The Legacy of Prime Minister Abe Shinzo: Diplomacy and Security

Abstract

When the first and second terms in office are combined, the total duration that Abe Shinzo served as Prime Minister of Japan exceeded that of all his predecessors. This article reviews and assesses the achievements of his second administration (December 2012–September 2020) with a focus on the fields of diplomacy and security. Selected policies in each of the two fields are described in detail. Although some important policies were not addressed, the author recognizes three particularly significant achievements by the Abe administration in the fields of diplomacy and security, which are: (i) the 2015 Legislation for Peace and Security; (ii) Prime Minister Abe’s statement marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II; and (iii) his 2016 initiative for pursuing a Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP).

Acknowledgment

This is a translation of an article originally published on March 11, 2021 on the Japanese-language website Toyo Keizai Online: https://toyokeizai.net/articles/-/413415

Notes

1 A small number of Dutch women living in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) were forced to become comfort women. No evidence has been found, however, that women on the Korean Peninsula were forcibly taken to serve as comfort women. In August 2014, The Asahi Shimbun newspaper, which had reported that women on the Korean Peninsula had been forcibly taken to military brothels, admitted to mistakes in its past coverage of comfort women and retracted all related articles and apologized. As for the abovementioned former Dutch comfort women, the Japanese government offered an apology to them and provided them with compensation.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Kitaoka Shinichi

Kitaoka Shinichi is President of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Professor of Modern Japanese Politics and Diplomacy at National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS), Chief Research Adviser at Nakasone Peace Institute (NPI), and Emeritus Professor at the University of Tokyo. He studied at the University of Tokyo (Ph.D. 1976), taught at Rikkyo University (1976–1997) and his alma mater (1997–2004; 2006–2012), and served as Ambassador to the United Nations (2004–2006) and President of International University of Japan (IUJ) (2012-2015). Dr. Kitaoka has served on advisory panels for many foreign ministers and prime ministers. He was Acting Chair of the Advisory Panel on the History of the 20th Century and on Japan’s Role and the World Order in the 21st Century (2015), the Acting Chair of the Advisory Panel on Reconstruction of the Legal Basis for National Security (2013–2014) and the Chair of the Advisory Panel on National Security and Defense Capabilities (2013). Previous appointments include Chairman of the Japanese scholars in the Japan-China joint study of history (2006–2009) and Chairman of the Committee to investigate the so-called Secret Pacts in the Japan-US Security Treaty (2009–2010). He has published many books and articles in English and Japanese on Japan’s military, diplomacy, party politics, and intellectuals. He received the Imperial Medal with Purple Ribbon in 2011.