Stephen R. Nagy
Dr. Stephen R. Nagyis Professor of Politics and International Studies at the International Christian University, specializing in Indo-Pacific geopolitics and great power competition. Concurrently, he holds strategic appointments as Senior Fellow at the MacDonald Laurier Institute, Research Fellow at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, and Visiting Fellow at the Japan Institute for International Affairs.
Dr. Nagy serves as the director of policy studies for the Yokosuka Council of Asia Pacific Studies (YCAPS), spearheading their Indo-Pacific Policy Dialogue series. He is currently working on middle-power approaches to great-power competition in the Indo-Pacific. The tentative title for his forthcoming monograph is “Navigating U.S. China Strategic Competition: Japan as an International Adapter Middle Power.” Link to Dr. Stephen R. Nagy website: https://nagystephen.com/
By Stephen R. Nagy Introduction: The End of the “Bavarian Consensus” For nearly three decades, the Munich Security Conference served as the high church of the liberal international order. It was a place where trans-Atlantic elites gathered to reaffirm a specific catechism: that…
By Stephen R. Nagy Japan’s 2026 House of Representatives election is unfolding under conditions that are rare even by the country’s snap-election standards: a midwinter campaign conducted on an ultra-short timetable. The House was dissolved at the opening of the ordinary Diet session…
A pivotal election in Tokyo challenges the Asian order, testing whether democratic values can survive the crushing weight of Chinese coercion. By Stephen R. Nagy On January 19, 2026, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took the gamble of her political life. Having assumed office…
In an age of American retrenchment and Chinese assertiveness, Tokyo must become Washington’s essential partner—or risk facing Beijing alone. By Stephen R. Nagy In the opening passages of The Book of Five Rings, the legendary swordsman Miyamoto Musashi wrote that victory belongs not…
By Stephen R. Nagy In ancient China, the phrase “pointing at a deer and calling it a horse” (指鹿为马) became synonymous with power’s ability to force people to deny obvious reality. During the Qin Dynasty, the powerful official Zhao Gao brought a deer…
By Stephen R. Nagy Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party has chosen Sanae Takaichi as its new leader, positioning her to become the nation’s first female prime minister at a critical juncture in global politics. Former economic security minister Sanae Takaichi emerged victorious in the…
By Stephen R. Nagy When senior American officials visit Tokyo, their briefing materials likely reflect a fundamental split in how Western experts interpret Japan. This divide between scholars trained during the Cold War and those who entered the field after 2000 profoundly shapes…
By Stephen R. Nagy Japan stands at its most critical juncture since the 1860s. The working population shrinks by hundreds of thousands annually, eroding the foundation of national economic strength. Despite decades of discussion about women’s advancement, Japan maintains the lowest rate of…