Japan's Open Future
An Agenda for Global Citizenship
About This Book
'Engaging touches of humor and anecdotes combine seamlessly with serious, in-depth analysis.' Supachai Panitchpakdi, Secretary General, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
'The future could spell deep trouble if the Japanese do not understand the message of 'Japan's Open Future'.' Masaru Tamamoto, World Policy Institute
'I strongly recommend this book to the Japanese and international audience.' Wu Jianmin, Former President of China Foreign Affairs University
For many decades Japan enjoyed great success with its export-oriented economy and the outsourcing of its foreign policy to the United States under the US security umbrella. Its role in the world was simple, and times were good. But times have changed: With the end of the Cold War, a shrinking domestic population, global instabilities after 9-11, the financial crisis, and other seismic shifts, Japan now faces a more complicated world.
In this groundbreaking and provocative discussion, three foreigners who have lived and worked in Japan – a Canadian, a Frenchman and a Spaniard – argue that Japan has much to gain by pursuing a more engaged, outward-looking, multilateral posture in its region and globally. While the country will continue to enjoy good relations with the West, the time has come for Japan to embrace its Asian heritage and future, as well as its own potential contribution to world affairs. A globally engaged, more open Japan, the authors argue, is win-win-win: good for Japan, good for Asia, and good for the world. If Japan is truly to become a global citizen, however, it must not only reach out more to the world, it must also admit more of the world – new ideas, people, and capital from afar – on its own soil. But is Japan – the Japanese – prepared to do so?
For more information please see the book website: http://japansopenfuture.anthempressblog.com
Readership:
The general reader with an interest in globalization and Asia, businesspeople and investors in Asia and Japan, policy makers, journalists and commentators, and academics and students.
Author Information
John Haffner works in strategic planning in the energy industry, and is a 2008 World Fellow at Yale University.
Dr Tomas Casas i Klett is an entrepreneur operating in China and a lecturer at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland.
Dr Jean-Pierre Lehmann is Professor of International Political Economy at IMD; he is also Founding Director of the Evian Group.
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION; I. FACING HISTORY: GETTING PAST THE NATION STATE; II. GLOBAL COMMUNICATION: A MATTER OF HEART; III. ESCAPING MERCANTILISM: FROM FREE-RIDER TO DRIVER; IV. EMBRACING BUSINESS RISK: ENTREPRENEURS AND KAISHA REBORN; V. OPEN POLITICS: UNLEASHING CIVIL SOCIETY; VII. GEOPOLITICS: A GLOBAL CITIZEN; CONCLUSION; BIBLIOGRAPHY
Links
- Excerpt from ‘Japan’s Open Future’ – ‘The Globalist’
- ‘Japan in a Post-American World’ – John Haffner in ‘The Huffington Post’
- ‘Bringing the World to the Rising Sun’ by Hans Schattle – ‘Japan’s Open Future’ book review on ‘Global Asia’
- ‘Immigration as a Source of Renewal in Japan’ – John Haffner in ‘Policy Innovations’
