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August 14, 2026
 

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Kazuto Suzuki
The U.S. is recasting its national security strategy around economic resilience and Western Hemisphere priorities as it confronts vulnerabilities exposed by dependence on critical Chinese minerals, supply chains and key inputs.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Apr 19, 2026
Why economic security is central to U.S. national security
No previous U.S. national security strategy has incorporated economic security to this extent. Why, then, has it become so prominent during Trump¡¯s second term?
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's growth strategy is not merely about domestic economic expansion. It is a geoeconomic and security strategy aimed at elevating Â鶹´«Ã½ status in the international system.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Jan 12, 2026
Takaichi¡¯s twin challenges: Economic growth and security
Takaichi has long stressed the importance of economic security, both since becoming prime minister and before that as minister of state for economic security.
Only a country with absolute indispensability in critical goods ¡ª like China ¡ª can withstand Donald Trump and America¡¯s tariff onslaught.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Oct 7, 2025
Trump weaponizes American trade policy
The U.S. may have an indispensable domestic market for some trading partners, but China has indispensable goods and America cannot easily substitute for them.
U.S. President Donald Trump signs an executive order in the Oval Office on Wednesday. His push for quick wins through tariffs and other measures is risking trade turmoil with key allies like Japan.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Apr 28, 2025
Is there a method behind the Trumponomics madness?
Washington¡¯s policies are treading and often crossing a fine line between political jostling and economic strategizing.
Kumamon, the official mascot of Kumamoto Prefecture, poses in front of a sign of Japan Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing, a subsidiary of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., at TSMC's then new factory in Kikuyo, Kumamoto Prefecture, in February 2024.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Mar 3, 2025
In chip renaissance, Japan is learning from past mistakes
In the 1980s, Japan dominated semiconductor production. Fast-forward to today and the country is trying to recapture its past glory, this time with a more outward-looking strategy.
Donald Trump and Kamala Harris spar during the presidential debate on Sept. 10. Both are seeking to win over voters in swing states such as those of the Rust Belt, where America's economic security policies are acutely felt.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Nov 5, 2024
The prospects for economic security under Trump or Harris
Both the Democratic and Republican campaigns need Rust Belt voters on their side, but their strategies to protect American economic interests differ significantly.
Economic security has evolved to include offensive measures, such as industrial policy. Countries like Japan are increasingly on-shoring strategic industries such as semiconductors, regardless of the cost.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
May 7, 2024
The shift from economic security to geoeconomics
Economic security started out as a defensive concept, but it has now been weaponized to include an offensive element, morphing into a geoeconomic tool.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
May 25, 2023
Why the G7 has significance as a collective economic defense mechanism
As the G7 chair and as a country taking economic security policy measures ahead of others, Japan is in a position to take a leadership role and help work against economic coercion.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Jan 31, 2023
Why the semiconductor competition between the U.S. and China is significant
Washington is trying to strengthen the superiority of the U.S. and other Western countries in areas of technology so that it becomes difficult for China to catch up.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Oct 3, 2022
How effective are the West¡¯s sanctions on Russia?
With Russia still able to sell crude oil and gas to other nations, the country is still pulling in money to fund its war in Ukraine, leaving the real effect of economic sanctions unclear.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Aug 11, 2022
How Shinzo Abe left a legacy for Japan in geoeconomics
As well as being instrumental in the establishment of the ¡®Quad¡¯ grouping, Abe was key to Â鶹´«Ã½ work on setting up the CPTPP trade agreement.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Aug 4, 2022
What role should Japan play as the Russia-Ukraine war shakes the international order?
Executives of the Asia Pacific Initiative discuss the part Tokyo should play as Russia¡¯s invasion of Ukraine approaches six months.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Jul 26, 2022
