Mapping the World
Japan - back to the center
S30 • E27 Nov 22, 2019 10m
After the Second World War, Japan's armed forces were disarmed by the Allies. According to the Yoshida doctrine, the archipelago concentrated fully on its economic performance and from then on was regarded as an "economic giant, political dwarf". But in view of China's claims to power in the region, today's Japanese leadership has new ambitions and wants to become geopolitically and militarily independent. Other countries such as France are also trying to counterbalance Chinese influence with Japan (and India), relying on the "Indo-Pacific axis" proclaimed by geopoliticians. However, both the (traditionally pacifist) Japanese emperor and the population still traumatized by the nuclear catastrophe in Fukushima are sceptical about this return to the center of world politics that the Japanese elites have in mind. [arte]
