ABSTRACT
Japan’s vital interests in Gulf stability stem from its need for oil and gas supplies, and the centrality of sea lines of communications (SLOCs) within its Free and Open Indo-Pacific vision. Despite economic decline, Japan remains one of the region’s top energy buyers, but the Gulf is also where Japan’s strategic limitations have been painfully exposed. With the exception of a period of ostensible bandwagoning with the US during the post-2003 stabilization of Iraq, Japan has largely adopted a hedging position maintaining partnerships with as many regional actors as possible. Japan’s attempts to be an ‘honest broker,’ however, have not enabled it to shape the evolving regional security architecture, notably on Iran and the intra-Gulf dispute. Notwithstanding competition with China for commercial contracts and sporadic cooperation with India, Japan’s security role remains nascent.