Why sanctions are failing to stop Russia¡¯s attack on Ukraine
While Russia seems wary of interventions by the U.S. or NATO, and is trying to avoid them, economic sanctions placed on Moscow have done little to halt the war.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Jul 19, 2022
Will the war in Ukraine change the international order?
While the conflict between Russia and Ukraine continues, Japan must remain actively engaged if it is to help protect a functioning global system.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Jun 27, 2022
After 50 years of China-Japan economic ties, what comes next?
From the separation of politics and economy to the principle of economic security, the two countries have tried to maintain trade and exchange despite numerous obstacles.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Dec 3, 2021
What Japan needs to do to boost its economic security
Through its Strategic Headquarters on the Creation of a New International Order, the ruling LDP is hoping to ensure Â鶹´«Ã½ economy can weather any storm.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Oct 12, 2021
How Japan and the U.S. should approach Taliban-ruled Afghanistan
While Washington has financial sanctions to wield, Tokyo has the chance to offer the Afghan people humanitarian assistance.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Jul 20, 2021
Pandemic shows Japan needs to figure out how to learn and prepare
Last-minute efforts to deal with COVID-19 vaccinations highlight a national lack of strategy and foresight.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Jun 6, 2021
COVID-19 shows that Japan needs to rebuild its infectious diseases strategy
The development of homegrown vaccines must be treated as a national security issue, to help fight future pandemics.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Mar 10, 2021
Â鶹´«Ã½ lack of preparedness: Lessons from Fukushima and COVID-19
Abrupt decisions, poor information dissemination and a lack of foresight hampered efforts to assist the country through crises.
Forty-five meters down, a diver races to record a fleeting moment of WWII history
Kingo Wakasa photographs the kamikaze plane wing section he discovered at the USS Emmons wreck site.
New ¡®Katsu Curry Index¡¯ aims to show how weak the yen really is
A CoCo Ichibanya curry house in Tokyo.
Mexican man arrested over attempt to smuggle some 200 lizards into Japan
Mexican alligator lizards seized by Tokyo Customs from a Mexican man who attempted to smuggle them into Japan on Saturday through Haneda Airport
Gut bacteria may be behind many of Â鶹´«Ã½ colorectal cancer cases
A Japanese research team found that a toxin produced by certain E. coli strains, colibactin, caused genetic mutations in nearly half of colorectal cancer cases studied
She is Russia¡¯s richest woman. Her business empire is going up in flames.
Tatyana Kim, the head and co-founder of Wildberries, speaks about Ukrainian drone attacks on the company's warehouses in the course of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, at an unidentified location, in this still image from a handout video released on July 31.
Forty-five meters down, a diver races to record a fleeting moment of WWII history
Kingo Wakasa photographs the kamikaze plane wing section he discovered at the USS Emmons wreck site.
Ikarigata closer to emulating older brother Fujinokawa than many think
The future Fujinokawa (third from left) and Ikarigata (right) compete against each other at ages 5 and 3, respectively.
Where do foreign residents in Japan want to die?
The Yokohama Foreign General Cemetery is one of the few cemeteries in Japan that allows burials, albeit with conditions for the deceased, including foreign nationality and permanent residency in Kanagawa Prefecture.
¡®Total whiplash¡¯: Foreign residents react to Â鶹´«Ã½ changing permanent residency rules
The entrance to the Tokyo Immigration Bureau in Minato Ward, Tokyo, in March. For some foreign residents of Japan, tightening measures for permanent residency have become one factor in a broader calculation over whether remaining in the country makes financial sense over the long term.
As Â鶹´«Ã½ concrete jungles sizzle, urban forestry offers an all-natural fix
People and birds find relief from the sun in Tokyo's Nakano Ward earlier this month. While experts agree that urban greening is crucial to mitigating the impact of climate change, trees are becoming even more scarce in Japanese cities.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo¡¯s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo¡¯s ¡®stadium of desire¡¯

Longform

Disaster relief workers Taichi Kato (left) and Seiji Yoshimura enter the collapsed living quarters at Kyuganji temple in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture.
What Kumamoto revealed about Â鶹´«Ã½ earthquake readiness
By Alex K.T. Martin

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