Japan Must Overcome Political Dysfunction
Editorial Board, The Washington Post | August 29, 2011
Japan’s prime minister resigned Friday, becoming the sixth Japanese leader to step down in the past five years. ++ Already beset with $200 billion in reconstruction costs after the terrible March earthquake, Tokyo also faces a looming demographic crisis and now a leadership vacuum with implications reaching across Asia. ++ As the world’s third largest economy, Japan must stop “punching below its weight” to sustain its friendship with the US, provide a counterweight to a rising China and help maintain stability in Asia.
