Abstract
China now poses the biggest strategic challenge to the West. The West needs a grand strategy to engage China. China will catch up with the US in economic size soon. Only when the West is united can the West prevent China from derailing itself from the path of responsible cooperation with the rest of the world. Hong Kong’s freedom was put to a sudden death. Next could be Taiwan. A contingency in Taiwan would cause tremendous damage in the region physically and globally in economic terms. In the coming decades, China will be driven by flamboyant expansionist ambitions and dark nationalism stemming from what they call 150 years of humiliation. Japan launched the Free and Open Indo-Pacific Vision. Japan also started a new framework called the Quad. Now the US is taking the lead. Strategic cooperation should be expanded to Europe, Korea, and ASEAN nations. At the same time, the US and its allies should revisit alliance management. Nuclear sharing in a NATO style should be now on the agenda.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Kanehara Nobukatsu
Mr. Kanehara served as Assistant Chief Cabinet Secretary to Prime Minister Abe Shinzo from 2012 to 2019. In 2013, Mr. Kanehara also became the inaugural Deputy Secretary-General of the National Security Secretariat, a role which he held until his retirement from government service in 2019. He also served as Deputy Director of the Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office.
Mr. Kanehara’s role in the Cabinet built on a distinguished career at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where he served in a number of notable positions. These included the Director-General of Bureau of International Law, Deputy Director-General of the Foreign Policy Bureau, and Ambassador in charge of the United Nations and Human Rights. He served abroad as Deputy Chief of Mission in Seoul, Republic of Korea and Political Minister at the Embassy of Japan in Washington. He was decorated by the president of Republic of France with l’Ordre de la Legion d’Honneur.