G-Zero Doesn’t Matter

“Group Eight reduced to Gang Seven.” “No, it’s G-Zero world.” Newspapers are delightedly chanting decline of the superpower America and confusion in world order. It is ordinary carelessness of Japanese media. Situation in Europe is strange, as former Prime Minister of Japan mumbled on German-Soviet Non-aggression Pact. Things are not so simple, news guys.

Asahi Shimbun raised a headline, reading “G8 Collapsed, Seeking New Order.” It argued that G7 would not regain power enough to lead the world opinion, reminding of that basic structure of world politics had been shifted to G20. Yomiuri and Mainichi also highlighted elimination of G8 structure. Those papers, however, could not explain any greater significance of the event than an answer in primitive math, one deducted from eight is seven.

Crimea is not as crucial for the United States and European Union as for the Russians. Paralleled with St. Petersburg to the Baltic and Vladivostok to the Pacific, Crimea is a strategically important exit to the sea, or the south, for them. That was why Russia had heavily been investing Sevastopol a great amount of military assets. Realizing the peninsula to be literally included in Russia, the Western nations would be satisfied enough with welcoming Ukraine to their world.

Former Prime Minister, Taro Aso, well described the situation. “The origin of Russia is Dukedom of Kiev. For the Russians, a story like Kiev, separated from Crimea, leaving to Europe can be resembled losing Takamagahara with independence of Miyazaki prefecture,” told him. Takamagahara is a mythical heaven where holy gods are living. Although he was criticized as being compassionate to Russia, he struck basic structure of the problem.

The significance of G7 decision was to have authorized economic sanction toward Russia. U.S. does not care, if some countries in Europe may not follow it. Having a sense of legitimacy on its unilateral sanction, planting possible uncomfortable sentiment on Russian people who experienced disastrous economy in Soviet era, and keeping Ukraine annexed to the West are still advantages for U.S. in Eastern Europe.

Japan has no other choice than following the West, as long as it wants to stay on the side of democracy, human rights and rule of law. But it has a huge political debt in short-sighted diplomacy stemmed from revisionism of Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe. Russia must have been a possible partner to justify Abe’s “positive pacifism,” if bilateral talks for peace treaty would be making progress. Abe lost one of his diplomatic cards with unexpected political turmoil in Europe.