Abstract
In December 2012 Abe Shinzo returned to power after five years in the political wilderness. Since taking office he has solidified his political leadership by winning all successive elections, paving the way to becoming one of the longest tenured premiers in postwar Japan. His security and foreign policies have already changed the landscape of international relations in East Asia as Tokyo’s relations with Seoul and Beijing spiraled down to new lows for the post-Cold War era. Abe’s new security policy, under the slogan “Proactive Contribution to Peace,” helped bring the Japan-US alliance to an unprecedented level of closeness, clearly pitted against China. The Abe government is also potentially challenging the China-centered new economic order by promoting the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade network. Abe’s decision to enter the TPP talks became a game changer in the race for free trade agreements in Asia and the Pacific.
All these changes motivate the authors in this special issue to restore agency to Japan as a catalytic actor in complex regional trends and provide a more balanced and complete picture of Northeast Asian international relations, which has been overly focused on US-China relations.
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