Chap5 Overcoming Nationalism through an East Asian CommunityAnother national goal that emerges from the concept of fraternity is the creation of an East Asian community. Off course, Japan-US Security Pact will continue to be the cornerstone of Japanese diplomatic policy. Unquestionably, the Japan-US relationship is an important pillar of our diplomacy. However, at the same time, we must not forget our identity as a nation located in Asia. I believe that the East Asian region, which is showing increasing vitality in its economic growth and even closer mutual ties, must be recognized as Japan's basic sphere of being. Therefore we must continue to make efforts to build frameworks for stable economic co-operation and national security across the region.
The recent financial crisis has suggested to many people that the era of American unilateralism may come to an end. It has also made people harbor doubts about the permanence of the dollar as the key global currency. I also feel that as a result of the failure of the Iraq war and the financial crisis, the era of the US-led globalism is coming to an end and that we are moving away from a unipolar world led by the US towards an era of multipolarity. However, at present, there is no one country ready to replace the United States as the world's most dominant country. Neither is there a currency ready to replace the dollar as the world's key currency. Therefore, even if we shift from unipolar to multipolar world, our idea of what to expect is at best vague, and we feel anxiety because the new forms to be taken by global politics and economics remain unclear. I think this describes the essence of the crisis we are now facing.
Although the influence of the US is declining, the US will remain the world's leading military and economic power for the next two to three decades. Current developments show clearly that China, which has by far the world’s largest population, will become one of the world's leading economic nations, while also continuing to expand its military power. The size of China's economy will surpass that of Japan in the not too distant future. How should Japan maintain its political and economic independence and protect its national interest when caught between the United States, which is fighting to retain its position as the world's dominant power, and China which is seeking ways to become one? The future international environment surrounding Japan does not seem to be easy. This is a question of concern not only to Japan but also to the small and medium-sized nations in Asia. They want the military power of the US to function effectively for the stability of the region but want to restrain US political and economic excesses. They also want to reduce the militarily threat posed by our neighbor China while ensuring that China's expanding economy develops in an orderly fashion. I believe these are the instinctive demands of the various nations in the region. This is also a major factor accelerating regional integration.
Today, as the supranational political and economic philosophies of Marxism and globalism have, for better or for worse stagnated, nationalism is once again starting to have a major influence on policy-making decisions in various countries. As symbolized by the anti-Japanese riots that occurred in China a few years ago, the spread of the Internet has accelerated the integration of nationalism and populism and the emergence of uncontrollable political turbulence is a very real risk. As we maintain an awareness of this environment and seek to build new structures for international cooperation, we must overcome excessive nationalism in each nation and go down the path towards the rule-building for economic co-operation and national security. Unlike Europe, the countries of this region differ in their population size, development stage and political systems, and therefore economic integration cannot be achieved over the short term. However, I believe that we should aspire to the move towards regional currency integration as a natural extension of the path of the rapid economic growth begun by Japan, followed by South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong, and then achieved by the ASEAN nations and China. We must therefore spare no effort to build the permanent security frameworks essential to underpinning currency integration.
ASEAN, Japan, China (including Hong Kong), South Korea and Taiwan now account for one quarter of the world's gross domestic product. The economic power of the East Asian region and the mutually independent relationships within the region have grown wider and deeper, which is unprecedented. As such, the underlying structures required for the formation of a regional economic bloc are already in place. On the other hand, due to the historical and cultural conflicts existing between the countries of this region, in addition to their conflicting national security interests, we must recognize that there are numerous difficult political issues. The problems of increased militarization and territorial disputes, which stand in the way of regional integration, cannot be resolved by bilateral negotiations between, for example, Japan and South Korea or Japan and China. The more these problems are discussed bilaterally, the greater the risk that citizen's emotions in each country will become inflamed and nationalism will be intensified. Therefore, somewhat paradoxically, I would suggest that the issues which stand in the way of regional integration can only really be resolved through the process of moving towards greater regional integration. For example, the experience of the EU shows us how regional integration can defuse territorial disputes.
When writing a draft proposal for a new Japanese constitution in 2005, I put, in the preamble, the following words on the subject of Japan's national goals for the next half century: We, recognizing the importance of human dignity, seek to enjoy, together with the peoples of the world, the benefits of peace, freedom and democracy, and commit ourselves to work continually and unceasingly towards the goal of establishing a system of permanent and universal economic and social cooperation and a system of collective national security in the international community, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region. I believe that not only is this the path we should follow towards realizing the principles of pacifism and multilateral cooperation advocated by the Japanese Constitution, I also believe this is the appropriate path for protecting Japan's political and economic independence and pursuing our national interest from our position between two of the world’s great powers, the United States and China. Moreover, this path would represent a contemporary embodiment of the "fraternal revolution" advocated by Count Coudenhove-Kalergi.
Based on this awareness of our intended direction, it becomes clear that, for example, our response to the recent global financial crisis should not be simply to provide the kind of limited support measures previously employed by the IMF and the World Bank. Rather, we should be working towards a possible idea of the future common Asian currency. Establishing a common Asian currency will likely take more than 10 years. For such a single currency to bring about political integration will surely take longer still. Due to the seriousness of the ongoing global economic crisis, some people may wonder why I am taking the time to discuss this seemingly extraneous topic. However, I believe that the more chaotic, unclear and uncertain the problems we face, the higher and greater are the goals to which politicians should lead the people.
We are currently standing at a turning point in global history, and therefore our resolve and vision are being tested, not only in terms of our ability to formulate policies to stimulate the domestic economy, but also in terms of how we try to build a new global political and economic order. I would like to conclude by quoting the words of Count Coudenhove-Kalergi, the father of the EU, written 85 years ago, when he published Pan-Europa.
"All great historical ideas started as a utopian dream and ended with reality".
"Whether a particular idea remains as a utopian dream or it can become reality depends on the number of people who believe in the ideal and their ability to act upon it."
This text is a translation of an article published in Japanese in the September edition of the magazine Voice.
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