The "Free and Open Indo-Pacific" (FOIP) is the most important feature of Japan's foreign policy under the Abe Administration. One of the most important questions is whether this vision aims to ...contain a rapidly rising China. Along with the amelioration of the relationship between Japan and China, this diplomatic strategy has been evolved from the quadrilateral security cooperation among leading democracies in this region, namely the US, Japan, Australia, and India, to a more comprehensive regional cooperation. This article regards the latter diplomatic strategic as the "FOIP 2.0" and that there emerges a possible harmony between Japan's FOIP and China's controversial Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
As presidency of the G7 Hiroshima 2023 Summit convened in May 2023, Japan was required to address challenges faced by the G7 in 2023. This article focuses on Japan's relationship with the group of ...emerging and developing countries called the "Global South." Although some analysts question the utility of the term, use of it has become mainstream. At the G20 Summit in Delhi held in September 2023, the Global South continued to receive attention. Here and in subsequent meetings, Prime Minister Kishida introduced Japan's new plan for a "Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP)" together with political and diplomatic considerations that have been advancing Japan's policy toward the Global South.
This open access book aims to emphasize the potential for Japan, Europe and Indo-Pacific countries including the US to respond to shared domestic and international challenges on finding joint ways to ...uphold and develop the liberal international order (LIO) in the Asian Pacific region and the world. It explores how these countries and the region (the EU) can work together to promote solidarity and cooperation to advance democratic standards and rules-based norms globally. The US understands the LIO in a political sense and centers its focus on democracy, aiming to build a coalition of democracies opposed to China and Russia which represent a kind of authoritarian axis. The US aims both to defend the LIO and respond to the China challenge and to build a coalition of countries that will do both. In contrast European countries aim at defending the “rules-based order”—a term preferred because they fear that the concept of the LIO might alienate or antagonize non-democratic countries. They face a dilemma between working with China to reform the LIO or, in seeking to defend it from China, excluding China. Germany and France differ regarding whether to play a passive or active role in the Indo-Pacific, the former choosing to preserve peace and stability for continued exports, and, until recently, doing little to contribute to security. Its views echo those of the ASEAN countries, which are unable or unwilling to take an active role in protecting the LIO. On the contrary France, along with the UK, actively carries out presence operations in the Indo-Pacific. Rather than upholding US dominance, France supports a multipolar order that will also reduce China’s influence in the region, with France acting as a balancing power and offering an alternative to the choice between China and the United States. Japan and India show interest in European views with the former leaning more toward its allies, the US and AUKUS, and the latter seeing Europe less as an alternative to the status quo and more as a complement of QUAD. This book concludes that the US needs to build coalitions rather than forcing allies and neighbors to choose sides, while Japan, Asian countries, and Europeans should more actively reform the LIO.
While Prime Minister Nakasone frequently showed his cordial personal friendship with US President Ronald Reagan, he was successful in creating new Japan-Europe relations based on his close ties with ...European leaders such as UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and French President François Mitterrand. Nakasone felt that the so-called "Yoshida Doctrine" was not enough and focused more on "culture and politics." This article reveals that this originated in his high school days when he learned French and the importance of the philosophy of liberalism.
In Japan, two political issues came to the forefront in the year marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II. While usually dealt with separately, the Statement by Prime Minister Shinzo ...Abe, issued on August 14, 2015, and the security legislation based on the concept of a "Proactive Contribution to Peace" both relate to the question of how we view Japan's place in international society. This article examines how both these issues support Japan's commitment to maintaining its identity as a peace-loving nation and its responsibility to contribute to international peace and prosperity.
This Open Access book includes chapters on the key turning points in modern Japanese history from the Meiji Restoration to Japan-China diplomatic normalization in the 1970s and beyond. The topics ...covered include the First Sino-Japanese War, the Russo-Japanese War, the First and Second World Wars, the Manchurian Crisis, the US Occupation, postwar Japan-China relations, and postwar decolonization. Readers will learn how new research by Japanese historians has led to the revision of conventional views on the turbulent history of Japan, once the enemy of the United States in the war in the Asia-Pacific and now the US’s closest ally in the region. Historical research on the modern history of Japan has been constantly updated. From the Meiji Restoration to the present day, Japan has experienced the effects of modernization and globalization. Recent historical inquiries in Japan tend to focus on the merging of modern history with global history. During the past 150 years, Japan has never been separated from events in international affairs. Scholars and general readers will appreciate the new factual details and philosophical perspectives that this volume provides drawing on the work of fourteen authors who are recognized leaders in their fields. Yuichi Hosoya is Professor of International Politics at Keio University. Masayuki Yamauchi is Specially Appointed Professor at the Musashino University Institute for Global Affairs and Professor Emeritus, the University of Tokyo.
The year 2011 marked the twentieth anniversary of the Hague Declaration of 1991 between Japan and the European Community. This declaration was originally intended to enhance the bilateral ...relationship between Japan and Europe, but the reality was little more than a reluctant promotion of several insignificant programs. Meanwhile, although the EU has significantly developed its partnership with China, it has become ambivalent about the future of EU-Asia relations. While endeavouring to expand its economic ties with China, the EU also attempts to be a 'normative power', but, because of the limited nature of the EU's influence in East Asia, it needs normative partners in this region. This article argues that the EU-Japan relationship is becoming more vital because of the increasing importance of norms due to the rise of China. In the last decade, the Japanese government has increasingly emphasized the importance of values and norms in its diplomacy. At the same time, both the EU and Japan have been leading advocates of international law and multilateralism, while striving to promote democracy, human rights and the rule of law. Thus, the Cold War 'trilateralism', which was the core of the Western Alliance, has been transformed into the post-Cold War 'normative partnership'. It is argued that the importance of EU-Japan relations can be appropriately understood in this light.
This article examines the "Arc of Freedom and Prosperity" which symbolizes a new direction of Japanese diplomacy and reinforced cooperation with countries where such ideals as democracy, freedom, and ...human rights are shared. Originally proposed by Foreign Minister Taro Aso, the concept has since moved into the background but nevertheless remains in the thoughts of current Japanese diplomatic strategy.
