Japanese leadership, it’s often said, is a revolving door, one that spits out a new prime minsterevery 12 months or so. You know something’s wrong, though, when it’s spun so far around that it begins churning out yesterday’s castaways.
Such is the case with Shinzo Abe, the man poised to replace Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, who will dissolve the Diet on Friday. That paves the way for an election as early as Dec. 16. Then, Noda’s Democratic Party of Japan is almost certain to lose power after just three years. That would put Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party, which ran Japan for roughly 54 years until August 2009, back in control. Abe was an LDP prime minister (and a mediocre one at that) from 2006 to 2007.
looking beyond borders 