Japan's foreign policy in Southeast Asia: an assessment of the "Middle Power" path

• Main Author: Nguyen, Nhu Dinh
• Other Authors: -
• Format: Thesis-Master by Coursework
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2022
• Subjects: Social sciences::Political science
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/156978
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

As a contributory effort to the current academic debate, this paper will use the “Middle Power” framework developed by Dong-min Shin to explain Japan’s diplomacy in Southeast Asia, in terms of its interests, tools of influence, as well as limitations. The use of Shin’s framework for this paper will hopefully address the current skewed and fragmented understandings held by academic scholars on Japan’s foreign policy in the region. To exemplify Japan’s tools of influence in the region, this paper will analyze the “Free and Open Indo-Pacific” (FOIP) Initiative, one that was held up by the Japanese government and guides Japan’s operations in the Indo-Pacific region (particularly in Southeast Asia), permeating three dimensions: politics, economics, and security. This paper will start out with a Literature Review of current competing explanations of Japan’s diplomatic personas in Southeast Asia, followed by Shin’s more recently developed Middle-Power framework covering; 1. Japan’s Interests, 2. Japan’s influence through its diplomatic tools, typically cooperation with ASEAN members and major stakeholders of this region, and finally 3. An assessment of the aforementioned influence to answer whether the “Middle Power” identity resonates with Japan’s diplomatic path in the Southeast Asia region.