Why Has Shinzo Abe Visited a Quarter of the World's Countries in 20 Months?

[GBCW 397]

By Ankit Panda
September 11, 2014

With his recent trip to South Asia, Shinzo Abe has officially upped the tally of the countries he has visited as Japan’s prime minister to 49. All this in the 20-some months he has been in power. That amounts to just over a quarter of all U.N. member states, with an average of over two foreign trips a month. It also, by far, makes him the most well-traveled Japanese prime minister.

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Abe’s diplomacy has a clear purpose and is driven by three motivating factors: seeking out partners to hedge against a rising China that wants little to do diplomatically with Japan, bolstering Japan’s economy through defense, energy, and commercial deals, and gaining the support of foreign leaders for Japan’s new defense posture.

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With his overtures to India, Australia, and ASEAN states, Abe has pitched Japan as a relevant counterweight to an increasingly assertive Beijing.

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The second factor driving Abe’s trips abroad is pure and simple economics ... Abe has ... expanded Japan’s economic portfolio to include defense deals after the country effectively reversed its self-imposed ban on weapons exports. Since Abe has come to power, Japan has signed defense deals and cooperation agreements with France, the U.K., and Vietnam, with deals with India and Australia in the works.

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The third factor — gaining support for Japan across the world — has perhaps been the least appreciated among most analysts. Abe makes no secret of his desire to have Japan behave as a “proactively pacifist”Asian state. With an expanded defense budget, a new national security strategy, and a reinterpretation of the collective self-defense clause in the constitution, Abe has put actions behind his words.

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Overall, Abe’s jet-setting will pay important economic and political dividends for Japan. In the face of a China that is rapidly “going global,” Japan can do worse than to have a prime minister affected by a deep sense of diplomatic wanderlust. For Abe, it appears that merely declaring “Japan is back” was unsatisfactory — he wants to deliver that message in person to as many world leaders as he can.

http://thediplomat.com/2014/09/shinzo-abe-has-visited-a-quarter-of-the-worlds-countries-in-20-months-why/

[Ban Hammer 13,334]

just think of how many frequent flier miles he has now!

[Pooky 3,781]

He's just looking for suitable stomping grounds for Japan's secret weapon.