The Japan Times Friday, May 15, 2015 11 opinion Branding Japan beyond Abe Germany is Mercury, the U.S. is Mars Stephen F. Szabo Nancy Snow beyond the politics and policies of national conversation beyond Abe and Washington Special to The Japan Times Shinzo Abe. any statements he may or may not make The Globalist Abe does not seem to have the will or about Japan’s past. Japan seems trapped Japan’s prime minister has returned from the way to devote the same energy to in a political straightjacket. Its outward Germany and the United States are Mer- what looks at first blush to have been a Japan’s overall reputation in the Asia- gestures to the world are becoming cury and Mars. Germany is Mercury, the very successful personal mission to rein- Pacific region and the world as a nation dominated by headlines reporting the Roman god of commerce and the U.S., force to the american audience that of 127 million can and should do. comings and goings and rhetoric of pol- Mars, the god of war. “Japan is back,” and to remind Americans If I were to publish a book today on iticians who look largely to the past in Germany has emerged over the past that Japan stands today, 70 years after the this condition, I’d call it, “Brand Japan: A order to heal personal wounds or pur- decade as the big winner in the West end of World War II, as one of America’s Government in Need of a Nation.” The sue vendettas. from globalization, the “Exportmeister” closest allies. people of Japan need to be reminded of Abe labeled his speech to Congress of the world in its class. It is the para- As the daughter of a 20-year-old navy their value beyond Tokyo’s central gov- “Toward an Alliance of Hope” in refer- digm of a geoeconomic power, one that ensign who served aboard the USS Mis- ernment, its dominant party, the Liberal ence to strengthening U.S.-Japan rela- relies on its economic rather than its souri eight months after Japan’s formal Democratic Party, and its main leader, tions, particularly in collective security military power for its influence and signed surrender aboard the battleship, Abe. and trade. which defines its national interest the close relations between the United We hear so much from the Abe He notably did not quote his father, largely in economic terms. States and Japan today are nothing short administration about collective self- Shintaro Abe, for whom my Abe Fellow- Germany’s world-class companies of a marvel. defense and the need to revise Japan’s ship is named. Shinzo Abe went along on have a global reach and a global vision. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s congres- peace Constitution. Japanese citizens at least 20 diplomatic trips with his father, Beyond the realm of pure politics, they opened questions concerning which nity in a world scarred by memories of sional speech was designed to human- need to strengthen their collective self- who was Japan’s longest serving foreign are cornerstones in giving Germany type of power is best suited to operate in colonial or imperial domination.” ize a man whose political rhetoric often defense of free speech and free press. A minister. Nearly 25 years after Shintaro shaping powers on the global stage. the 21st globalized century. The issue for the U.S. is that it is of reflects a militaristic and masculine democracy anywhere, but especially Abe’s death, the Abe Fellowships support A “shaping power” — while not a The divergence in the discussion over course a geopolitical power as well as a view of Japan’s past. True to form, he here in Japan, thrives only when multi- his legacy through sponsoring policy-rel- super power — is a state that has the how to respond in Ukraine, between geoeconomic power. But the country’s began his speech referencing his mater- ple voices are heard, when dissent is evant research that will strengthen the power to shape outcomes and events. It Chancellor Angela Merkel’s ruling out of leadership has to realize that it is nal grandfather, Nobusuke Kishi, who allowed, and when citizens feel free to level of intellectual cooperation between offers an important status at a time military options and the growing sup- increasingly neglecting its geoeconomic served as Japan’s 56th and 57th prime express their thoughts and views with- U.S.