New national security strategy needs to respond to realities on three fronts

The government is in the midst of discussions to revise its three key security-related documents — the National Security Strategy, National Defense Program Guidelines and the Medium-Term Defense Force Buildup Program.

It was in December 2013 that then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s second administration put together Japan’s first National Security Strategy, and since then, the country’s national security environment has changed dramatically.

The liberal international order is in deep retreat, and the world has shifted to a competitive structure between liberal democracy and authoritarian regimes, as symbolized by the confrontation between the United States and China.