRRO
- The Cameron Government and Gx Leadership. Global Summitry Journal, 1(1). View this article in WRRO
Chapters
- Managing the global economy, Unpacking the G20 (pp. 35-58). Edward Elgar Publishing
- The G20 and its position within global governance, Unpacking the G20: Insights from the Summit (pp. 10-34). Edward Elgar Publishing View this article in WRRO
- Climate change and energy transitions, Unpacking the G20 (pp. 84-102). Edward Elgar Publishing
- Sustainable development, Unpacking the G20 (pp. 59-83). Edward Elgar Publishing
- Introduction, Unpacking the G20 (pp. 1-9). Edward Elgar Publishing
- Security and terrorism, Unpacking the G20 (pp. 103-125). Edward Elgar Publishing
- Appendix 2: Attendance at G20 summits, 2008-2022, Unpacking the G20 (pp. 187-192). Edward Elgar Publishing
- Index, Unpacking the G20 Edward Elgar Publishing
- G20 summitry beyond global governance, Unpacking the G20 (pp. 126-151). Edward Elgar Publishing
- Appendix 1: G20 summits, 2008-2025, Unpacking the G20 (pp. 186-186). Edward Elgar Publishing
- Conclusions, Unpacking the G20 (pp. 152-185). Edward Elgar Publishing
- References, Unpacking the G20 Edward Elgar Publishing
- The changing UK prime ministership from an institutional perspective In Dobson H (Ed.), Special Issue : Understanding prime ministerial leadership in the United Kingdom and Japan in the 21st century (pp. 95-111). SAGE Publications
- Japan and Globalization In Babb J (Ed.), The SAGE Handbook of Modern Japanese Studies (pp. 572-587). SAGE View this article in WRRO
- Japan at the Summit: Energy, Climate Change and a ‘Gaggle of Gs’ In Mariotti M, Miyake T & Revelant A (Ed.), Rethinking Nature in Contemporary Japan: Science, Economics, Politics (pp. 103-118). Venice: Edizioni Ca’ Foscari (Foscari University Press). View this article in WRRO
- Japan and the world: From bilateralism to multilateralism, The Japan Handbook (pp. 260-270).
- Japan and der G20-Gipfel: Von Kan nach Cannes In Vogt G & Holgrun P (Ed.), Modernisierungsprozesse in Japan (pp. 127-142).
- Asia shaping the group of 20 or the group of 20 shaping Asia?, The Asia-Pacific, Regionalism and the Global System (pp. 106-121).
- The G8, the G20, and civil society, Global Financial Crisis: Global Impact and Solutions (pp. 245-259).
- Diplomacy on the boundaries: The G8, international society and Japan’s instrumentalization of liminality, Decoding Boundaries in Contemporary Japan: The Koizumi Administration and Beyond (pp. 14-34).
- Reporting the fiftieth and sixtieth anniversaries of the end of World War II: Less fear and loathing in the UK press towards Japan?, Japan and Britain at War and Peace (pp. 151-165).
- JAPAN AND BRITAIN AT WAR AND PEACE Introduction, JAPAN AND BRITAIN AT WAR AND PEACE (pp. 1-8).
- JAPAN AND BRITAIN AT WAR AND PEACE Conclusion, JAPAN AND BRITAIN AT WAR AND PEACE (pp. 178-184).
- Leadership in Global Governance: Japan and China in the G8 and the UN, China, Japan and Regional Leadership in East Asia (pp. 181-202). Edward Elgar Publishing
- Global Governance and the G7/8 In Hook G (Ed.), Global Governance and Japan The Institutional Architecture (pp. 23-39). Routledge
- Teaching Excellence in Higher Education in Japan: An Evolving Agenda, International Perspectives on Teaching Excellence in Higher Education Improving Knowledge and Practice Routledge
- Japan and the UK at the G8 Summit: Cooperation and Conflict at the Highest Level of Diplomacy, Britain and Japan in the Twentieth Century: One Hundred Years of Trade and Prejudice (pp. 152-165).
- Global governance and the Group of Seven/Eight, Global Governance and Japan: The Institutional Architecture (pp. 23-39).
- Global governance and the World Bank, Global Governance and Japan: The Institutional Architecture (pp. 92-109).
