Line of Advantage

Line of Advantage provides a groundbreaking and comprehensive account of the new grand strategy that emerged in Japan under Abe Shinzō. Michael J. Green draws on on two decades of access to Abe and other Japanese political, military, and business leaders, assessing the strengths and weaknesses of Japan’s approach.

Michael J. Green is director of Asian studies and chair in modern and contemporary Japanese politics and foreign policy at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University as well as senior vice president for Asia and Japan chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He has served at senior levels of the National Security Council, and his books include By More Than Providence: Grand Strategy and American Power in the Asia-Pacific Since 1783 (Columbia, 2017).

Yoichi Funabashi, author of Meltdown: Inside the Fukushima Nuclear Crisis:
In this extremely timely book, Michael J. Green sheds light on Japan’s emergence as a leader in its strategy on China, as well as in Abe’s politics and diplomacy. Green, a highly experienced scholar-practitioner, demonstrates formidable knowledge and profound insight on Japan’s history, geopolitics, and statecraft, peppering the text with many personal and intimate conversations with top U.S. and Japanese decision makers. He envisions the U.S.-Japan alliance as the twenty-first-century equivalent of the Anglo-American alliance, wearing the mantle of the Pacific mission and maritime strategy of John MacMurray and George Kennan.

Richard L. Armitage, former deputy secretary of state and president of Armitage International:
For a time, the United States was AWOL from our traditional duty as leader of the West. Michael J. Green thoughtfully and professionally chronicles the ascent of Abe into that void. Academically rigorous yet guided by a master policy maker’s feel, this is a book that Asianists will use as a resource well into the future.

Sheila A. Smith, author of Japan Rearmed: The Politics of Military Power:
This is a detailed and thoughtful analysis of the strategic ambitions of one of Japan’s most important postwar political leaders. Its strength lies in its identification of Abe as one of Japan’s most important foreign policy thinkers and its detailed account of how Abe capitalized on foreign policy opportunities to better position Japan in a world that is increasingly challenging its postwar strategy.