Koizumi's foreign policy: U.S. always comes first

[kskiska]

As far as diplomacy is concerned, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is arguably the most controversial leader Japan has seen in recent years -- a man both censured and praised since taking office in April 2001.

His diplomatic stance has been a nightmare for those hoping for closer ties between Japan and its Asian neighbors, but to conservatives he has been a quick, decisive leader advocating stronger military ties with the United States.

"(Koizumi) likes to make things clear, like black or white," observed Tomohito Shinoda, an associate professor of politics at International University of Japan in Niigata Prefecture.

(snip)

Many experts have said that because Japan had built up a lot of good will in the Middle East as the only developed country with no record of military intervention or arms exports to the region, Tokyo could have taken a different strategic position from that of the U.S. during the war against Iraq.

But by throwing his full support behind President George W. Bush, Koizumi failed to present Japan as an international leader capable of creative diplomacy, Terashima argued.

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