Shihoko Goto
With America Stepping Back, Tokyo Should Step Up
Containers on a cargo ship in Tokyo, April 2025 Kim Kyung-Hoon / Reuters
SHIHOKO GOTO is Director of the Asia Program and Vice President of Programs at the Foreign Policy Research Institute.
As the United States rethinks its role in the international order it has championed since the end of World War II, Japan is on the frontlines of the challenge to rules-based commerce and diplomacy. For the past decade, Tokyo has promoted the idea of a free and open Indo-Pacific, which seeks to ensure that countries from the western shores of the Indian Ocean to the northern reaches of the East China Sea can pursue economic growth without compromising their autonomy by relying too heavily on China. The policies associated with this idea, which include ensuring freedom of navigation in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, peacefully resolving geopolitical conflicts, and establishing common rules to govern trade, have made Japan a stabilizing force in the region. The framework of a free and open Indo-Pacific has also encouraged advanced economies, including the United States, to maintain their military and economic engagement with the region.
But Japan’s ability to promote a viable alternative to a regional order centered on Beijing has been faltering. Japan is on its fifth prime minister in as many years and, in the most recent elections, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party lost its majority in both houses of parliament. Pursuing a foreign policy vision has taken a back seat to navigating domestic politics. Meanwhile, the allure of the development programs that China can offer is growing as countries throughout the region struggle to find new sources of economic growth.
Japan is now in a unique position to reenergize its vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific. Its newly elected prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, is the self-proclaimed successor to Shinzo Abe, the former prime minister who proposed the free and open Indo-Pacific idea in 2016. In her first weeks in office, Takaichi has made clear that embracing this vision will be part of her commitment to carrying on Abe’s legacy. Takaichi, like Abe, has sought to position Japan as the United States’ trusted guide to the region and convince U.S. leaders that it is in their interest to have the United States remain an Indo-Pacific power and support Japan’s strategic vision.
No comments:
Post a Comment