ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an examination of the Japanese government’s policy dilemmas under the Trump administration. Since World War II, Japan has been a semi-sovereign state under American tutelage, a situation in which Tokyo’s interests and dilemmas in the Korean peninsula, Beijing, Moscow, and Southeast Asia have effectively been shaped by Washington’s policy establishment. That historical given is now under threat in the Trump era, thereby marking a crisis in Japanese politics and the future of US–Japan relations. Characterizing the shock to Tokyo’s policy establishment due to the political uncertainties posed by the Trump administration, this chapter contends that Trump’s rise to power marks a shift: espousing isolationism, unilateralism, and protectionism delivered in an insurgent populist style which contravenes a given bipartisanship that usually embraces the notion of America’s “global commitments.” That being said, such crisis also presents an opportunity for forging a more progressive foreign policy that moves away from being an extension of Washington’s security framework while at the same time avoiding a regressive nationalist response that could lead to the activation of the country’s nuclear capability.
