The crisis of liberal internationalism : Japan and the world order

A 2020 CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title Japan's challenges and opportunities in a new era of uncertainty Henry Kissinger wrote a few years ago that Japan has been for seven decades an important anchor of Asian stability and global peace and prosperity. However, Japan has only played this anchoring role within an American-led liberal international order built from the ashes of World War II. Now that order itself is under siege, not just from illiberal forces such as China and Russia but from its very core, the United States under Donald Trump. The already evident damage to that order, and even its possible collapse, pose particular challenges for Japan, as explored in this book. Noted experts survey the difficult position that Japan finds itself in, both abroad and at home. The weakening of the rules-based order threatens the very basis of Japan's trade-based prosperity, with the unreliability of U.S. protection leaving Japan vulnerable to an economic and technological superpower in China and at heightened risk from a nuclear North Korea. Japan's response to such challenges are complicated by controversies over constitutional revision and the dark aspects of its history that remain a source of tension with its neighbors. The absence of virulent strains of populism have helped to provide Japan with a stable platform from which to pursue its international agenda. Yet with a rapidly aging population, widening intergenerational inequality, and high levels of public debt, the sources of Japan's stabilityits welfare state and immigration policiesare becoming increasingly difficult to sustain. Each of the book's chapters is written by a specialist in the field, and the book benefits from interviews with more than 40 Japanese policymakers and experts, as well as a public opinion survey. The book outlines today's challenges to the liberal international order, proposes a role for Japan to uphold, reform and shape the order, and examines Japan's assets as well as constraints as it seeks to play the role of a proactive stabilizer in the Asia-Pacific. "In his book World Order (2015), Henry Kissinger wrote that Japan has been for seven decades 'an important anchor of Asian stability and global peace and prosperity.' However, Japan has only played this anchoring role within an American-led liberal international order built from the ashes of World War II. Now that order itself is under siege, not just from illiberal forces such as China and Russia, but from its very core-the United States under President Donald Trump. The already evident damage to that order, and even its possible collapse, pose particular challenges for Japan, as explored in this book. Noted experts survey the difficult position that Japan finds itself in, both abroad and at home. The weakening of the rules-based order threatens the very basis of Japan's trade-based prosperity, with the unreliability of U.S. protection leaving Japan vulnerable to an economic and technological superpower in China and at heightened risk from a nuclear North Korea. Japan's response to such challenges are complicated by controversies over constitutional revision and the dark aspects of its history that remain a source of tension with its neighbors. The absence of virulent strains of populism have helped to provide Japan with a stable platform from which to pursue its international agenda. Yet with a rapidly aging population, widening intergenerational inequality, and high levels of public debt, the sources of Japan's stability-its welfare state and immigration policies-are becoming increasingly difficult to sustain. Each of the book's chapters is written by a specialist in the field, and the book benefits from interviews with more than 40 Japanese policymakers and experts, as well as a public opinion survey. The book outlines today's challenges to the liberal international order, proposes a role for Japan to uphold, reform, and shape the order, and examines Japan's assets as well as constraints as it seeks to play the role of a proactive stabilizer in the Asia-Pacific"-- Provided by publisher Japan’s challenges and opportunities in a new era of uncertaintyHenry Kissinger wrote a few years ago that Japan has been for seven decades an important anchor of Asian stability and global peace and prosperity. However, Japan has only played this anchoring role within an American-led liberal international order built from the ashes of World War II. Now that order itself is under siege, not just from illiberal forces such as China and Russia but from its very core, the United States under Donald Trump. The already evident damage to that order, and even its possible collapse, pose particular challenges for Japan, as explored in this book.Noted experts survey the difficult position that Japan finds itself in, both abroad and at home. The weakening of the rules-based order threatens the very basis of Japan’s trade-based prosperity, with the unreliability of U.S. protection leaving Japan vulnerable to an economic and technological superpower in China and at heightened risk from a nuclear North Korea. Japan’s response to such challenges are complicated by controversies over constitutional revision and the dark aspects of its history that remain a source of tension with its neighbors.The absence of virulent strains of populism have helped to provide Japan with a stable platform from which to pursue its international agenda. Yet with a rapidly aging population, widening intergenerational inequality, and high levels of public debt, the sources of Japan’s stability its welfare state and immigration policies are becoming increasingly difficult to sustain. Front Cover 1 Title Page 4 Copyright Information 5 Table of Contents 6 Preface 8 Introduction: Japan and the Liberal International Order 16 Part I: Foreign Policy 52 Proactive Stabilizer: Japan's Role in the Asia-Pacific Security Order 54 Follower No More? Japan's Leadership Role as a Champion of the Liberal Trading Order 94 Reformist Status Quo Power: Japan's Approach toward International Organizations 122 Universality to Plurality? Values in Japanese Foreign Policy 148 Atoms for Alliance Challenges: Japan in Liberal International Nuclear Order 182 Part II: Statecraft 216 Japan's Homogenous Welfare State: Development and Future Challenges 218 Wind, Fevers, and Floating Voters: Populism in Japan 252 Japan's Incomplete Liberalism: Japan and the Historical Justice Regime 286 The Perils and Virtues of Constitutional Flexibility: Japan's Constitution and the Liberal International Order 318 The Silent Public in a Liberal State: Challenges for Japan's Journalism in the Age of the Internet 340 Japan and the Liberal International Order: A Survey Experiment 374 Contributors 392 Index 398 Back Cover 417