- JAPAN AND THE UK AT THE G8 SUMMIT, 1975 TO 2006, Britain and Japan in the Twentieth Century: One Hundred Years of Trade and Prejudice (pp. 152-165).
- Global governance, the G7/8 summit and Japan, Contested Governance in Japan (pp. 17-35). Routledge
- Global governance, the G7/8 summit and Japan, Contested Governance in Japan: Sites and Issues (pp. 17-35).
- Foreword
- Introduction: Japan and Britain - similarities, differences, and the future In Dobson H & Hook GD (Ed.), Japan and Britain in the Contemporary World: Responses to Common Issues (pp. 1-17). Taylor & Francis
- Conclusion: Japan and Britain - a common agenda for the twenty-first century?, Japan and Britain in the Contemporary World: Responses to Common Issues (pp. 213-223).
- Preface In Dobson H & Hook GD (Ed.), Japan and Britain in the Contemporary World: Responses to Common Issues (pp. xv-xvi). Taylor & Francis
- Social Movements, Civil Society and Democracy in Japan, Globalization and Democratization in Asia (pp. 142-159). Routledge
- Social Movements, Civil Society and Democracy in Japan, Globalization and Democratization in Asia: The Construction of Identity (pp. 133-148).
- Japan and Globalization, The SAGE Handbook of Modern Japanese Studies (pp. 453-464). SAGE Publications Ltd
- International Perspectives on Teaching Excellence in Higher Education Routledge
- Contested Governance in Japan Routledge
- Leadership in Global Governance: Japan and China in the G8 and the United Nations Edward Elgar Publishing
Conference proceedings papers
- Think 7 USA 2020: Report of the Think 7 Summit. Think 7 USA 2020: Report of the Think 7 Summit. Woodrow Wilson Centre for International Scholars and G7 Research Group, 14 May 2020 - 15 May 2020.
Reports
- Joining Forces: Reviving Multilateralism through Multi-Stakeholder Cooperation View this article in WRRO
Website content
- Pembunuhan mantan PM Shinzo Abe: Bagaimana sejarah kekerasan bermotif politik di Jepang?.
- Assassinat de Shinzo Abe : une histoire de la violence politique au Japon.
- Shinzo Abe’s killing: the history of political violence in Japan.
- Asesinato de Shinzo Abe: una historia de la violencia política en Japón.
- UNPACKING THE G20 Insights from the Summit.
- Research group
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Research Clusters
Associated research groups and collaborators
- Sheffield Political Economy Research Institue (SPERI) - Associate Fellow
Research supervision
Professor Dobson welcomes the opportunity to supervise promising Ph.D. students across a broad range of topics related to international relations and Japan.
He has previously [co-]supervised successful Ph.D. theses on topics including Southeast Asian approaches to conflict resolution, Japanese approaches to humanitarianism, Japan’s regional institution-building initiatives, and China’s aid policies.
He is currently [co-]supervising Ph.D. theses on the impact of globalisation on Japan’s security policies, Japan’s territorial disputes in the East Asian region, and Japan’s relations with North Korea.
- Teaching interests
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Everyone remembers a good teacher. For me, it was my A-level History teacher, Mr Kilkenny. Inspired by him, I try to encourage my students at Sheffield to question everything, look at events from a different angle and be passionate about a subject.
To help me achieve this I have completed a Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education at the University of Kent, and a Masters Degree in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education at the University of Sheffield.
These courses exposed me to new ways of thinking about teaching and learning and allowed me to create networks that have supported my teaching since.
All my modules make use a wide range of activities based on the principles of enquiry-based learning whereby students take ownership of the learning process, identifying relevant questions and resources, forging and defending their own interpretations - all with the goal of ultimately becoming independent learners.
- Teaching activities
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Professor Dobson teaches on the following modules
Undergraduate
- EAS2031 Postwar Japanese Politics
Postgraduate
- EAS6236 Postwar Japanese Politics
- EAS683 Global Governance and Japan
- Media Expertise
Professor Dobson is available to media organisations to discuss various aspects of Japanese politics, its international relations, and the G7/G20.
He has previously been interviewed by a range of media outlets in the UK and Japan, such as BBC News, The Guardian, China Daily, Canada TV (CTV) and China Global Television Network (CGTN).
Please contact him either by phone or email to arrange an interview.
