There are a number of challenges which schools face in trying to ensure the safety of their pupils, including the risks of accidents, bullying, vandalism and violence; and in some countries the range of incidents is increasing. This publication contains papers presented at an international conference on school safety and security, held in February 2002 and jointly organised by the OECD and the U.S, Department of Education. The papers are organised under five key themes: risk assessment; crisis planning and management; infrastructure issues relating to building design and security measures; collaborative approaches; education, training and support.

This book resents expert knowledge, opinions and experiences, and provides valuable insight into the scope of problems involved in protecting schools and their occupants from earthquakes.

Lessons in Danger, the result of a joint OECD-US Department of Education collaboration, provides valuable insight into how school safety and security, particularly in emergency situations, are addressed in over 14 countries.

4,000 words and phrases are organized thematically within 163 topics. Includes English to Japanese translations of vocabulary throughout, and an extensive index in Japanese at the back of the book. A fully integrated vocabulary development program in American English, progressing from essential words to the more complex, delivered in short thematic units. Realistic scenarios and modern artwork are easy to relate to and these, together with story pages and practice exercises, have been applauded for their success in promoting critical thinking skills. Content is fully supported by a range of components (in English only) - including Workbooks, Classroom Activities, Audio and website.

IFPA and the International Security Studies Program (ISSP) of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy joined together to organize and facilitate this one-day symposium at the Fletcher School to promote an informed exchange of views on the new dynamics of Japan's security policy and their implications for U.S.-Japanese strategic cooperation going forward. The symposium provided a unique opportunity for a select group of Japanese and American policy experts, academics, business leaders, and officials to review and explain in some depth keys aspects of the Abe administration's defense and foreign policy reforms aimed at facilitating Japan's emergence as a "proactive contributor to peace" at both the regional and global levels. This included in-depth discussion of Japan's new National Security Council, its first-ever National Security Strategy, its updated National Defense Program Guidelines (NDPG) and Mid-Term Defense Program, its new policies regarding the export of military technologies, and current efforts to revise its Official Development Assistance (ODA) regulations to allow aid to foreign militaries for non-defense purposes (which would include disaster relief, but also "grey area" missions like anti-terrorism, cyber security, and maritime safety). Perhaps most importantly from a U.S-Japan alliance perspective, the symposium examined the Abe administration's recent moves to reinterpret Article 9 of Japan's constitution to permit Japan to exercise the right to collective self-defense and come to the aid of allies under attack, a policy shift that promises to have a significant impact on U.S. and Japanese roles and responsibilities under their bilateral guidelines for Japan National Security Council, that are currently being revised. The many ways in which these various reforms and initiatives are likely to enhance Japan's contributions to security in the Asia-Pacific region and even farther afield are not well understood in the United States, and the IFPA-Fletcher School symposium helped to eliminate this critical gap in understanding.

For the past sixty years, the U.S. government has assumed that Japan's security policies would reinforce American interests in Asia. The political and military profile of Asia is changing rapidly, however. Korea's nuclear program, China's rise, and the relative decline of U.S. power have commanded strategic review in Tokyo just as these matters have in Washington. What is the next step for Japan's security policy? Will confluence with U.S. interests—and the alliance—survive intact? Will the policy be transformed? Or will Japan become more autonomous? Richard J. Samuels demonstrates that over the last decade, a revisionist group of Japanese policymakers has consolidated power. The Koizumi government of the early 2000s took bold steps to position Japan's military to play a global security role. It left its successor, the Abe government, to further define and legitimate Japan's new grand strategy, a project well under way-and vigorously contested both at home and in the region. Securing Japan begins by tracing the history of Japan's grand strategy—from the Meiji rulers, who recognized the intimate connection between economic success and military advance, to the Konoye consensus that led to Japan's defeat in World War II and the postwar compact with the United States. Samuels shows how the ideological connections across these wars and agreements help explain today's debate. He then explores Japan's recent strategic choices, arguing that Japan will ultimately strike a balance between national strength and national autonomy, a position that will allow it to exist securely without being either too dependent on the United States or too vulnerable to threats from China. Samuels's insights into Japanese history, society, and politics have been honed over a distinguished career and enriched by interviews with policymakers and original archival research. Securing Japan is a definitive assessment of Japanese security policy and its implications for the future of East Asia.