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Why the Israel-Hamas war is so dangerous long-term, according to Rahm Emanuel
US Ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel, is keen to stay in his lane. In an exclusive and wide-ranging interview in Tokyo, Japan, on GZERO World, he tells Ian Bremmer this more than once. But that doesn't mean he can't weigh in, at least a bit, on two raging conflicts outside of Asia: the Israel-Hamas war and the conflict in Ukraine.
On Ukraine, Emanuel is more confident that the fighting won't spiral into a larger regional war. On Israel-Hamas? That's more complicated. But when Ian presses him on whether the Gaza war will expand regionally, Emanuel is not so sure. "Not regional," Emanuel explains, "but long-term in Israel's security, which is essential to our security interest as a country."
Watch the GZERO World with Ian Bremmer episode: The complicated US-Japan relationship
Catch GZERO World with Ian Bremmer every week on US public television (check local listings) and at gzeromedia.com/gzeroworld.
Would US-Japan ties be hurt by a Trump re-election?
Can one of the United States' closest allies count on it when the chips are down?
That question was up in the air during the four years of President Trump's administration. And now that the former President has a real chance of winning the White House in 2024 again, it's an urgent question again. And it's one that Ian Bremmer puts to the US Ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel, in the last episode of GZERO World.
In an exclusive interview in Tokyo, Bremmer and Emanuel discuss various topics, ranging from the crucial (but complicated) US-Japan relationship, the ever-present security threats China poses, and the raging conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine.
But perhaps no question hit closer to home than America's reliability. "Elections may fluctuate," Emanuel assures Ian, "but strategic interests align."
Watch the GZERO World with Ian Bremmer episode: The complicated US-Japan relationship
Catch GZERO World with Ian Bremmer every week on US public television (check local listings) and at gzeromedia.com/gzeroworld.
The complicated US-Japan relationship
The US-Japan alliance is complex. But among other priorities, to rein in China, both countries need each other.
If you know anything about Rahm Emanuel, it's that speaking diplomatically may not be his forte. And yet, his current post demands it. The former White House chief of staff (called, in his day, a "pitbull") and the polarizing mayor of Chicago now serves as the US ambassador to Japan, one of the US' closest allies. Ian Bremmer was in Tokyo for an exclusive interview with Emanuel. And though the ambassador did his best to remain "diplomatic," there were flashes of the "pitbull" as well.
In a wide-ranging interview, the Ambassador discusses Japan's critical role as a key US ally in the Asia-Pacific and a bulwark against an ever-expanding China. Emanuel also discusses a recent trilateral meeting between the US, Japan, and South Korea at the Camp David presidential compound and the significance of these alliances in countering aggression and promoting diplomacy. Perhaps he is most wary of drifting out of his lane when commenting on wars in the Middle East and Europe. But he does touch on the polarization of the Israel-Palestine issue and the need for a moral grounding in addressing the conflict.
Watch GZERO World with Ian Bremmer every week on US public television (check local listings) and at gzeromedia.com/gzeroworld.
Podcast: Unpacking the complicated US-Japan relationship with Ambassador Rahm Emanuel
Ian Bremmer is in Tokyo, Japan, to check in on America’s “pivot to Asia.” How’s that going? Given that neither Ukraine nor Israel is located in the Asia Pacific, it is not so great!
In 2011, then-President Obama announced on a trip to Australia that US foreign policy would be shifting its focus away from costly wars in the Middle East and towards strengthening partnerships in the Asia-Pacific to curb a rising China. Twelve years later, we’re still pivoting. But if we ever do get there, we will have to take Japan, one of our closest regional allies, along with us. To talk about US-Japan relations, as well as a whole host of sticky policy issues, foreign and domestic, Ian is joined by US Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel. Ian will also get his take on the Israel-Hamas war and the fighting in Ukraine.
US CEOs too influential on China policy, says Rahm Emanuel
US CEOs are too cozy with Beijing, says US Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel.
At the APEC summit last November in San Francisco, heads of state and diplomats from nations in the Asia-Pacific met to address a wide array of strategic interests and challenges. But no other meeting was as closely watched as that between US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping. As successful as that meeting may have been on a PR level (at least according to the delegations of each leader), one man present took special note of what happened afterward. US Ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel, told Ian Bremmer about that summit during an exclusive interview in the latest episode of GZERO World, filmed at the Ambassador's residence in Tokyo, Japan.
"President Xi goes to have a meeting with American CEOs who give him a standing ovation, though he hasn't yet said anything," recounted Ambassador Emanuel. "The President of the United States goes to an event, and all the heads of state are there. That tells you about alliances, that tells you about the interests of China."
Bremmer then noted that it also tells you something about the interests of American CEOs. to which Emanuel responded: "I think the American CEOs are way too influential in American foreign policy in this region, way too influential."