The Liberal Democratic Party’s new president, Sanae Takaichi, is often compared to Margaret Thatcher, the iconic British prime minister.

It’s intended to be a flattering comparison, but the analogy doesn’t work. Japan today is not Britain in the 1980s, the LDP is not Thatcher’s Conservative Party and Takaichi’s success depends on her being pragmatic, not dogmatic. “The Iron Lady” is neither the best comparison nor a good role model.

Takaichi prevailed in the LDP election because she invoked the party’s golden years under former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Takaichi styled herself the inheritor of his mantle, a conservative nationalist who projects confidence and purpose. Abe viewed her as a protege and many of the party’s conservatives are ready to accept that characterization of her.

Her determination to raise Japan’s international profile, her tough appraisal of the regional security environment, her skepticism of China and her readiness to spend more on defense all evoke both Abe and Thatcher. As does her desire to work more closely with the United States and President Donald Trump. Takaichi has called Japan’s alliance with the U.S. “essential” and her top diplomatic priority; that, along with the commitment to increase defense spending and do more militarily in the region should help smooth relations with Trump.

Her image as Abe’s protege should help her with the mercurial U.S. president. Abe was known as “the Trump whisperer” during his first term in the White House. She is also a supporter of the "Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy," Abe’s framework for regional engagement which was also adopted by the U.S. That shared vision should also help smooth relations with Washington.

Relations with South Korea may be more difficult. Takaichi has said that she recognizes the importance of a good relationship with Seoul and trilateral cooperation with the U.S. As always, however, the question is whether strategic judgments will prevail over domestic political calculations.

Her belief that Japan fought a “defensive” war in the 1930s and 1940s will fuel the charge that her nationalism is of the unhealthy sort and that she has not learned the lessons of history. And her insistence that senior officials should visit Yasukuni Shrine, where Japan enshrines the spirits of its war dead, including class-A war criminals, will only fan the flames.

Her comment during the presidential campaign that visits should depend on circumstances offers some room for optimism; hopefully, the impact on relations with South Korea is one of the factors and circumstances she will consider.

That readiness to smooth the sharper edges of her policies is perhaps the clearest sign that she has learned the lessons of the Abe experience. During his first term as prime minister (2006-2007), Abe was an unyielding conservative who let his ideology guide his decision making. While health issues drove him from office, the unpopularity of his policies was another significant factor in his decision to step down.

In his second term (2012-2020), Abe learned from that mistake and let pragmatism guide him. Takaichi’s comments throughout the LDP presidential campaign suggest that she has studied that experience and will act accordingly, more Abe than Thatcher, who never changed course to bend to circumstances.

The biggest differences from Thatcher, though, are likely to concern economic policy. For all its talk of reform, the LDP, even under leaders like Abe, has never been a truly neoliberal party, ready to let market forces dictate outcomes or turn its back on workers and union rights. While structural reform was the “third arrow” of Abenomics, the party’s readiness to promote those policies was invariably subordinated to vested interests that preferred the status quo.

The economic center is likely to hold in her administration, with Takaichi promising to help households squeezed by rising prices, stagnant wages and uncertain prospects. Like her predecessors, Takaichi has said she will promote tax cuts and other measures to boost incomes.

That triggers anxiety about Japan’s swelling debt and deficits. While noting the importance of fiscal responsibility, Takaichi, again like her predecessors, is more likely to stress a sustainable debt-to-GDP ratio rather than actual deficit reduction.

In fact, the specifics of her economic agenda will depend on which parties are members of the ruling coalition. There is speculation that Takaichi’s hard line along with the rise in recent years of conservative parties to the right of the LDP could prompt an electoral realignment, with the LDP parting ways with Komeito, the Buddhist lay party and its longtime junior partner.

Komeito’s head met with Takaichi immediately after her election win and, as Eric Johnson reported earlier this week, he pointedly refused to endorse her because of concerns about her agenda and a lack of close connections between the new LDP leadership and his party. Other parties are waiting to see how this dance plays out before making their own commitments to Takaichi and her government.

The markets have cast their own verdict on the prospects for her policy and it’s negative: The yen has steadily weakened against the dollar since Takaichi won her election.

That judgment is another reminder that it will be difficult for Takaichi to be the master of her own destiny. She is going to have to navigate a gauntlet of domestic and international obstacles, fighting considerable headwinds along the way. Ultimately, success will depend on her ability to tack between her ideological preferences and the reality of Japan’s centrism.

That dilemma will be a constant in her decision-making, whether the issue is social concerns like women’s roles and rights, economic ones such as tax cuts or the role of workers from overseas, or international affairs, where she has to square her preference for a higher military profile and activism with a national stance that favors quietism.

There will be two immediate indications of her inclinations. The first is the contours of her government. Will it be a coalition and with which parties? What are the terms of those agreements? A deal is needed or Takaichi and the resulting minority government will be forced to negotiate every piece of legislation, a time-consuming and testing process that will be very unpredictable.

Second, and related to that first item, is whether Takaichi decides to call a snap election to win a mandate at the polls. During the campaign, she, like the other candidates, denied that she would do so, but she might seek to capitalize on her bump in popularity — already at 68% — as Japan’s first female prime minister. Abe was quite successful when he used his power as prime minister to call national elections to win tactical advantage.

Today, however, that move is much more of a gamble. Voters have more credible alternatives to the LDP and victory is not assured. Takaichi may style herself after Abe, but his decisions were made in a different time and political context. There are no easy choices as she navigates this challenging political environment.

The Japan Times Editorial Board