The Resilience of the “Open Liberal International Order”:
The Situations of the US, China and Europe, and their Impacts

Sub-Project I: The Trump Administration’s Foreign Policy and Japan-USRelations
Project Outline
Post-World War II peace and development have been secured by the “openliberal international order”. Many countries have enjoyed stability and prosperity under
this order that encourages cooperation and inclusion, not confrontation nor exclusion.
Japan is also one of these nations that has benefited from the order by contributing to its
preservation and development. The biggest challenge the international community
currently faces is this order itself becoming destabilized and its outlook uncertain.
The inauguration of an “America First” Trump administration will have a great
impact on the international community as well as the United States, which has been aleader of this international order, as it gives the impression that the country no longer
has any significant interest in the importance of the order and is even ready to face off
against other countries for the sake of its own national interests.
US policies have constructed and secured the order in the Asia-Pacific region,and could directly affect the security and stable economic development of its ally Japan
as well. Japan hence must fully recognize what changes have been happening inside
America that made a Trump presidency a reality and whether the role of the nation as ademocratic leader of the world could be altered essentially.
This sub-project analyzes America’s ongoing situation underlying theinauguration of the Trump administration, utilizing means such as opinion polls orfieldwork in the United States. Qualitative changes in the country presumably would
affect the policies and stability of the Trump administration as well as the nationalarchitecture even after the current administration. The project also studies thepolicy-making process of the Trump administration, tries to minimize its contingency asmuch as possible, and finally makes policy recommendations for better future Japan-US
bilateral relations, all of which are of great significance to Japan, being responsible forthe regional security together with the United States, Japan’s sole ally.
Research Group Composition
Group Leader
Funiaki Kubo, Professor, The University of Tokyo, and Senior Adjunct Fellow, JIIAMembers

Toshihiro Nakayama (Deputy Group Leader), Professor, Keio University, and AdjunctFellow, JIIA
Hirotsugu Aida, Professor, Aoyama Gakuin University
Takeshi Umekawa, Professor, Tokyo Metropolitan University
Akio Takahata, Professor, Hakuoh University
Kazuhiro Maeshima, Professor, Sophia University
Tomoyuki Miyata, Lecturer, Teikyo University
Satoru Mori, Professor, Hosei University
Akihiko Yasui, Head of Research Department-Europe and the Americas, Mizuho
Research Institute Ltd.
Masahito Watanabe, Associate Professor, Hokkaido University
Members/Secretaries
Yasunori Nakayama, Director General (Acting), JIIA
Shu Nakagawa, Director of Research Coordination, JIIA
Naoko Funatsu, Research Fellow, JIIA
Project Meetings
First Meeting
Date and Place: June 14, 2017 in JIIA Conference RoomTopics: Planning of FY 2017 Study Group Activities
Evaluation of Trump’s Diplomacy: Between Unprincipled and Flexible
Second Meeting
Date and Place: August 8, 2017 in JIIA Conference RoomTopic: The Trump Administration’s Relationship with the Media: Is a Discussion of“Fake News” Inevitable?
Third Meeting
Date and Place: October 17, 2017 in JIIA Conference RoomTopic: Reflecting on the Ideological Trends in the Trump Administration’s Foreign
Policy: Will We See Any Change in the “Post-Bannon” Era?
Fourth Meeting
Date and Place: November 20, 2017 in JIIA Conference RoomTopic: The Democratic Party under the Trump Presidency: Which Direction Does theParty Go in the Post-Obama Era?

Fifth Meeting
Date and Place: February 8, 2018 in JIIA Conference RoomTopic: Veterans and Politics
Public Symposium: “Reviewing the First Year of the Trump Presidency”
Date and Place: February 22, 2018 in JIIA Conference RoomTopics: What is ‘Trumpism’? Will It Endure?
The Domestic Political Landscape under the Trump Presidency and theOutlook for the 2018 Midterm Elections
The Foreign Policy Philosophy of the Trump Administration