Description

While a longstanding body of literature exists on Japanese foreign policy toward East Asia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries, the recent academic literature lacks thorough contextualization and analyses of Japanese foreign policy in Central Asia. This volume outlines the general conceptual problems regarding the Central Asia states in Japan's foreign policy and provides further details of the evolution of Japan's foreign policy and its initiatives with respect to Central Asia. It also offers insights into the security, political, and economic aspects of cooperation between the Central Asia states and Japan, and the features that characterize these relations. In addition, this study analyzes Japanese foreign policy toward the Central Asia states, including comparisons with Chinese and Russian initiatives such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Commonwealth of Independent States/ Eurasian Economic Union.