Abe and Trump: Shared Interests, Uncertain Ground

By Nicholas Szechenyi

Nicholas Szechenyi is deputy director of the Japan Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), where he is also a senior fellow. His research focuses on U.S.-Japan relations and U.S.-East Asia relations. Prior to joining CSIS in 2005, he was a news producer for Fuji Television in Washington, D.C., where he covered U.S. policy in Asia and domestic politics. Nicholas holds an M.A. in international economics and Japan studies from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and a B.A. in Asian studies from Connecticut College.

The uncertainty surrounding President-elect Donald Trump’s foreign policy platform caused a sense of unease in Japan over the future of cooperation with the U.S. on economic and security issues, though a subsequent meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe established a personal rapport that bodes well. The Cipher Brief spoke with Nicholas Szechenyi, Deputy Director of the Japan Chair at CSIS, to understand what uncertainties still remain.

TCB: President-elect Donald Trump and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe recently met in New York. How has this meeting been received in Japan, and how far did it go to assuaging some of Japan’s feelings about a Trump presidency?

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