Sophia Magazine vol.8 / WINTER 2018

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Perspectives and Initiatives of Three Research InstitutesSophia Leads Way on Road to World PeaceRecent phenomena such as the election of the “America First” Trump administration in the United States, the eco-nomic and militaristic rise of China, and discord within EU member states where right-wing nationalism is on the rise have all exposed the elusiveness of the harmonious world order for which Sophia strives. Taking another look across the planet, one can see that humanity is further than ever from eliminating regional conflict and terrorism. The gap between rich and poor is growing; racial and tribal polar-ization is unabated; while discrimination spirals. Moreover, globalization appears to be both multiplying and magnifying conflict flashpoints. But this is not the time for despair. Rather, it has never been more important to take a clear-sighted view of, and make steady progress towards, the “ideal” of world peace. And universities, as “knowledge hubs” removed from politi-cal and economic interests, have a major role to play in this.In this regard, Sophia University has two major advan-tages. One is its location in Japan, a country whose extraor-dinary postwar recovery under pacifist principles has given it a unique and deeply illuminating experience to share with the rest of the world. The other is the institution’s highly uni-versalistic perspective, based on Catholicism and manifested in its strong global network. Sophia University, with its lofty goal of world peace, has three research institutes that are the core of its research ca-pacity. These we introduce below, through interviews with the director of each institute.6Approach