Who are the new Japanese?

Abe's speech at this year's Shangri-La Dialogue suggesting they will be the stewards of peace in Asia was simply self-serving hypocrisy

Last month, President Barack Obama sought to define a new foreign policy doctrine for the United States. In his much anticipated Commencement Address at the West Point Military Academy, he set a bar for American military intervention abroad that is the highest in recent memory - when the US' interests are directly threatened. Perhaps the lessons of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya are beginning to sink in and be structurally reflected in US foreign policy. Perhaps the demands of the American people for a "pivot" to Ohio, rather than the far-flung oceans of Asia, are finally being heard.

Many worry that a self-reflective and retrenching US is leaving a void in the world's balance of power. But hold your breath, here is Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to the rescue. In his keynote address at this year's Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Abe proposed a groundbreaking new concept: The New Japanese. A new breed of international and peace-loving Japanese that is going to confidently step forward and safeguard the world order, at least in Asia.