As the West continues to grapple with the challenge of figuring out how to deal with China’s global influence, economic security has become a hotly debated concept among policymakers and experts in Japan, the United States and Europe. In recent years, the concept has evolved, with countries embedding the idea into their respective national security strategies.
Economic security started as a defensive concept, but has now been armed with an offensive element and has evolved into a geo-economic tool through which countries can advance their strategic interests.
But what exactly is economic security? In the case of Japan, it comes down to five elements, as I explain in the forthcoming book โWhat is Economic Security?โ, edited by the Institute for Geoeconomics.