Japan's early opportunity to shape Trump's emerging Asia policy

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has transformed Japanese diplomacy. Under his leadership, Japan has ratified the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement as a strategic instrument to bind like-minded nations, forged new alliances beyond Tokyo's traditional U.S. orbit in South and Southeast Asia, become a military supplier to Asian nations determined to resist Chinese hegemony, reinterpreted constitutional constraints to expand Japan's role as a regional security provider, and reached out to Europe and Russia as extra-regional partners to help bring balance to Asia.