Kitamura Economic Security Inc. (hereinafter “KES”) is pleased to announce the establishment of the “KES Economic Security Research Council,” a membership-based platform dedicated to research, professional development, and networking for corporations and individuals committed to advancing their economic security management frameworks.

SINCE THE END OF THE COLD WAR, corporate systems and practices have been built on the premise that economics and security could be treated separately. Shifts in the geopolitical environment are now eroding that premise.

Great-power competition over advanced technology has intensified, and everything from export controls and supply chains to cyberspace has become an instrument of rivalry between states. The idea of “de-risking”—keeping the benefits of interdependence with particular countries while identifying and managing the excessive dependence and vulnerability it brings—now reaches into corporate management itself.

Japan, too, has introduced a series of new rules where business and security intersect. What they share is the view that the public and private sectors must understand, while still in peacetime, which technologies, information, infrastructure and supply chains underpin the nation’s economy and where the vulnerabilities lie—and prepare accordingly.

The purpose of a company is not shifting from its shareholders to the state. But what “corporate value” means is being substantially rewritten. Once a vulnerability surfaces, it directly affects future cash flows and the cost of capital. Economic security is no longer a matter of principle or policy debate alone; it is a core issue of management judgment and accountability.

Yet the government will not supply each company with every piece of information it needs to make business decisions. Companies must be able to gather information themselves, analyze it in the context of their own business, and turn it into decisions. In other words, they need an intelligence function of their own.

The KES Economic Security Research Council, organized by Kitamura Economic Security, is a membership-based forum for research, professional development and exchange for corporate and individual members who share this concern. We warmly welcome all who seek to build their own intelligence capabilities while still in peacetime.

CEO, Kitamura Economic Security Inc.
Shigeru Kitamura

---

Characteristics of the KES Economic Security Research Council

---

◆Network of Government Agencies and Think Tanks in Japan and Abroad

Our CEO, Shigeru Kitamura, has held direct consultations with senior intelligence and security officials of many countries, including the United States (CIA Director, Secretary of State and others) and the United Kingdom (Chief of MI6). In October 2021, KES formed a strategic partnership with American Global Strategies (AGS), led by former U.S. National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien. Members also gain insights from our exchanges with overseas think tanks such as the Hudson Institute and SCSP.

◆Know-How Grounded in Practice

Our faculty are practitioners who currently advise corporate clients. From responding to China’s Counter-Espionage Law and related information laws, to preventing leaks of advanced technology and building export control systems, preparing for a Taiwan contingency, handling M&A proposals from companies in countries of concern, and responding to real-world cyberattacks—every topic bears directly on practice. Our sessions never stop at theory.

◆A Shared Method Built on First Principles

The Council goes beyond commentary on current affairs. It aims to share the two first principles that run through our analytical method: (1) structural analysis rooted in how the relevant institutions actually work, and (2) examining events from multiple, dynamic perspectives to reach a holistic answer. Circumstances change; the lens for reading them does not.