Japan’s G7 presidency comes at an appropriate time. The world is an increasingly daunting, complex place with interrelated challenges (they feel more like comorbidities than discrete challenges) that verge on existential threats. Japan, for a host of reasons, has adopted a far more proactive approach to foreign policy. It’s a shift that arguably began in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, accelerated with more regional engagement in the 2010’s, and has extended to robust global engagement today. The Yoshida Doctrine today has been relegated to the role of historical curiosity, and that’s a good thing, given the need for robust global collaboration to meet daunting global challenges.
At the same time, the sheer number of complex, interrelated global challenges makes it difficult to prioritize where to focus. As G7 president this year, shaping the agenda is one of the more important roles Japan has to play.
Read the rest of Shane Szarkowski's editorial here.
