Jennifer Lind: Japan, the Never Normal (Council on Foreign Relations)

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In a Council on Foreign Relations blog post, Dartmouth’s Jennifer Lind notes that journalists, policy analysts, and scholars “seem unable to see Japan as normal.”

Lind, an associate professor of government, writes, “No matter what Japan does, people view it through the lens of extremes.”

Describing Japan as “a normal middle power” on the world stage, Lind suggests that those who misjudge the country also fail to see its potential to play a central role in the East Asian balance of power.

“With the exception of the United States and possibly China, no other country has a better mix of the building blocks of power and influence that Japan has,” she writes.

Read the full story, published 11/30/12 on Council on Foreign Relations.

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