A Dialogue on the New Japanese Cabinet

On September 20, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) elected Shinzo Abe as successor to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. During his five year tenure, Koizumi vigorously pursued economic and political reform, strengthened the alliance with the United States, and increased Japan’s presence in global affairs. Will Abe adopt Koizumi's reform policies or craft a different approach? Our panelists — Gerald Curtis, the Burgess professor of political science at Columbia University, and Michael Green, holder of CSIS's Japan Chair — analyzed the direction of the new cabinet.