Proposal for “Arc of Freedom and Prosperity”
Although the Tsunami Core group had to be disbanded on fulfilment of its purpose, however the quadrilateral template that formed remained intact as a successful scaffolding of four countries, as stated by authors Patrick Gerard Buchan and Benjamin Rimland in their diplomatic brief about QUAD ( you can access the brief at https://www.csis.org/analysis/defining-diamond-past-present-and-future-quadrilateral-security-dialogue). Then President of the Liberal Democratic Party, Shinzo Abe proposed the “Arc of Freedom and Prosperity” in reference to the quadrilateral template that has found its mark. In November 30th, 2006, Japan’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr. Taro Aso on the occasion of Japan Institute of Foreign Affairs (JIFA) seminar “Arc of Freedom and Prosperity: Japan’s Expanding Diplomatic Horizons” introduced two phrases in his speech, viz., “value oriented diplomacy” and “the arc of freedom and prosperity” and referred these expressions as the bases of foreign policy. And by “value oriented diplomacy” he wanted to point out on placing emphasis on “universal values” such as democracy, freedom, human rights, the rule of law, and the market economy, while the expression “the arc of freedom and prosperity” denotes to the successfully budding democracies at the outer rim of the Eurasian continent, forming an arc, with whom Japan intends to connect in a diplomatic group (as this can be found in the Foreign Affairs Ministers speech MOFA: Speech by Mr. Taro Aso, Minister for Foreign Affairs on the Occasion of the Japan Institute of International Affairs Seminar “Arc of Freedom and Prosperity: Japan’s Expanding Diplomatic Horizons”). Besides discussing Japan’s strive for pacifism, shared values of democracy, and its desired foreign relations with EU, NATO, ASEAN, Russia, Ukraine, CLV countries (Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam), countries in Caucasus region, viz., Georgia, Azerbaijan; the Foreign Affairs Minister mostly earnestly wished to firm Japan’s relations with US, Australia and India for their common shared goals, as Mr. Taro Aso quoted, “With that in mind, I firmly believe that Japan must make its ties even firmer with friendly nations that share the common views and interests, namely of course the United States as well as Australia, India, and the member states of the EU and NATO, and at the same time work with these friends towards the expansion of this “arc of freedom and prosperity”.” He further stated in a supplementary note that Japan specifically wishes to strengthen its ties with India, drawing analogy to Japan’s already established strong ties with China (as can be found in the Foreign Affairs Ministers speech MOFA: Speech by Mr. Taro Aso, Minister for Foreign Affairs on the Occasion of the Japan Institute of International Affairs Seminar “Arc of Freedom and Prosperity: Japan’s Expanding Diplomatic Horizons”). Thus, this famous speech set up a further stronger scaffolding for the quadrilateral structure in diplomacy of Japan, US, India, and Australia.