Hedging for Balancing: Japan’s Foreign Policy in the 2010s–2020s

Since the 2000s, Japan has pursued a balancing strategy towards China by strengthening the US–Japan alliance. Nonetheless, the relative decline in the United States’ global strategic influence has compelled Japan to adopt a “security hedging” approach. Japan seeks to strengthen strategic relations with non-US security partners both within and beyond the Indo-Pacific region, diversifying the risks of diplomatic overdependence on the United States while continuing to fortify military cooperation with it.