Japan is a liminal power. It straddles contrasting identities in terms of its power status\, ranging from a small power to a great power\, shaped by fluctuating material capabilities\, international status\, and multiple\ , overlapping social or geographic affiliations (e.g. Western\, modern\, or Asian). This book employs a historical institutionalist approach to examin e the evolution of Japan’s grand strategy as a liminal power from the Meiji period\, starting in 1868 through the 2020s. Drawing from several chapters of the book\, this talk focuses on the contemporary period\, during which Japan has constructed its Indo–Pacific grand strategy featuring a “Free and Open Indo–Pacific.” Across these periods\, shifts in the strategic environ ment opened a window of opportunity that enabled Japan’s core decision-make rs to construct—or reconstruct—the country’s grand strategy.
About the Authors:
Saori N. Katada is
Professor of International Relations and the Director of the Center for Int
ernational Studies at the University of Southern California. She served as
the vice president of the International Studies Association and on the edit
orial team of Review of International Political Economy. Her single-authore
d book\, Japan's New Regional Reality: Geoeconomic Strategy in the Asia-Pac
ific\, was published by Columbia University Press in 2020\, and her co-auth
ored book\, Japan’s Grand Strategy: Liminal Power in an Uncertain World\, w
ith Kei Koga\, is forthcoming from Oxford University Press in March 2026. H
er other single-authored book Banking on Stability: Japan and the Cross-Pac
ific Dynamics of International Financial Crisis Management (University of M
ichigan Press\, 2001) received the Masayoshi Ohira Memorial Book Award. Her
research covers geoeconomics\, international political economy of trade an
d finance\, monetary policy\, and Japanese foreign policy. Her Ph.D. is fro
m the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill\, and her B.A. is from Hi
totsubashi University (Tokyo). In her eleven books in English and three in
Japanese\, as well as in 100+ journal articles and chapters in both languag
es\, her work covers geoeconomics\, international political economy of trad
e and finance\, monetary policy\, and Japanese foreign policy in the Indo-P
acific. Katada is a research fellow at the National Bureau of Asian Researc
h and the Japan Institute of International Affairs\, and she has received p
restigious awards and grants\, including the Center for Global Partnerships
\, Intellectual Exchange Grant\, and the National Endowment for the Humanit
ies Fellowship.
Kei Koga is Associate Professor/ Hea d of Division at the Public Policy and Global Affairs Programme\, School of Social Sciences\, Nanyang Technological University (NTU). Concurrently\, h e is a Nonresident Fellow at The National Bureau of Asia Research (NBR)\, t he United States\, and a member of RIPS Research Committee\, the Research I nstitute for Peace and Security (RIPS)\, Japan. His research focuses on Int ernational Security\, International/Regional Institutions (particularly ASE AN)\, and East Asian/Indo-Pacific security. Previously\, he was Japan Schol ar at the Wilson Center in 2022\; visiting fellow at Center for Strategic a nd International Studies (CSIS) in 2017\; a Japan-U.S. Partnership Fellow a t the Research Institute for Peace and Security (RIPS)\, Tokyo\, in 2012-20 14\; Postdoctoral Fellow in the International Studies Program\, The Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs\, Harvard Kennedy School\, in 2012-2013\; a Vasey Fellow at the Pacific Forum CSIS in 2009–2010\; and RSI S-MacArthur visiting associate fellow at S. Rajaratnam School of Internatio nal Studies (RSIS)\, NTU in 2010. He received his Ph.D. in International Re lations at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy\, Tufts University. He has published on topics that include East Asian/Indo-Pacific security\, U.S . and Japanese foreign policies\, the U.S.-Japan alliance\, and ASEAN. His recent publications include: “Strategic and Functional Minilateralism in th e Indo-Pacific” (under advance contract with Cambridge University Press) an d “Japan’s Grand Strategy: A Liminal Power in an Uncertain World” (Oxford U niversity Press\, 2026) [With Saori Katada].
This talk is presented b y the Centre for Japanese Research (CJR).
CATEGORIES:Featured Events,Featured News &\; Events LOCATION:Room 120\, C.K. Choi Building GEO:49.267258;-123.257967 URL;VALUE=URI:https://sppga.ubc.ca/events/event/japans-grand-strategy-limin al-strategy-in-a-uncertain-world/ ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://sppga.cms.arts.ubc.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2026/02/Book-Talk-Graphic-2.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/Vancouver BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0800 TZOFFSETTO:-0700 DTSTART:20260308T100000 TZNAME:PDT END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE END:VCALENDAR