apan’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.
Setting the Agenda
In January, Japan gave its first indications of where that focus will be. In an address to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry Nishimura Yasutoshi laid out three core lessons from the turmoil of the last several years. Japan, Yasutoshi explained, intended to lean on those lessons while shaping the G7 agenda during its presidency. Those themes?
- The re-emergence of authoritarianism as a global threat to democratic norms;
- Deterring geopolitical threats before they fully develop;
- Building systemic economic resilience to meet present and future volatilities.
Yasutoshi laid out Japan’s reasoning, with all three themes being underpinned by logics of economics. During the Cold War, poverty was considered to be the root of conflict, but in the last few decades it seems that economic globalization as practiced empowered authoritarian states in unprecedented ways, so that authoritarianism could once again threaten democracy. The same economic empowerment that allowed authoritarianism to conceptually threaten democratic norms allowed those governments to also grow their military might and project it regionally, creating a new wave of geopolitical threats and potential threats. Finally, economic globalization has increased volatility because of how interconnected we have all become. Any economic disruption—naturally occurring or triggered by a bad actor—has ripple effects that reach further than ever, making more resilient economic systems more important than ever.
Framed this way, the logic makes sense. With an underlying theme of addressing how our economic systems are governed, Japan seemingly hoped to address three pressing problems simultaneously. Those themes are still valid as we head into summer in the Northern Hemisphere, but there have also been some disruptions in previous months that seems to have forced G7 leaders’ focus to broaden.
G7 Leaders Indicate Focal Points
Japan laid out three broad themes to focus on at the start of its presidency. Those remain apparent in more recent commentary from Japanese and other G7 leaders on the group’s focal points this year.
- Geopolitical Threat—Unsurprisingly, geopolitical threats are dominating the conversation. The war in Ukraine and concern over China’s increased regional assertiveness dominate the geopolitical conversation. China in particular has been at the forefront of chatter around the G7, which makes sense for two reasons. First, Japan is the G7 president so a greater focus on Asia Pacific issues is unsurprising. Second, China has been increasingly antagonistic with military drills near Taiwan—prompting military displays in turn by the United States. While Ukraine and China are sucking up most of the geopolitical attention, however, concern over the situation in Sudan has cropped up in G7 conversations recently.
- Artificial Intelligence—During the first quarter of 2023 there wasn’t too much conversation about AI in the context of the G7, but in April with the surge of interest in ChatGPT, that changed. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in mid-April called for international rules on advanced AI such as ChatGPT—and indicated it would be high on the agenda for discussion at G7 convenings. In late April, digital ministers from G7 member states issued a joint statement calling for “risk-based” regulation of AI to guard against negative impacts of the technology while still preserving “an open and enabling environment” for innovation.
- Climate Change—This is a natural discussion point for G7 leaders to focus on, and it has clear—if sometimes indirect—connections to all three themes Japan laid out in January for its presidency. In April it became more clear exactly what the G7’s focus would look like with climate change. A meeting of energy and climate ministers agreed to expedite the phasing out of coal while adopting more ambitious solar and wind power production targets. More broadly, the ministers released a joint communique laying out G7 priorities for identifying and combating challenges associated with climate change—notably energy security, the energy transition, ecological degradation, and creating sustainable net-zero value chains.
We live in volatile times, so we should take comfort from the dynamic evolution of G7 priorities, even over the course of a few months. That dynamism also makes it more difficult to follow, which is a problem that needs addressing—healthy democracies need informed citizenry in order to hold their governments to account. Diplomatic Courier’s editorial team took the evolution of G7 priorities into account while curating this year's bookazine.
The bookazine can be found here. We hope you find value in what we’ve put together.
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Japan’s G7 Presidency in Tumultuous Times
Image via AdobeStock
May 15, 2023
Japan's G7 presidency comes at a time of extreme global volatility. From economic uncertainty to geopolitical threat to climate change to the impacts of AI, Japan's leadership will be tested-but Japan's increased global engagement suggests they're ready to meet the moment, writes Shane Szarkowski.
J
apan’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.
Setting the Agenda
In January, Japan gave its first indications of where that focus will be. In an address to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry Nishimura Yasutoshi laid out three core lessons from the turmoil of the last several years. Japan, Yasutoshi explained, intended to lean on those lessons while shaping the G7 agenda during its presidency. Those themes?
- The re-emergence of authoritarianism as a global threat to democratic norms;
- Deterring geopolitical threats before they fully develop;
- Building systemic economic resilience to meet present and future volatilities.
Yasutoshi laid out Japan’s reasoning, with all three themes being underpinned by logics of economics. During the Cold War, poverty was considered to be the root of conflict, but in the last few decades it seems that economic globalization as practiced empowered authoritarian states in unprecedented ways, so that authoritarianism could once again threaten democracy. The same economic empowerment that allowed authoritarianism to conceptually threaten democratic norms allowed those governments to also grow their military might and project it regionally, creating a new wave of geopolitical threats and potential threats. Finally, economic globalization has increased volatility because of how interconnected we have all become. Any economic disruption—naturally occurring or triggered by a bad actor—has ripple effects that reach further than ever, making more resilient economic systems more important than ever.
Framed this way, the logic makes sense. With an underlying theme of addressing how our economic systems are governed, Japan seemingly hoped to address three pressing problems simultaneously. Those themes are still valid as we head into summer in the Northern Hemisphere, but there have also been some disruptions in previous months that seems to have forced G7 leaders’ focus to broaden.
G7 Leaders Indicate Focal Points
Japan laid out three broad themes to focus on at the start of its presidency. Those remain apparent in more recent commentary from Japanese and other G7 leaders on the group’s focal points this year.
- Geopolitical Threat—Unsurprisingly, geopolitical threats are dominating the conversation. The war in Ukraine and concern over China’s increased regional assertiveness dominate the geopolitical conversation. China in particular has been at the forefront of chatter around the G7, which makes sense for two reasons. First, Japan is the G7 president so a greater focus on Asia Pacific issues is unsurprising. Second, China has been increasingly antagonistic with military drills near Taiwan—prompting military displays in turn by the United States. While Ukraine and China are sucking up most of the geopolitical attention, however, concern over the situation in Sudan has cropped up in G7 conversations recently.
- Artificial Intelligence—During the first quarter of 2023 there wasn’t too much conversation about AI in the context of the G7, but in April with the surge of interest in ChatGPT, that changed. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in mid-April called for international rules on advanced AI such as ChatGPT—and indicated it would be high on the agenda for discussion at G7 convenings. In late April, digital ministers from G7 member states issued a joint statement calling for “risk-based” regulation of AI to guard against negative impacts of the technology while still preserving “an open and enabling environment” for innovation.
- Climate Change—This is a natural discussion point for G7 leaders to focus on, and it has clear—if sometimes indirect—connections to all three themes Japan laid out in January for its presidency. In April it became more clear exactly what the G7’s focus would look like with climate change. A meeting of energy and climate ministers agreed to expedite the phasing out of coal while adopting more ambitious solar and wind power production targets. More broadly, the ministers released a joint communique laying out G7 priorities for identifying and combating challenges associated with climate change—notably energy security, the energy transition, ecological degradation, and creating sustainable net-zero value chains.
We live in volatile times, so we should take comfort from the dynamic evolution of G7 priorities, even over the course of a few months. That dynamism also makes it more difficult to follow, which is a problem that needs addressing—healthy democracies need informed citizenry in order to hold their governments to account. Diplomatic Courier’s editorial team took the evolution of G7 priorities into account while curating this year's bookazine.
The bookazine can be found here. We hope you find value in what we’ve put together.
