GZERO World Clips

How did Shinzo Abe change Japan, and the world?

How Did Shinzo Abe Change Japan, and the World? | Former Adviser Tomohiko Taniguchi | GZERO World

The late Shinzo Abe, Japan's former PM, often doesn't get enough credit for bolstering the morale of young Japanese, explains Tomohiko Taniguchi, Abe's former adviser and close friend, who spoke with Ian Bremmer on GZERO World.

On foreign policy, he is considered the architect of the Quad dialogue with the US, India, and Australia, though he failed to realize his dream of reforming Japan's constitution.

Taniguchi says Abe also tried his best to make peace with Russia, just falling short of signing a treaty to resolve the dispute over the Kuril Islands (which the Japanese refer to as the Northern Territories).

"Japan, unlike any other advanced nations, is encircled by [the] three undemocratic, militarist, authoritarian, nuclear regimes of Russia, North Korea, and China," he adds. "Shinzo Abe wanted to decrease the tension at least from Russia — to little avail."

Watch the GZERO World episode: Assassinated! Japan’s grief & how Shinzo Abe’s goals will shape Asia

More For You

Igmel Tamayo carries charcoal to sell on the side of a road for use as cooking fuel in homes, after US President Donald Trump vowed to stop Venezuelan oil and money from reaching the island as Cubans brace for worsening fuel shortages amid regular power outages, on the outskirts of Havana, Cuba, on January 12, 2026.
REUTERS/Norlys Perez

Xi Jinping has spent three years gutting his own military leadership. Five of the seven members of the Central Military Commission – China's supreme military authority – have been purged since 2023, all of whom were handpicked by Xi himself back in 2022.