Japan’s New Economic Statecraft

Abstract

Japan has been on a run for the last eight years. Former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo, whose two terms in office in 2006–07 and 2012–20 made him the country’s longest-serving prime minister, vowed to reinvigorate Japan after two decades of stagnation, and he made important progress. While he was applauded for his diplomatic activism and for revamping the national security bureaucracy, little attention has been paid to the rise of economic statecraft during his tenure within Japan’s foreign policy and national security calculus, a policy and focus that continues in the Suga administration. This new emphasis is poorly understood both within Japan and among its diplomatic partners. It has the potential, however, to be as, if not more, important and impactful than Abe’s other changes. It prepares Japan for 21st-century challenges created by the emergence of the digital economy as well as the opportunities and vulnerabilities that are part of ubiquitous and instantaneous connectivity and the great power competition between liberal and illiberal systems that defines this era. And it closely aligns Tokyo and Washington to maximize their capabilities in this struggle.