From leading to following in the region

Abstract

In the post-war period, Japan played an important and active role in creating and providing public goods and development assistance in the region, and in maintaining open and robust markets. For example, Japan effectively led the establishment of the Asian Development Bank, and, together with Australia, was instrumental in the creation of APEC. But for the past decade or more Japan’s foreign economic diplomacy has stalled, and the nation is doing little to actively contribute to shaping a stable and prosperous region at a time when regional and global institutions are under pressure, in a state of transition and flux.