- and Japan-based academics. when we see the emergence of a poly- port in the U.S. on arming Ukraine, illus- power in favor of its military dimension, minister. He quoted from Kishi’s 1957 out fear or favor. Shinzo Abe has also been silent about centric highly interdependent world trates the potential for real-life at the cost of its influence. speech to the U.S. House of Representa- A growing chorus of global voices his paternal grandfather, Kan Abe. This with rising non-Western powers playing differences in these two approaches. The limits of military power have tives: “It is because of our strong belief who care deeply about Japan is genu- grandfather ran in 1942 as a liberal inde- a larger role in global and regional deci- The German model may seem to been made very clear by the U.S. experi- in democratic principles and ideals that inely concerned with the Japanese gov- pendent with no political party backing sion-making. many Americans as one-dimensional ence in Iraq and Afghanistan, while the Japan associates herself with the free ernment’s hardening of its political to challenge Tojo’s policies, and suc- The official German government and lacking in the necessary military neglect of economic power has become nations of the world.” arteries. These friends of Japan worry ceeded in winning a seat in the Lower paper on this concept puts the idea of tool in its diplomatic arsenal. Critics increasingly salient. It must have been particularly exhila- that not only Japan’s image but also its House. If we define hope as a desire for “Gestaltungsmacht” (as shaping powers have a point when they argue that Ger- At the recent International Monetary rating for Abe to share such a positive reputation is becoming one that is less something to happen, Kan Abe went are called in German) in the following many has let its defense capabilities Fund and World Bank spring meetings, memory of his grandfather’s post-World open and free in its democratic princi- beyond hope to courage in action in this terms: “These countries are economic atrophy. Even geoeconomic powers concerns about America’s declining War II political career. Abe has been ples. On the heels of Abe’s trip to Amer- country’s darkest hours. I’d like to see locomotives that substantially influence need a strong military to hedge against economic power dominated the week. It quite open about how revolted he is by ica, nearly 200 leading Japan studies the prime minister widen his reference regional cooperation and also have an risks in an unknown future. That is cer- was Washington’s blunder in opposing those who accuse Kishi of being a Class- scholars from inside and outside Japan list when talking about his personal and impact in other global regions and play tainly something which the Ukraine the Asian Infrastructure and Investment A war criminal suspect. The suspicion is released an open letter urging the prime Japan’s history. an increasingly important role in inter- case has made clear. Bank, which led geoeconomic Germany legitimate. U.S.-led Allied Occupation minister to fully acknowledge Japan’s In the spirit and memory of Shintaro national decision-making. . . . We see However, Germans are correct to and other key European partners to join forces did arrest Kishi at war’s end for role in the comfort women system of Abe’s dedication to dialogue in interna- them as more than developing countries argue that a geoeconomic approach will the AIIB. his role as director of munitions under World War II. tional relations and Kan Abe’s political but as new shaping powers.” win out against the classic, if not This blunder followed the failure of Prime Minister Gen. Hideki Tojo, but he The open letter to Abe is a symbolic backbone when all others were falling in Shaping powers base their influence antique, geopolitical approach of Rus- the U.S. Congress to enact IMF reform, was released and never convicted. This gesture. While I believe in the power of tow with the military line, my hope is for on economics and, rather than acting sian President Vladimir Putin. Putin which would have recognized the shift led to a political career groomed by sincere apology and forgiveness, I do a citizen alliance that moves us beyond within the confines of traditional alli- seems to be at war with globalization in the global economic balance toward those same Occupation forces that not believe that the prime minister narrow politics. ances (such as the European Union, and the interdependence it brings. He Asia — something successive U.S. needed a conservative anti-communist alone can repair the bad feelings in this NATO and the Group of Seven), they has reversed Soviet leader Mikhail Gor- administrations have long advocated, leader for postwar Japan. region. Whatever Abe says, he will be Nancy Snow, Ph.D., is an Abe Fellow and fashion networks with new actors both bachev’s adaptation of Peter the Great’s chiding “old Europe.” The prime minister has spent a life- met with a lot of negative pushback. It’s visiting professor at Keio University and at home and abroad. strategy for the modernization of Russia. On a broader level, the continuing time in dedication to restoring the a no-win for him. If an apology on his author/editor of 