06.11.2014The Abenigma? Japan’s Foreign Policy under Prime Minister Abe

Prof. Dr. Ellis Krauss, University of California, San Diego
November 6, 2014, 16:15–18:00
University of Zurich, Main Building, Room KOL H-317, Rämistrasse 71, 8006 Zürich

Description

Japan’s Prime Minister Abe Shinzō has been called “An Asian Hitler” by the Chinese, but his right-wing domestic supporters see him as the first leader to finally give a “true” accounting about Japan’s actions in the Pacific War and to make Japan into a “normal” nation militarily. Both are wrong, yet Abe’s foreign policy is something of an enigma. Professor Ellis Krauss will discuss the major difficult issues relating to Japan’s foreign policy today, including its dangerous conflicts with its Asian neighbors. He will provide a more realistic look at the rational and irrational dimensions of Japan’s current foreign policy from the perspective of Japan’s own national interests, place it into its historical perspective, and discuss its very complicated implications for the U.S. and Japan’s Asian neighbors.