The narrowing distance between Japan and Europe

To present the main outcomes from the report and discuss the ongoing implications of these findings, SPF’s Japan-U.S. Program held an online seminar entitled “Japan-Europe Security Cooperation from U.S. Perspectives,” on March 30, 2021, featuring remarks by Dr. Hornung as well as Dr. Michito Tsuruoka, associate professor for the Faculty of Policy Management at Keio University and a leading Japanese expert in European affairs.
 
SPF Executive Director Junko Chano gave opening remarks for the online event, noting that “the distance between Asia and Europe is narrowing,” as evidenced by increasing interest of European countries in deepening ties with Japan, making this research a timely and significant contribution to the security literature.
 
Dr. Hornung followed with his main remarks outlining the primary findings from this research project, which was conducted in part as a visiting fellow at SPF during the summer of 2019 as well as through research trips to Europe. Through analysis of the status of defense and strategic dialogues, defense exchanges and cooperation, as well as training and exercises between Japan and European partners, Dr. Hornung noted that the motivations of the three European countries, NATO, as well as Japan align on several major areas. These include the desire to protect multilateralism and the rules-based international order, the understanding that the U.S. is an important strategic ally and world power, an appreciation of the interconnectedness between the Indo-Pacific region and Europe, as well as an increasing concern regarding China.

However, he also noted important areas of difference between Japan and European partners, particularly over perceptions and approaches toward strategic adversaries, namely China and Russia. While perceptions in Europe continue to shift, the research indicated that generally European actors were more inclined to maintain constructive relations with China, which caused them to temper their aggressiveness when responding to China’s actions. Japan, on the other hand, tends to be more confrontational as demonstrated through its willingness to “name and shame” China.

Instead, European actors were generally more preoccupied with Russia, which they view as posing a serious threat to international norms. Since Dr. Hornung’s research was conducted as the Abe administration in Japan was pursuing peace treaty negotiations with Russia regarding the Northern Territories, some in Europe expressed concern that Japan was not fully rallying behind efforts to push back against Russia in order to protect the international order.
 
Dr. Hornung concluded his presentation by reflecting on the broader implications for Japan-Europe relations from the U.S. perspective. He argued that the trend toward deepening ties between partners is a net positive for the U.S., given the fact that an interlocking network of allies will boost the power of collective action, increase mutual awareness of issues, and allow for greater resource sharing.
 
“The U.S. recognizes China as posing a challenge to the region, and as the Quad meetings shows, the U.S. recognizes it can't sustain a free and open Indo-Pacific by itself,” explained Dr. Hornung, bringing the conversation to current challenges facing the region. “The Biden administration is prioritizing the need to work with friends and allies, and having European allies and Japan work closer together, especially in the security domain, supports this effort as the U.S. looks to work with like-minded allies and partners to address common challenges.”