In a world where confrontation prevails over solidarity and US influence is waning, Japan seeks to conduct diplomacy on an equal footing with the countries of the Global South. Unlike the G7's other members, Tokyo often brings up this geographical grouping, albeit vague and heterogeneous, of emerging countries driven by a shared aspiration to escape the great powers' tutelage.
For a long time, Japan was considered an "economic giant and a political dwarf." While it remains an economic power, it can no longer be considered a "political dwarf" lagging behind history. It is developing its military capabilities by devoting 2% of its GDP to defense, in line with its Constitutional pacism, and strengthening its relations with NATO and its Pacific allies. Additionally, it is engaging in discreet yet active diplomacy with the countries of the Global South. A diplomacy that, according to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, "serves its economic and security interests."
Situated near China and Russia and centrally located in a region that includes two major countries of the Global South like India and Indonesia, along with the rising force of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Japan softens the more rigid stance of the other G7 members.
Its emergence on the world diplomatic stage, with the political scientist Guibourg Delamotte emphasizing the"encompassing vision" that began during Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's two terms in office (2006-2007 and 2012-2020) in her book Le Japon. Un Leader Discret (Japan. A Discreet Leader, Eyrolles, 2023) makes it a player in developing new rules of world order acceptable to the greatest number. "We need to be more committed to our values, and at the same time [...], we need to remain humble while putting aside preconceptions," recommended Kishida at a conference in January 2023 at Johns-Hopkins University in the US.
'Respect for human dignity'
On the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, Tokyo is keeping its distance behind the other G7 countries. After Moscow's aggression against Kyiv, Japan certainly emerged as a NATO partner in its own right. As a participant in the sanctions against Russia and the fourth-largest contributor of humanitarian and economic aid to Ukraine, the country is nonetheless reluctant to supply arms. It also did not react to the death in prison of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny. "Japan's policy is not to interfere in the internal affairs of another country," an official source tersely explained.
The same is true of the war between Israel and Hamas. Tokyo has been slow to recognize Israel's right to defend itself. Still, it has suspended funding for UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, whose employees have been accused by Tel Aviv of being involved in Hamas' attacks. At the same time, following the International Court of Justice's injunction to Israel to "prevent genocide" in Gaza, the Itochu trading house ended its strategic cooperation with the Israeli arms company Elbit Systems Ltd.
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