New Directions in Japan’s Foreign Policy
Changes in the Indo Pacific as well as in Japan have in recent years led to a reorientation of Japan’s foreign and security policies.
Japan has pursued a more active foreign policy in the past few years. Former Prime Minister Abe launched the concept of a Free and Open Indo Pacific in 2007 and emphasized the confluence of the two seas and promoted the Quad dialogue. Prime Minister Kishida has continued on that path with actively engaging the Quad partners but also engaging with European partners about global developments. In December 2022 Japan presented a new national security strategy which emphasized changing power balances and changing geopolitical competitions as reasons for a revised security strategy.
In this Stockholm Seminar on Japan, Professor Shin Kawashima, an expert on Japan’s foreign policy and specifically relations between Japan and China talked about the new directions in Japan’s foreign policy and Japan’s response to geopolitical challenges and shifting power balances.
Speaker: Professor Shin Kawashima, Department of International Relations, Tokyo University
Discussant: Professor Karl Gustafsson, Department of International Relations, Stockholm University
Moderator: Dr Åsa Malmström Rognes, Head of the Asia Programme at UI