Japan Observer commented on Abe's scheme in creating a “broader Asia’ partnership of democracies”. The project would include India, the U.S. and Australia, but leave out China: whether on a regional or a global scale, an organization of democracies suffers from the simple problem that it is wholly unclear to me what a “democratic” foreign policy is. No democracy conducts a purely democratic foreign policy; realpolitik in some form or another is unavoidable.