Foreign and security policy

Foreign and Security Policy is the major legacy of the Abe Administration. This chapter will review the foreign and security policies pursued by the Abe administration in two parts. The first part will examine national security and defense policies. Based on the assumption that Abe sought to establish a “seamless security system,” the outcome and challenges of his security policy will be examined. The second part will review the administration’s foreign policy. Based on the understanding that the key tenet behind the increased global presence of Japan’s diplomacy lay in the administration’s success in “simultaneously developing the Japan-U.S. alliance and the Japan-China relationship” and “taking the lead in the effort to build a broader regional order,” the background to these diplomatic initiatives, including some that failed to achieve their goals, will be explored.