From a new Asiatic superpower in China and a rogue state in North Korea, to domestic political change and an rapidly aging population, 2022 will be a pivotal year for Japan’s national security. On this episode, Garrison is joined by Dr. Stephen Nagy, an expert on Japan to discuss these important topics.

The two discuss a wide range of subjects, beginning with the political-security implications of the newly minted Kishida administration. They also discuss the historical roots and contemporary complications of Japan’s pacifist constitution which drive Tokyo’s emphasis on the use of holistic foreign policy soft power even as it maintains a pseudo-military “Self-Defense Force”. How Japan will balance defending against the militaristic assertiveness of China’s new power projection strategies (including the issue of Taiwan, maritime security, etc) with the economic reality of the vital level of trade with Beijing is also discussed. The state of Tokyo-Washington relations in the Biden era both in a strategic and political sense; Japan’s response to the North Korean nuclear threat, and the evolution of state immigration policy in the face of an aging population round out their discussion.

Stephen has been a Senior Associate Professor at the Department of Politics and International Studies at the International Christian University since September 2014. Concurrently, he is a Senior Fellow at the MacDonald Laurier Institute, a Research fellow the Canadian Global Affairs Institute (CGAI); a Senior Fellow with the East Asia Security Centre (EASC); & a Visiting Fellow with the Japan Institute for International Affairs (JIIA). He was selected as a Distinguished Fellow for the Asia Pacific Foundation from 2017-2020. He serves as the Director of Policy Studies for the Yokosuka Council of Asia Pacific Studies (YCAPS) spear heading their Indo-Pacific Policy Dialogue Series and as a Governor for the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Japan (CCCJ). Prior to returning to Tokyo, he was an Assistant Professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong from Dec. 2009 -Jan. 2014. He obtained his Ph.D. from Waseda University, Japan in International Relations in Dec. 2008.

Stephen is published widely in peer-reviewed international journals such as China Perspectives, East Asia, the Journal of Asian Politics and History and the International Studies Review on topics related to trade, nationalism and China-Japan relations. He has also published in think tank and commercial outlets such as the China Economic Quarterly and the World Commerce Review on trade and political risk. He is also a frequent political/ economic and security commentator on Japan-China-Korea-US relations in Japanese and international media outlets such as the New York Times, BBC, CNN, SCMP, WSJ, The Japan Times, The National Post, cNBC, Al Jazeera, Channel News Asia, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, etc.

Garrison Moratto is the founder and host of The New Diplomatist Podcast; he earned a M.S. of International Relations as well as a B.S. in Government: Public Administration (Summa Cum Laude) at Liberty University in the United States. He formed The New Diplomatist from scratch and today it is in the top 10% of all podcasts globally, including top ten placements on government charts in ten countries across Europe and the Indo-Pacific.

All guest opinions are their own and not that of The New Diplomatist podcast formally.

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