Conclusion: ‘Abe Doctrine’ as Revolution or Contradictory Failure?

Abstract

The dynamism of the ‘Abe Doctrine’ has produced varied results: Japan’s security policy has moved forward greatly; US-Japan relations have progressed but encountered roadblocks; and Japan-East Asia relations have regressed. But the effectiveness and sustainability of the Doctrine in the future, and even now, is questionable because of three great contradictions: the Doctrine claims the pursuit of universal values, but its underlying revisionism is illiberal, and thus conflictual; the Doctrine seeks to end the post-war regime through historical revisionism, but the focus on history creates tensions with the US and East Asia; and the Doctrine seeks autonomy through dependence on the US that only further frustrates Japan’s lack of sovereign independence. In the end, the Doctrine may lead to a dead end and Japan’s shift to ‘Resentful Realism’.