10 books, including Given Germany’s great reliance on As Gorbachev understood, the Soviet gridlock in Washington endangers eco- image and good name of his maternal part were met with a grass-roots effort to “Propaganda, Inc.” and “Information War,” exports and its dependence on the Union (now Russia) could not be a first- nomic reform at home, including much- grandfather. His righteous devotion to bring more people into the 70th anni- both of which were published in import of natural resources, it needs to tier power if it relied too heavily on the needed infrastructure investment. the reputation of this one man stands as versary conversation, then it might have Japanese. Her book on Brand Japan will have a reputation as a reliable economic military dimension. In fact, it was this The potential free trade agreements a psychic block to what is becoming a some positive impact. be released later this year. Contact her at partner. Generally speaking, sanctions, over-reliance on the military dimension that would enhance American leader- growing problem for Japan’s full nation While we wait for August to arrive, the www.nancysnow.com . drawing red lines and employing mili- that led to military spending at a level of ship both in Asia and the Pacific are very brand campaign — an inability to get citizens of Japan need to elevate the tary force all run counter to Germany’s over 25 percent of the GDP of the Soviet contentious as well on Capitol Hill, geoeconomic interests. Union, helping to cripple its economy. which will not please nations in Asia In this sense, risk aversion, already a Putin has famously called the collapse and Europe. The TPP and TTIP are at the deeply embedded trait in German polit- of the Soviet Union the greatest geopo- heart of the new geoeconomics and will GOP hawks twist Reagan’s foreign policy legacy ical culture, is reinforced. In my view, litical catastrophe of the 20th century. have a longer term impact on American that has produced the “Nein Nation,” a But he fails to understand that the col- influence than its response to Ukraine. Germany that increasingly says no to lapse came from within from a corroded If the U.S. wants to continue to be a policies that might endanger these eco- technological and economic base. shaping power in this century, it will DOUG nomic interests. Its use of sanctions That is why Putin’s turn at Russia’s have to reduce its over concentration on BANDOW against Russia is an important departure helm will end up being another geopo- military options — which remarkably from this posture. litical catastrophe for the country. Ger- has been a bipartisan phenomenon. The America, in contrast, is both a major mans are right to argue that economic U.S. needs to rediscover its geoeco- economic and military power with power and the interdependence it has nomic potential. Otherwise, it risks Washington global security interests. The U.S. has a brought will prevail over the exercise of making the mistakes of Putin — and los- tendency to look to its imposing military military force and the disregard for what ing the insights of Merkel. Alzheimer’s robbed Ronald Reagan of instruments in dealing with foreign pol- former U.S. official Zbigniew Brzezinski his memory. Now Republican neocon- icy. Accordingly, it has developed a has called the “global awakening.” Dr. Stephen F. Szabo is the executive servatives are trying to steal his foreign national security state that is as impos- As he wrote in 2008, “For the first time director of the Transatlantic Academy in policy legacy. A de facto peacenik who ing as the German commercial one. in history, almost all of humanity is Washington. This article is adapted from was horrified by the prospect of need- The resurgence of nationalism and politically activated, politically conscious an excerpt of “Germany, Russia, and the less war, Reagan likely would have been military force as seen in Russia’s chal- and politically interactive. Global activ- Pursuit of Geo-Economics“(Bloomsbury appalled by the aggressive posturing of lenge in Ukraine and the growing Chi- ism is generating a surge in the quest for Publishing, Dec. 18, 2014). most of the Republicans currently seek- nese military challenge in East Asia have cultural respect and economic opportu- ing the White House. Ronald Reagan took office at a dan- gerous time. The Cold War raged and Reagan sacrificed much of his political Intensive parenting producing infantilized youths capital to increase U.S. military outlays. But he used the new capabilities created almost not at all. it’s called when kids make mistakes having decided that students are mature Reagan’s mantra was “peace through george without adult supervision and have to possessors of moral agency. But