1. Characteristics of the Trump Administration
The Trump administration's rash of announcements and reversals of its erratic policies have thrown the world into confusion.
The main premise of a nation's policy management is that the policy should be based on basic principles and a long-term vision, thoroughly considered in advance so as not to damage the nation's credibility at home and abroad, and determined and implemented after assessing its effects.
Nevertheless, the Trump administration implements policies on the spur of the moment, without fully considering them in advance, and then reverses them when they produce considerable negative effects. And this has happened repeatedly.
Many US and European experts and intellectuals have noted the following characteristics of the Trump administration's policy decisions.
First, experts with basic knowledge and extensive experience in national policy management are not included at the stage of considering specific policies.
State management is very different from the management of small and medium-sized private enterprises.
President Trump ran small to medium-sized businesses and had little experience in sustaining long-term business with specific, reliable corporate clients.
Accordingly, although he may be adept at ad hoc, bluffing negotiations, he is not accustomed to a stable way of doing business based on long-term trust relationships.
In particular, each policy of the US government has a significant impact not only domestically but also internationally.
Even if the policy is reversed after it has caused unwanted side effects, the situation will not return to normal, and this will have serious adverse effects on corporate management, financial markets, etc. in the US and throughout the world.
Second, all cabinet-level people are yes-persons, loyal to President Trump.
As a result, even if they anticipate a somewhat negative impact of President Trump's erratic policymaking and implementation, no one ventures to disagree with or correct him.
President Trump is said to attach importance to inflation, the stock and bond markets, and the ratings of his supporters across the US in making policy decisions.
On the other hand, he does not seem to understand the important invisible values such as the credibility of the democratic system, the stability of the world order, and national prestige and trust.
Establishing these important values requires a long-term effort to implement policies that are supported by wisdom.
However, once important values are destroyed, it can take as long as 10-20 years to restore them.
2. Fragility of Democracy
The fact that despite the existence of many outstanding experts and intellectuals in the US the foundations of the nation have been shaken by the emergence of President Trump in such a short period of time makes us acutely aware how fragile the democratic system is.
Democracy is supported by the people, and it is the people who will bring it down.
Of course, President Trump is to blame for what has been happening, but the American people who elected him president are also to blame.
It is believed that one of the reasons for the current turmoil is that the average US citizen, who sways election results, has become less conscious of the importance of democracy, world order, and other values that the US has thus far supported.
Japan is, on the other hand, highly praised by experts in Western countries for its political and economic stability, as I noted in my paper issued in March, “The Trump Shock raises Japan’s reputation with heightened expectations for the country’s political, economic, and social stability.”
This is also largely due to the contributions not only of politicians and economists, but also of the average Japanese citizen.
With that being said, since both Japan and the US are democratic countries, vulnerability is a common feature of them.
We need to first understand this weakness and then consider what Japan should do to maintain its stability that will continue to be highly regarded by the rest of the world.
So far, we have had few opportunities to feel the need to consider such fundamental issues on the foundation of a nation's existence by connecting them with actual policies.
However, now we must recognize the need to tackle these issues head-on.
3. Long-Term Goals for Japan to Contribute to the Formation of the World Order
Japan is not a superpower like the US or China.
Therefore, amid the age of globalization, Japan's continued stability cannot be achieved as long as we consider issues that affect only Japan.
Japan's stability is ensured only when policies that contribute to the stability of the world order are in place and these policies are appreciated by the rest of the world.
From this perspective, there are three possible long-term goals for Japan: 1) Realization of a world without war; 2) Sound development of the global economy as a whole; and 3) Creation of a sustainable global economy and society.
The philosophy which these goals are based on can be simply expressed as “Cherish all life and the earth that nurtures it.”
To achieve the first goal, “Realization of a world without war,” it is necessary to respect the lives of all people, regardless of national, ethnic, religious, and other differences.
The basis for this is to promote a shared awareness of the importance of mutual understanding, mutual respect, and mutual cooperation among all members of the global society and to foster a common understanding of the global society as one community.
To achieve the second goal, “Sound development of the global economy as a whole,” it is necessary to promote economic development through further expansion of the free-trade regime and to reduce inequalities of wealth among regions and among individuals.
In order to expand the free-trade regime, we should encourage a gradual shift from a WTO (World Trade Organization) basis to a CPTPP (Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement on Trans-Pacific Partnership) basis.
