Japan and the European Union have much in common. They’re two iconic symbols of U.S.-led reconstruction, pacification and democratization after World War II.
Their global rise in the subsequent decades came from out-manufacturing, not out-gunning, rivals. They’ve both been nervously watching security threats mass on their border in the shapes of Russia and China. And now they’re contemplating the risk of U.S. strategic abandonment after a lifetime of reliance on Washington’s security umbrella.
That common pressure is prompting a renewed search for deeper strategic ties. In November, just a few days before Donald Trump’s presidential election, Tokyo and Brussels concluded the EU-Japan Security and Defense Partnership, affirming their mutual commitment to a "free and open international order based on the rule of law.” It laid out several areas of future cooperation, from maritime security and counterterrorism to space and defense expertise. It showed a lot of aspiration, yet not a lot of urgency.
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