In the Absence of Certainty
PGS: Rivalry, Competition and International Security in Northeast Asia
Lala, one of the Penn Global Seminar Correspondents, shares her experience abroad during the May 2025 travel period. Follow along with the group of correspondents on our blog and look out for their images on the @pennabroad Instagram feed.
Ten days is not a long time. But, being immersed in a new environment with people I’d only exchanged a few words with in class forced me to lean on others in unfamiliar ways. From navigating Tokyo’s train system to keeping each other moving through a packed itinerary that rarely left time to think, I started to see how quickly trust formed even before comfort was guaranteed.
This theme of trust despite ‘volatility’ echoed in nearly every institutional meeting we had.
For instance, at Japan’s Ministry of Defense, one official displayed a slide of Japan’s regional threats including China’s rising assertiveness, North Korea’s nuclear posturing, and Russia’s aggression in Ukraine. So we asked whether, given the growing instability of U.S. domestic politics, Japan still had confidence in the long-term strength of its alliance with Washington as these threats converge ever more closely on the archipelago. To my surprise, the answer was not cynical. The official didn’t default to realist fears of abandonment. Instead, he invoked the long memory of shared constitutional values and a generational investment in “people-to-people” exchanges like ours. It was a nod to constructivist thinking of alliances enduring because they are believed in.
In Hiroshima, trust was rooted in the idea of memory. An atomic bomb survivor spoke of the symbolic flame that burns at the Hiroshima Peace Park and how its flame will remain lit until the last nuclear weapon on Earth is dismantled. As she spoke, I found myself thinking about Japan’s ongoing debate over Article 9, the pacifist clause in its constitution that renounces war. While Japanese policymakers today consider adopting a more assertive military posture in response to the regional insecurity described above, survivors like her insist peace is sustained not through deterrence but by trust in memory, and in people themselves.
Whether between states or among a group of students thrown together in Tokyo, I saw how the most lasting forms of cooperation don’t wait for perfect alignment.
Before traveling to my destination, I would have reminded myself that holding off for certainty is often a way of postponing growth. To future Penn Global Seminar students: don’t underestimate the power of showing up with openness, even before you feel fully ready. The experience will ask you to navigate unfamiliar systems and share space with people you barely know. Trust that something lasting can emerge from that!
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