| Summary/Abstract |
After decades of international cooperative strategies based on soft power through Official Development Assistance (ODA), the environmental, socioeconomic, and political change in the circumpolar North has led Japan to develop and link its Arctic policy with its Oceanic policy. To respond to the rising influence of China in the geopolitical and geoeconomic scene, Japan's maritime policy is based on international peace and stability, freedom of navigation, and the support of the international legal framework. Beyond its regional sphere of interest and influence, the inclusion of the Arctic region in Japan's Oceanic policy is also strongly connected to the influence of think tanks, lobbies, and institutions in Japan's policies, that for decades have encouraged Tokyo to take proactive measures. This policy also illustrates the ambition to present a comprehensive panoramic strategy embracing not only seas and oceans directly surrounding Japan, but worldwide.
|