institu- strength.” Peace was the end, strength wrestle with the resulting conse- tions have also decided that although the means. He focused his attention on will quences? Growing up.” undergraduates can cope with hor- the Soviet Union and its advanced out- Increased knowledge of early child- mones and intoxicants, they must be posts, especially in the Western Hemi- hood development has produced protected from discomforting speech, sphere. Restraining the hegemonic Washington increased belief in a “science” of child which must be regulated by codes and threat posed by an aggressive, ideologi- bachev despite criticism from his own vessels which then sailed home without rearing. This has increased intolerance confined to “free speech zones.” Uncon- cal Soviet Union led to Reagan’s tough staffers. Gorbachev later wrote that Rea- fanfare. Because he had the courage to Controversies about “free-range parent- of parenting that deviates from norms genial ideas must be foreshadowed by policy. Still, Reagan avoided military gan “was looking for negotiations and back down, thousands of Americans did ing” illuminate today’s scarred cultural that are as changeable as most intellec- “trigger warnings,” lest students, who confrontation with Moscow. Indeed, he cooperation.” Or, in a word, appease- not die fighting in another meaningless landscape. Neighbors summon police in tual fads. never were free-range children and now routinely employed what neocons today ment. Mideast war. response to parenting choices the “Intensive parenting” is becoming a are as brittle as pretzels, crumble. Young deride as “appeasement.” Of course, Reagan was not a pacifist. Yet neoconservatives denounced him neighbors disapprove. Government government-enforced norm. Read “The people shaped by smothering parents For instance, Reagan dropped the But he was cautious in using the mili- for refusing to occupy Lebanon. Podho- extends its incompetence with an ever- day I left my son in the car” (Salon. come to college not really separated Carter grain embargo against Moscow. tary. He usually intervened through retz charged Reagan with “having cut broader mission of “child protection.” com), Kim Brooks’ essay on her ordeal from their “helicopter parents.” Such Reagan said he desired to encourage proxies to counter Soviet or allied com- and run.” President George W. Bush And these phenomena are related to after leaving her 4-year-old in the car as students come convinced that the world “meaningful and constructive dialogue.” munist influence—an important but argued that Reagan’s withdrawal was campus hysteria about protecting infan- she darted into a store for about five is properly devoted to guaranteeing Lech Walesa and the Solidarity move- limited agenda which disappeared one reason terrorists “concluded that we tilized undergraduates from various minutes. their serenity, and that their fragility ment were a global inspiration, but the along with the Cold War. lacked the courage and character to menaces, including uncongenial ideas. Writing in the Utah Law Review, entitles them to protection from dis- Polish military, fearing Soviet interven- Reagan used the military in combat defend ourselves, and so they attacked The Meitivs live in suburban Mont- David Pimentel of Ohio Northern Uni- tressing thoughts. tion, imposed martial law in 1981. No only three times. The first instance was us.” gomery County, Maryland, which is a versity notes that at a moment when As Penn State historian Gary Cross American bombers flew, no invasion Grenada, after murderous communists Lebanon was a terrible mistake, but bedroom for many Washington bureau- “children have never been safer,” gov- says, adolescence is being redefined to threatened, no soldiers marched. Rea- ousted their slightly less hard-line col- Reagan learned from his errors. More crats who make their living minding ernment is abandoning deference to extend well into the 20s, and the “clus- gan did little other than wait for the Evil leagues. Reagan defenestrated the new important, he was no global social engi- other people’s business. The Meitivs, to parents’ discretion in child rearing. In tering of rites of passage” into adulthood Empire to further deteriorate from regime, simultaneously protecting neer. Even where he acted militarily he encourage independence and self-reli- 1925, the Supreme Court affirmed the — marriage, childbearing, permanent within. American medical students and elimi- had a narrow objective. ance, let their 10- and 6-year-old chil- right of parents “to direct the upbringing employment — “has largely disap- Little other than talk, that is. Reagan nating a nearby Soviet outpost. When It’s presumptuous to claim to know dren walk home alone from a park