To succeed, the Quad needs to evolve from a China-focused club of four to a group of first movers on an array of specific functional challenges. The best way to do this is for the four countries to form the core of a rotating set of ad hoc problem-solving coalitions in the Indo-Pacific.
Deep breath. OK…
As the author of “Peak Japan,” for me to give an optimistic take on this country’s future is both difficult and risks undermining my brand. Still, even I can see the opportunity that Japan has to become a national security superpower. It is a long shot, but it is very real, and politicians, the public and policymakers should give it genuine consideration.
This strategy rests on three pillars. The first is the internalization and implementation of a new approach to national security, one that better reflects 21st century geopolitical and geoeconomic realities, as well as Japan’s domestic political constraints. I have long argued that there is a new national security economy, one that is shaped by the great power competition that defines contemporary international relations. Today, countries compete across a variety of interrelated domains economic, technological, military, cultural and ideological of which the first two are the most consequential.
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The growing synergy among the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue powers of Australia, Japan, the United States and India has provided a crucial impetus to the security architecture of the Indo-Pacific. Bilateral ties between these four states have also seen positive growth, largely a result of “like-minded” visions and policies dedicated to the creation of a free, rules-based and open maritime domain. One particular focus that Australia brings to the grouping includes its Pacific Step-up – a neighbourhood engagement policy described as among the “highest foreign policy priorities”, yet one rarely assessed in the “Quad” context.
Understanding the growing overlap between the Step-up and the Quad is important. China’s rising belligerence has led to stronger collaboration among Quad nations in an attempt to limit Beijing’s revisionist tendencies and “debt-trap” Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) policies. BRI’s lending poses risks especially for developing and fragile e