At the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed his desire for Japan to engage more actively in the global body's collective security framework as a step toward becoming what he termed a "proactive contributor to peace."
Abe pledged more than $3 billion in development assistance over the next three years for women's empowerment and health care, while announcing additional humanitarian aid of $60 million for Syrians displaced in the ongoing civil war.
Noting that the global power balance is "changing rapidly" and technological innovations are removing "all borders" from new types of threats, Abe said, "It is now impossible for any one country, no matter which it may be, to safeguard its own peace and security acting entirely by itself.