Abstract
This chapter seeks to examine the policy components of the Abe Doctrine as an emerging Japanese grand strategy. It confirms the changing security environment surrounding Japan by paying attention to three neighboring countries, Russia, China, and North Korea, as potential and manifest threats to the peace and security of Japan. Then there is an analysis of the five strategic levels of the Abe Doctrine, and a hierarchical image of the strategic levels is visualized as Japan’s strategy pyramid. In addition to the security strategy of the Abe Doctrine, this chapter also examines the foreign and economic strategy of the Abe Doctrine by shedding light on Prime Minister Abe’s strategy toward the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The chapter finally considers if the Abe Doctrine is identifiable in the study of Japanese politics, concluding that whether the doctrine is to be politically sustainable and widespread or not is still uncertain.
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Notes
- 1.
MOFA (Ministry of Foreign Affairs). 18 January 2013. ‘The Bounty of the Open Seas: Five New Principles for Japanese Diplomacy’. http://www.mofa.go.jp/announce/pm/abe/abe_0118e.html (accessed 10 July 2017).
- 2.
Ibid.
- 3.
For example, see Fukuda, Tamotsu. 2015. ‘Japan’s New ASEAN Diplomacy?: Why the Abe Doctrine May Be Counterproductive’. The Journal of the Graduate School of Toyo Eiwa University. Vol. 11, pp. 23–29.
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Ibid, p. 25.
- 5.
For instance, see Koga, Kei. 2017. ‘Transcending the Fukuda Doctrine: Japan, ASEAN, and the Future of the Regional Order’. Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Japan Chair, p. 2. https://csis-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/170401_Japan_SEAsia.pdf (accessed 10 July 2017).
- 6.
Hughes, Christopher. 2015a. Japan’s Foreign and Security Policy under the ‘Abe Doctrine’. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
- 7.
Ibid.
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Ibid, p. 95; Hughes, Christopher. 2015b. ‘An “Abe Doctrine” as Japan’s Grand Strategy: New Dynamism or Dead-End?’. 27 July 2015. The Asia-Pacific Journal/Japan Focus. Vol. 13, Issue 30, No. 4. http://apjjf.org/-Christopher-W--Hughes/4832/article.pdf (accessed 10 July 2017), p. 6.
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Ibid, p. 220.
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Ibid.
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Akimoto, D. (2018). The Abe Doctrine: Emergence of Japan’s New Grand Strategy. In: The Abe Doctrine. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7659-6_8
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