Japan’s Southeast Asian Policy at the crossroad

Aizawa Nobuhiro (Kyushu University)

Southeast Asia has long been regarded by both Japan’s government and businesses community as a highly important region. Unlike its relationship with the US and China, Japan’s ties with Southeast have been generally stable and uncomplicated. However, against the backdrop of the unprecedented global power shift under way, the core strategic significance of Southeast Asia for Japanese foreign policy is also changing. Japan’s Southeast Asian policy was originally an offshoot of the requirements of the US-Japan alliance. More recently, though, it has been heavily influenced by the China-Japan relationship, which means the principles and assumptions underlying Japan’s policy have been re-evaluated and sometimes revised. In view of changes in the global power balance and the rise of neo-nationalism in Southeast Asia, Japan’s policy towards the region is now at a crossroads. This situation can be illustrated by developments relating to infrastructure projects as well as cooperation in the defence industry and urban governance.

Admission: Free