Japan’s Shifting Security Posture and Implications for Europe

On 5 September 2023, the Japan Chair at CSDS had the pleasure to host Professor Tsuneo Watanabe, Senior fellow at the Sasakawa Peace Foundation, a distinguished figure and intimate observer of Japan’s foreign and security policy landscape. The discussion focused on recent developments in Japan’s security policy, zooming notably on the 2022 National Security and Defence Strategy and the implications of Tokyo’s upgraded strategic profile for cooperation with the EU and NATO.

“Japan Chair Cluster” meetings bring together Brussels-based experts and policy practitioners from the EU institutions, NATO, as well as relevant Embassy representatives interested in Japan and the broader Indo-Pacific region. The Cluster meets on an ad hoc basis when experts, academics and officials from the region visit Brussels, presenting their research and sharing their insights in a closed-door, informal fashion. The aim of the meetings is to inform the European policy community, raise awareness and steer the debate for regional security challenges, as well as to facilitate inter-personal exchanges to support Europe’s engagement with Japan and the Indo-Pacific.