Japan’s Security Policy After US Hegemony

The article analyzes long-term external and internal factors determining the course of development of Russian-Japanese relations in 2019-2020. On the one hand, the anti-Russian component in Tokyo's foreign policy is shaped by its membership in the Security Treaty with the United States and its solidarity with the sanctions policy of the Group of Seven towards Russia. On the other hand, Japan and Russia are both interested interest in political cooperation in creating multilateral dialog mechanisms of international security in East Asia, resolving the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula, and easing tensions around territorial disputes in the East China and South China seas. Among the economic factors, the author focuses on the significant place of Russia in the context of Japan's task of diversifying sources of external energy supplies, as well as on Russia's desire to avoid unilateral dependence on the Chinese market while reorienting the system of foreign economic relations from the West to the East. Personal diplomacy of political leaders plays a significant role in relations between Russia and Japan, and, above all, close personal relationships and frequent meetings between Prime Minister Abe and President Putin, which make it possible to partially compensate the unfavorable image of the partner country in the public opinion of both Russia and Japan. Against the background of a deadlock in the Peace Treaty talks which emerged in 2019, the search for a way out of the diplomatic impasse is on the agenda. In the author's opinion, it would be appropriate at the first stage to proceed to the conclusion of a basic agreement on the basis bilateral relations, which would be "untied" from the Peace Treaty. In addition, Russia could stop criticizing Japan for its security policy and show greater understanding of the Japanese initiative in the field of quality infrastructure. In turn, Japan could take a number of strategic decisions on cooperation with Russia and announce them in the Prime Minister's keynote speech. In addition, Tokyo could stop positioning the issue of the peace Treaty as the main issue in relations with Russia, which would allow our countries to "untie" bilateral relations from the problem of border demarcation and focus on their positive agenda.

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Evaluating the efficiency of the environmental security policy in the Russian regions

Economic Analysis Theory and Practice ◽

10.24891/ea.19.4.633 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 19 (4) ◽

pp. 633-649

Author(s):

G.T. Shkiperova ◽

P.V. Druzhinin

Keyword(s):

Environmental Policy ◽

Russian Federation ◽

Security Policy ◽

Quantitative Methods ◽

Federal District ◽

Environmental Security ◽

Environmental Indicators ◽

Federal State ◽

Environmental Situation ◽

The Russian Federation

Subject. Considering the existing environmental situation, it becomes especially important for the State to regulate the anthropogenic footprint on the environment in the Russian Federation. Current amendments to the legislative framework for environmental security are intended to ensure the innovative development of regions concurrently with a reduction in adverse environmental effects and more active environmental policy. Objectives. The research is to devise methodological tools to evaluate the efficiency of environmental policy in regions. Methods. The research employs qualitative and quantitative methods of economic analysis, including statistical and content analysis, rating, matrix zoning. The dataset proceeds from the Federal State Statistics Service, governmental reports on the current environmental situation and environmental protection in the Russian Federation. Results. We propose our own approach to evaluating the efficiency of environmental policy. It may help trace the correlation between the quality of strategic documents and changes in environmental indicators for a certain period, flag the challenging areas in terms of the environmental policy implementation and outline possible development paths. The approach extends the list of quantification indicators in line with those ones adopted internationally and presented in the Environmental Security Strategy of the Russian Federation up to 2025. We evaluated the efficiency of the environmental policy referring to the regions of the Northwestern Federal District for the period from 2012–2016. Conclusions. Having analyzed the evaluation results, most of the Northwestern regions tend to be controversial and ambivalent in setting environmental goals and achieving them. The findings may prove useful as the analytical and data basis for articulating the environmental and economic policy of the regions.

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