What is it about?
Despite the growth of China's military and economic resources, Japan still influences the foreign policy choices of many countries in Southeast Asia. This article looks at the difficulties that China is having, and compares them to difficulties Japan had in the 1960s and 1970s. It then shows how Japan adapted, and played an important role in the development of Southeast Asia. It has developed intimate and trusting relations economically and diplomatically with Southeast Asian actors. This is one reason why Japan has been able to maintain its influence in the region even as its 'relative' power compared to China declines.
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Why is it important?
Until recently, most media and scholarly analyses of regional geopolitics ignored or underplayed Japan. This is a mistake, and Japan may have an important role to play in the way regional geopolitics develops from now on.
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Japan’s strategic contrast: continuing influence despite relative power decline in Southeast Asia, The Pacific Review, March 2019, Taylor & Francis,
DOI: 10.1080/09512748.2019.1569115.
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