Daisaku Higashi is a professor at Sophia University in Tokyo. He specializes in mediation on armed conflicts, post-conflict peacebuilding, and international relations. He started his career as a program director at NHK, Japan Public TV Stations and produced many documentaries, including "Rebuilding Iraq: Challenges of UN" by which he received the silver medal from UN Correspondents Association in New York in 2004. Then, he took MA and Ph.D. in Political Science at the University of British Columbia in Canada. He also worked for United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) as a team leader for reconciliation in Kabul (2009-2010), as well as Minister-Counsellor in the Permanent Mission of Japan to the UN in New York (2012-2014). His English publications include Inclusivity in Mediation and Peacebuilding: UN, Neighboring States, and Global Power (Edward Elgar 2022) and Challenges of Constructing Legitimacy in Peacebuilding: Afghanistan, Iraq, Sierra Leone and East Timor (Routledge 2015).

1. Introduction: The War in Ukraine, the Conflict in Gaza, and the Division of the World 2. Theoretical Arguments of Mediation and Peacebuilding 3. Three Challenges of Ending the War in Ukraine: Territory, War Crimes, and Post-Conflict Framework 4. The Challenges of Mediation by the Trump Administration in the War in Ukraine 5. Challenges of Mediation and Peacebuilding When Creating a Democratic State: The Case of South Sudan 6. Challenges of Peacebuilding under a Non-Democratic System: The Case of Afghanistan 7. Conclusion