If the headline for this article was merely clickbait, it surely should read “Japan is behind the Ukraine crisis.”
While there are facts that connect Japan to the standoff in Eastern Europe, I assume that my editors will use a less incendiary tone when they publish this. The 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident shaped Germany’s energy policy and Berlin’s decisions now influence Europe’s response to the evolving situation. But blaming Japan is still a stretch.
Germany’s current position underscores the importance of a national economic security strategy. Governments must be more attuned to threats posed by new economic linkages and ways in which they can reduce their vulnerabilities and protect their countries. But a real strategy has to be more than buzzwords — “resilience” tops the list these days — and political cover for bureaucratic power grabs. There is too much at stake for such documents to be public relations exercises.