and education of children.” Today, how- peared.” Writing in The Chronicle of wanted to negotiate from a position of the job was done Reagan brought home what Reagan would think today. But he about a mile (1.6 km) from their home. ever, vague statutes that criminalize Higher Education, Cross says that strength, but he wanted to negotiate. the U.S. forces. likely would be angry at the attempt to For a second time, their children were child “neglect” or “endangerment” “delayed social adulthood” means that Moreover, as my late White House The second case was against Libya in use his legacy to justify a failed foreign picked up by police, this time three undermine the social legitimacy of “in 2011, almost a fifth of men between boss, Martin Anderson, and his wife, response to evidence that Tripoli had policy. blocks from home. After confinement in parental autonomy. 25 and 34 still lived with their parents,” Annelise, documented, Reagan was hor- staged the bombing of a Berlin night- When Ronald Reagan left office the a squad car for almost three hours, dur- And they ignore the reality that almost where many play video games: “The rified by the prospect of nuclear war, club favored by Americans. It was a sim- U.S. truly stood tall. George W. Bush ing which the police never called or every decision a parent makes involves average player is 30 years old.” The per- which drove him to propose creation of ple retaliatory strike. There was no more than any of Reagan’s other succes- allowed the children to call the Meitivs, risks. Let your child ride a bike to centage of men in their early 40s who missile defense and abolition of nuclear regime change and nation-building. sors squandered the Reagan legacy. the children were given to social work- school, or strap her into a car for the have never married “has risen fourfold weapons. The third, and sadly disastrous, inter- And Bush did so with a recklessly ers who finally allowed the parents to trip? Which child is more at risk, the to 20 percent.” In their book on foreign policy ana- vention was Lebanon. The U.S. had few aggressive policy that ran counter to reclaim their children at about 11 p.m. sedentary one playing video games and In the 1950s, Cross says, with Jack lysts Stefan Halper and Jonathan Clarke measurable interests at stake in that Reagan’s far more nuanced approach in on a school night. The Meitivs’ Kaf- risking obesity, or the one riding a bike? Kerouac and Hugh Hefner “the escape observed: “from 1983 onward, Reagan tragic nation’s civil war, but Reagan a far more difficult time. Similarly, most kaesque experiences concluded with It is, Pimentel says, problematic for the from male responsibility became a kind devoted more of his foreign policy time sought to strengthen the nominal of today’s leading Republicans, in con- them accused of “unsubstantiated” legal system to enforce cultural expecta- of subculture.” Today, Oldies radio and to arms control than to any other sub- national government, in truth but one of trast to Reagan, appear to want strength neglect. tions when expectations, partly shaped concerts by septuagenarian rockers nur- ject.” Norman Podhoretz, the neocon some 25 armed factions. Washington but not peace. Today’s saturating media tug children by media hysteria over rare dangers ture the cult of youth nostalgia among godfather, denounced Reagan for trained the Lebanese military and took beyond childhood prematurely, but not such as child abductions, are in con- people who, wearing jeans, T-shirts and “appeasement by any other name.” an active role in the fighting. U.S. inter- Doug Bandow is a senior fellow at the to maturity. Children are cosseted by stant flux. sneakers all the way, have slouched Reagan was willing to switch rhetoric vention triggered attacks on both the Cato Institute and a former special intensive parenting that encourages Time was, colleges and universities from adolescence to Social Security and policy when circumstances U.S. Embassy and Marine Corps bar- assistant to President Ronald Reagan. He passivity and dependency, and stunts acted in loco parentis to moderate without ever reaching maturity. changed. He recognized that Mikhail racks. also is the author of “Foreign Follies: their abilities to improvise, adapt and undergraduates’ comportment, particu- Gorbachev was different from previous Reagan recognized that he’d erred. He America’s New Global Empire” (Xulon). weigh risks. Mark Hemingway, writing larly regarding sex and alcohol. Institu- © 2015, Washington Post Writers Group Soviet leaders. Reagan worked with Gor- “redeployed” existing troops to naval at The Federalist, asks: “You know what tions have largely abandoned this,

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