It’s no surprise that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe plans to make nice with Vladimir Putin later this week. The Russian president sure does look like a winner these days. Of course, there’s the obvious: In just two months, the United States—Moscow’s main competitor on the world stage—will be led by an incompetent demagogue whose most consistent foreign policy view is admiration for the Russian strongman. Even more impressively, this week Washington is convulsing with hysteria at the prospect that it was that very same strongman who put Donald Trump into the White House in the first place.
But that’s not all. In Europe, electoral victories by right-wing populists from Poland to Hungary to the United Kingdom have moved into positions of power leaders friendly towards Putin and tolerant of his misbehavior. Bulgaria and Moldova have just joined the club, and the next French elections, which will almost certainly result in another Putin-friendly European presidency, are just around the corner. That’s not to mention recent success of the Syrian regime, a key Russian ally which, after years of slaughter, seems to be making serious headway against the Islamic State.
Abe’s overtures toward Putin are then easy to understand given this narrative of a confident and ascendant Russia. His outreach may have raised eyebrows in Washington, but after all, the U.S. capital will be a very different place come January 20. And of course there’s no harm in trying to make a long-delayed land deal, especially if it will result in tangible benefits for both countries. There’s also the longer view: If the United States is indeed in relative decline, as the conventional wisdom holds, then stronger relationships with the world’s other powers must be in Japan’s interest.
Reasd more at:
Putin Is No Strongman: He’s Leading Russia into Ruin | JAPAN Forward
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