The economic dimension of national security is not a new concept, yet it was generally neglected in the West for a long time, especially in the post-Cold War era, a unipolar moment in the international order, when the United States held the uncontested lead and it seemed as if neoliberalism had triumphed. Since the 2000s, new geopolitical tensions have brought economic security back to the fore. As authoritarian and dictatorial regimes began extensively reaching for methods of hybrid and economic warfare, an urgent need for a protective policy response emerged on the other side.
The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the evolution of the concept of economic security and to review recent relevant initiatives adopted in Japan by the new Kishida government, which might serve as an inspiration for policy development in Europe and elsewhere.