NEWS & EVENTS

Dr. Mireya Solis ‘New Directions in Economic Statecraft’ with moderator Dr. Kent Calder

On October 6th, Dr. Mireya Solís, director of the Center for East Asia Policy Studies, Philip Knight Chair in Japan Studies, and senior fellow in the Foreign Policy program at The Brookings Institution, spoke to the SAIS Edwin O. Reischauer Center for East Asian Studies community about new directions in Japanese economic statecraft.

Dr. Solís began by enumerating the ways in which Tokyo has risen to become a proactive actor in promoting economic interdependence and connectivity, citing its leading roles as a maker of mega-trade agreements, promoter of a sustainable and open international digital economy, and a chief orchestrator of infrastructure finance development in the region. At the same time, the growing rivalry between the U.S. and China, and the proliferation of protectionism that has accelerated under the COVID-19 pandemic have spurred the rise of the field of economic security within Japan. This security will be based primarily on two strategies: strategic autonomy and strategic indispensability. Strategic autonomy involves bolstering resilience and redundancies and is driven by a desire for self-reliance rather than isolation. Strategic indispensability aims to render Japan crucial to its neighbors, specifically by remaining at the forefront of the technological frontier. While the goals have been set, the operationalization of these initiatives remains to be determined.

In sum, the tension between integration and internationalism on the one hand and security and risk reduction on the other have led to a ‘harder edged’ interdependence, Dr. Solís argues. Japan is not alone in this however. The securitization of international economic relations will only progress as security concerns and international economic transactions become more integrated.