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South and Southeast Asian Perceptions of Japan’s Strategic Rise for a Balanced Indo-Pacific: a Cross-National Case Study on Bangladesh and Thailand

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Abstract

The Indo-Pacific region is vital to the emerging countries’ geostrategic and geo-maritime strategic competition. It is crucial for Japan’s economic, political, and security interests. For the last few years, Japan has been promoting a Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) strategy to protect the region free from other countries’ dominance and make a balance of power by countering China’s hegemony. Despite the growing strategic involvement of Japan in the Indo-Pacific region, some literature focused on the people’s perception of Japan. Thus, this study explores the public perception regarding Japan’s strategic rise in the Indo-Pacific to fill the knowledge gap. Using a snowball sampling method, we conducted a descriptive cross-national study with 365 individuals in Bangladesh and Thailand. Most participants (88%) agreed that the strategic rise of Japan would promote peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. Besides, they agreed (69.1%) that the FOIP could be the alternative to the Chinese BRI in this region. However, around 52.6% of respondents moderately supported Japan’s FOIP and QUAD in the region not to provoke China. Participants in this multi-country research generally expressed optimism about Japan’s strategic ascent and its implications for a balanced Indo-Pacific. Therefore, the findings of this study can assist policymakers in gaining a better understanding of public attitudes and preparing for future policy formation.

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Data Availability

The data used in the manuscript is available upon reasonable request from corresponding author.

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Funding

This work was supported by the Japan Foundation, Tokyo [2022RE088]JF Research Grant number (Ref. No. 10139609–002).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Japanese Studies, University of Dhaka, 1128, Faculty of Social Science Building, Dhaka, 1000, Bangladesh

    Md. Saifullah Akon

  2. School of International Affairs, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand

    Narut Charoensri

  3. Department of Population Sciences, University of Dhaka, Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh

    Md. Zakiul Alam

Authors
  1. Md. Saifullah Akon
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Correspondence to Md. Saifullah Akon.

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Akon, M., Charoensri, N. & Alam, M.Z. South and Southeast Asian Perceptions of Japan’s Strategic Rise for a Balanced Indo-Pacific: a Cross-National Case Study on Bangladesh and Thailand. East Asia 40, 357–372 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12140-023-09405-9

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