New horizons in EU-Japan security cooperation?

The concluding chapter brings together the findings from the individual chapters. It will involve a systematic and comparative analysis of the twelve different security dimensions assessed according to the analytical criteria stipulated for the investigation: the nature of threat perceptions and responses by the EU and Japan, the levels of convergence or divergence reached between the EU and Japan in terms of threat perception and associated response; and the degree of bilateral and multilateral EU security cooperation achieved. The analysis will also pay specific attention to temporal patterns identifying three periods with distinct intentionality of EU-Japan security cooperation. In addition, it will explore the extent to which changes in the structure of the international system, or the role of “third actors” such as the United States, Russia or China, have affected the way the EU and Japan define their interests of appropriate actions. Analysis of this kind will help to establish the areas (traditional versus non-traditional security aspects) where any security cooperation between the EU and Japan is present (and to what degree). This will shed light on the question of whether EU-Japan relations will continue to be dominated by economic relations (trade, investment and finance) or whether these relations will become more balanced in the future, thereby demonstrating that the renewed Strategic Partnership Agreement of 2017 between the EU and Japan is based on more than mere rhetoric. The chapter will conclude with a discussion of current and potential future incentives (‘events-driven’ or ‘concept-driven’) of EU-Japan security cooperation and explore the future outlook for this relationship.