In Japan, she is known as the “iron lady,” a not-so-subtle comparison to Britain’s Margaret Thatcher — the staunch American ally who helped Ronald Reagan defeat the Soviet Union in Cold War I. Sanae Takaichi recently became the prime minister of Japan. Like Thatcher, she rose to power from humble origins. Like Thatcher, she is a conservative known for supporting a “hawkish” foreign policy and a stronger military.
Like Thatcher, she is a conservative known for supporting a “hawkish” foreign policy and a stronger military.
In the late 1970s, in the wake of America’s defeat in Vietnam and the disastrous presidency of Jimmy Carter, Thatcher partnered with Ronald Reagan to reverse the “correlation of forces” that appeared to be shifting in the Soviet Union’s favor in Cold War I. There are indications that Takaichi may partner with Donald Trump, in the aftermath of the disastrous, Carter-like Biden presidency, to face down the growing geopolitical challenge of China in Cold War II. (RELATED: Japan Set to Elect Female Nationalist, Pro-Taiwan, Anti-China Hawk as Next PM)
During President Trump’s recent Asia trip, he heaped praise upon Japan’s first female prime minister, saying that she “will be one of the great prime ministers.” Takaichi pledged to significantly increase Japan’s defense spending, signed an agreement on critical minerals and rare earths, and lauded potential new investments by Japanese companies in the United States. She also praised Trump’s peacemaking efforts around the world. (RELATED: Japan’s MAGA Moment)
Prime Minister Takaichi is a protégé of Shinzo Abe, Japan’s former prime minister, who was a key Trump ally during Trump’s first term. Abe, who stepped down as prime minister in 2020, was assassinated in 2022 while giving a speech in support of a Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) candidate for Japan’s upper house of parliament.
There is geopolitical symmetry in our alliances with Britain and Japan. Thatcher’s Britain, an island offshore of the Atlantic coast of Eurasia, was the most important maritime ally of the United States during Cold War I. Takaichi’s Japan, an island offshore of the Pacific coast of Eurasia, is the most important maritime ally of the United States in Cold War II. Just as the Atlantic Ocean and Western Europe were centers of gravity in Cold War I, the Pacific Ocean and East and South Asia are the centers of gravity in Cold War II.
In the 1980s, Reagan and Thatcher achieved victory over the Soviet Union while avoiding World War III. Both leaders sensed that Mikhail Gorbachev was a different kind of Soviet leader who, in Thatcher’s words, they could “do business with.” Their policies led to a peaceful resolution of Cold War I. Trump and Takaichi understand that we are in Cold War II with China, but they also know that a kinetic war with China would be disastrous for both sides. Trump and Takaichi are both speaking softly while wielding a big stick in the form of military power and a strengthened alliance. (RELATED: Some Dare Call It Treason)
President Xi is no Gorbachev, and China, although it has weaknesses that can and should be exploited, is not as vulnerable to collapse as the Soviet Union was in the mid-to-late 1980s. Cold War II is not likely to end while Xi remains in power. Xi has been systematically purging China’s military leaders and Communist Party officials, and Sinologists differ on whether the purges are evidence of strength or weakness. (RELATED: Xi Cracks Down on Christians Ahead of Meetup With Trump)
In either case, it is important for China to be faced with a strong U.S.-led Indo-Pacific alliance, and U.S.–Japanese relations are the cornerstone of such an alliance. Let’s hope that, as Trump and Takaichi said, it is the “Golden Age” of U.S.-Japan relations.
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