Truth be told, the first thought that came to mind when I read the news about the assassination of Shinzo Abe was that it must be fake; or that it must have happened somewhere here in America.
Because gun violence in Japan is so rare, it never even crossed my mind that this could have happened there…
That this happened in Japan, though, highlights the wonder that it does not happen far more often here in America – given the proliferation of guns and the bellicose nature of our politics.
I refer you to The New York Times and other newspapers for proper obits on Abe. I shall suffice to share my appreciation for the fact that he was the longest-serving prime minister, and that Abenomics was to Japan what Reaganomics was to America – with all the transformative features that entailed.
But, given Russia’s genocidal invasion of Ukraine, Abe’s Reaganesque efforts to strengthen Japan’s military and rewrite its pacifist, war-renouncing constitution now seems visionary. Because the lesson countries like Japan must learn from that invasion is that they should not rely solely on superpower security guarantees for their national defense.
After all, Ukraine gave up its MAD defense of nuclear weapons 30 years ago this year in exchange for security guarantees from both Russia and the United States. Yet…
Mind you, some of us knew the Japanese Parliament would render just hot air all of Abe’s Reaganesque talk about standing up to China, the way America stood up to the Soviet Union. I refer you in this regard to “Japan Fighting China with Hot Air…?” December 27, 2012.
But now, notwithstanding US security guarantees, the best way for Japan to honor his death and protect itself is to fulfill Abe’s vision, post haste! This, so that China or North Korea would never even think of doing to it what Russia is now doing to Ukraine.
For what it’s worth, Abe always seemed more at ease around, and established better camaraderie with, the first black president of the United States, Barack Obama, than Republicans like Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell ever did. I think this spoke volumes about his personal character and political skills.
My condolences to his family and to the people of Japan. May his memory be a blessing.
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