2022 Year in Review
The Year in Review is YDS’ biggest and most exciting publication of the year - featuring analysis that covers the most significant and impactful events that have shaped our world.
The 2022 Year in Review explores key events in all regions, from the overturning of Roe v Wade, the war in Ukraine, and the UK leadership crisis, this year’s edition is not one to miss!
Read it now !
The Year in Review is YDS’ biggest and most exciting publication of the year - featuring analysis that covers the most significant and impactful events that have shaped our world.
The 2022 Year in Review explores key events in all regions, from the overturning of Roe v Wade, the war in Ukraine, and the UK leadership crisis, this year’s edition is not one to miss!
Read it now !
ABE’S FAMILY INFLUENCETwo synonymous features of Shinzo Abe’s political legacy include: (1) evoking aconservative-nationalist agenda, which sought to instil Japanese self-confidence;and (2) his “sixth sense in foreign policy”. It is clear that Abe’s family backgroundsignificantly shaped this political direction. On 21 September 1954, Abe was borninto a prominent political family; his grandfather - Nobusuke Kishi - was a formerPM, whilst his father - Abe Shintaro - was a foreign minister. The Iconoclast, a2020 biography of Abe’s political career by Tobias S. Harris explores the manyinfluences - social, cultural, political, economic, demographic - on Abe, but inparticular that of his grandfather - a suspected war criminal - who sought to reestablishJapan’s sovereignty. This too became Abe’s own political goal. His fatherwas of equal significance, impressing upon him “the importance of building trustwith foreign leaders”. Abe’s relationship-building is recognised as one of hisgreatest achievements, evidenced by his ability to foster working relations with awide range of leaders - from Malcolm Turnbull to Donald Trump and Xi Jinping.P A G E 2 9A REVISIONIST OR STABILISING LEADER?Abe’s conservative-nationalist ideals made him a divisive figure. It is for thisreason why critical analyses are important; they reflect the discord surroundinghis complex legacy. This is important to note in light of criticisms directed atWestern media for “eulogising” Abe as a “global statesman”. Indeed, Abe’shistorical revisionism of Japan’s colonial past, as well as his six visits to thecontroversial Yasukuni Shrine, have hindered relations with both China and(more significantly) South Korea. The Yasukuni Shrine honours those who havedied in the service of Japan since 1869. This includes 14 convicted ‘Class A’, aswell as 1,000 executed ‘Class B’ and ‘C’ war criminals - having been inducted in asecret ceremony in 1978. It was this act that has made Yasukuni so contentious,as encapsulated by this recent statement from the South Korean foreignministry: it “glorifies Japan’s past war of aggression and enshrines war criminals”.Abe did, however, refrain from visiting the shrine for the remainder of his tenurein light of the controversial 2013 visit. Abe’s conservative-nationalist agendaproved controversial domestically too. The ‘Abe Doctrine’ - which sought to moveaway from state ‘pacifism’ by “revamping” Japan’s security policies andinstitutions - provides the most prominent example. A brief contextualisation ofthe issue is needed.
The US occupying force’ two-pronged aim to ‘pacify’ Japan (led by GeneralDouglas MacArthur) consisted of democratic reform and constitutional change,the latter of which - through rewriting the Japanese constitution - has been ofmost significance, and resulting in this key phrase in Article 9: “the Japanesepeople forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation”. The “pacifistclause” subsequently confined Japan’s military posture to self-defence. It was thissubversionary ideal that fuelled Abe’s ambition to re-establish Japan’ssovereignty. Put simply, Abe viewed Article 9 as a relic of history that continuesto thwart Japan from realising its true potential. However, efforts to alter thestatus-quo have been met by considerable public resistance, so much so thatconstitutional revision became a ‘bridge-too-far’. Other notable domesticcontroversies included ‘Abenomics’, which resulted in increased socioeconomicdisparities, whilst his hypernationalism and close-links with right-wing groupsproliferated social problems including hate crime and concerns for freedom ofspeech.Despite acknowledging the public concerns surrounding Abe’s conservativenationalistagenda, one cannot refrain from the fact that Abe was Japan’s longestserving PM. Japanese politics had been in constant flux before Abe’s secondterm, having had 16 PMs between 1989 and 2012, averaging 538 day-terms; heremained in office for more than 2,800 days. This longevity perfused credibilityboth domestically and internationally, and “restored Japan to the world stage”.A “conviction politician” may therefore be the most apt description for ShinzoAbe.BROADER IMPLICATIONS: REINVIGORATING THE‘BALANCE OF POWER’ IN THE INDO-PACIFIC ANDAUSTRALIA-JAPAN RELATIONSArguably, Abe’s insistence on a regional security paradigm has been mostconsequential for security dynamics within the Indo-Pacific. His ‘Conference ofTwo Seas’ speech, in 2007, marked the first reference to a “strategic globalpartnership” consisting of four key countries in “broader Asia”: the US, Japan,India & Australia.P A G E 3 0
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- Page 20 and 21: A 2003 report from the Guttmacher I
- Page 22 and 23: P A G E 1 2Calvin Lu and Patrick He
- Page 24 and 25: Common ProsperityThe concept of ‘
- Page 26 and 27: Wang HuningWang Huning’s promotio
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- Page 30 and 31: Korea are women — one of thehighe
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- Page 34 and 35: shied away from angering China by s
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- Page 86 and 87: 2Secondly,some of the areas through
The US occupying force’ two-pronged aim to ‘pacify’ Japan (led by General
Douglas MacArthur) consisted of democratic reform and constitutional change,
the latter of which - through rewriting the Japanese constitution - has been of
most significance, and resulting in this key phrase in Article 9: “the Japanese
people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation”. The “pacifist
clause” subsequently confined Japan’s military posture to self-defence. It was this
subversionary ideal that fuelled Abe’s ambition to re-establish Japan’s
sovereignty. Put simply, Abe viewed Article 9 as a relic of history that continues
to thwart Japan from realising its true potential. However, efforts to alter the
status-quo have been met by considerable public resistance, so much so that
constitutional revision became a ‘bridge-too-far’. Other notable domestic
controversies included ‘Abenomics’, which resulted in increased socioeconomic
disparities, whilst his hypernationalism and close-links with right-wing groups
proliferated social problems including hate crime and concerns for freedom of
speech.
Despite acknowledging the public concerns surrounding Abe’s conservativenationalist
agenda, one cannot refrain from the fact that Abe was Japan’s longest
serving PM. Japanese politics had been in constant flux before Abe’s second
term, having had 16 PMs between 1989 and 2012, averaging 538 day-terms; he
remained in office for more than 2,800 days. This longevity perfused credibility
both domestically and internationally, and “restored Japan to the world stage”.
A “conviction politician” may therefore be the most apt description for Shinzo
Abe.
BROADER IMPLICATIONS: REINVIGORATING THE
‘BALANCE OF POWER’ IN THE INDO-PACIFIC AND
AUSTRALIA-JAPAN RELATIONS
Arguably, Abe’s insistence on a regional security paradigm has been most
consequential for security dynamics within the Indo-Pacific. His ‘Conference of
Two Seas’ speech, in 2007, marked the first reference to a “strategic global
partnership” consisting of four key countries in “broader Asia”: the US, Japan,
India & Australia.
P A G E 3 0
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