In order to improve the soundness of income distribution, we should prevent income concealment and promote tax payment in home countries by improving the taxation system and accounting standards and aim to make the importance of implementing fair income redistribution a shared understanding around the world.
For the third goal, “Creation of a sustainable global economy and society,” we should share common global goals, and measures necessary to achieve, and the timing of achieving, those goals should be left to each country to decide.
We should also encourage each country, business, etc. to voluntarily disclose information about their goals and their achievement status so as to fulfill basic conditions for people to live safely and comfortably, including the environment, health, food supply, public safety, educational opportunities, and basic social infrastructure.
4. The Platform Japan Should Form for Stability of the World Order
Even if Japan seeks to achieve the above goals it has set, it cannot force other countries to follow suit.
However, it is possible for Japan to create an atmosphere that motivates people from many countries around the world to act spontaneously towards a major shared goal.
To this end, Japan could play a role in forming a platform as described below.
In this platform, each country will disclose the targets for each issue area that it has voluntarily set and analyze and evaluate the progress of improvement measures in comparison with these targets in an understandable manner.
No penalties will be imposed if countries do not meet their targets.
It is desirable that the platform be a hybrid body consisting of one part operated by the states based on rules and one part voluntarily operated by non-state actors based on morality.
If the platform relies solely on a system agreed upon by the states based on rules, they will often fail to reach a consensus owing to ideological conflicts.
In order to avoid discussion stagnation arising from such situations, it is important to have a place for ethical-based discussions by non-state actors that take place concurrently with discussions among the states.
Intellectuals and experts acting as non-state actors who share high standards can overcome conflicts among states and facilitate international cooperation in their respective fields of expertise.
5. System to Develop Human Resources Supporting Japan's Stability
In order to contribute to the formation of the world order, Japan will assume responsibility for the operation of the platform for the above multilateral discussions.
The operation should be done in a manner that transcends ideological, political, economic, and diplomatic conflicts of interest and should cover all nations of the world.
Japan is well suited to play the role of such a neutral facilitator, since, with the exception of a period recently, it has aimed at an omnidirectional diplomacy in an effort to make as few enemies as possible.
The Japanese people have relatively high morals, while Japan is highly trusted by the international community. So, if Japan acted as a facilitator of the platform, most countries would feel comfortable taking part in it.
Considering that Japan is currently regarded as the most stable country, it is particularly easy for it to take on this role.
Furthermore, if Japan continues to play such a role in the world over the long term, it is necessary to maintain long-term political and economic stability.
It is the political insight and economic competitiveness of the average citizen that supports national stability.
On top of this, a high level of citizen’s morality is another important condition for national stability as evidenced by the fact that the current global turmoil is the result of major countries putting their own interests first.
Specifically, the substance of morality is the sharing of the following three points by all groups of the nation's population:
- To have a heart that cherishes all life and the earth that nurtures it;
- To emphasize the importance of doing one's best for the sake of others; i.e. to have a sense of ownership of what is happening in global society, not only for the benefit of one's own country, but also to accept it as an issue to be addressed by oneself and to consider the role of Japan necessary for that purpose; and
- To sincerely introspect one's own mind and have a strong will (mind of sincerity) to continue to make sincere efforts to build one's own character.
The following educational structure is necessary for such character development:
- Bring out children's individuality, refine it and nurture it in elementary, junior high and high schools; and establish an educational system that allows children to freely demonstrate their unique talents in sports, cooking, dance, animation, music, etc., by modifying school evaluation standards that are biased toward specific subjects;
- Provide educational content that matches children's abilities in each field and allow them to learn at a speed appropriate for them according to their appetite for learning; make specialized courses with advanced content available for children who have exceptional talent; and design a system that allows junior high and high school students to take university lectures in their areas of expertise; and
- Double the number of teachers in elementary and junior high schools, reduce the number of students per class to about 20, and provide education tailored to the individuality of each student; and establish a system that can appropriately respond to truant children and socially withdrawn children and prevent classroom breakdowns by assigning highly specialized teachers.
When the individuality of each child is brought out and each child's unique talents are mutually valued within the class as a result of the introduction of the above educational system, a relationship of mutual respect and mutual trust will be fostered.
Consequently, children will gain confidence in their areas of expertise, receive support from the people around them, and be thankful for it. If they discover through this process the joy of contributing to those around them by utilizing their strengths, a spirit of doing their best for others will naturally develop.
I hope that many Japanese citizens will develop such a character, and that Japan will move in the direction of contributing for the benefit of the world.