Life of Shinzo Abe: Author of Abenomics & Architect of Quad Alliance

In 2006, Shinzo Abe became Japan's youngest-ever prime minister at the age of 52. Analysts label him as a key architect of the Quad, which he first proposed to tackle challenges in the Indo-Pacific region early in this century.

Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was declared dead by the local hospital authority, where he was admitted after being shot on Friday during a speech in the city of Nara in western Japan.

Nicknamed "the Prince," Abe was born to a political family in 1954. His father, Shintaro Abe, was Japan's former foreign minister, while his grandfather Nobusuke Kishi served as prime minister in 1957 and 1960.

Abe took that office in 2006, while Japan's economy was struggling to recover from the 1998 Asian crisis. His first term, which was highly scandalous, ended in a year. However, Japanese voters had faith in him and re-elected Abe as prime minister in 2012 for eight years. He resigned in 2020, citing health issues. He has had ulcerative colitis since he was a teenager.

Before he decided to step down, Abe became the country’s longest-serving prime minister in terms of consecutive days in office, overtaking the record set by his great uncle Eisaku Sato by just four days.

Nevertheless, he remained a highly-praised leader of the largest faction in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. Despite his retirement from the prime ministership, Abe remained engaged in politics.

Many labeled Abe's economic policy as "hawkish," it was dubbed "Abenomics," and delivered the Japanese economy from over a decade of stagnation.

As his policy successfully reeled in the Asian crisis, he gained an international reputation.

During Abe's premiership, Russia - Japan relations witnessed an upturn, raising the prospect of signing a peace treaty between the two nations. Abe and Russia's President Vladimir Putin agreed to consider joint economic activity in the Kuril Islands, a Pacific Ocean archipelago that became part of Russia in 1945 after World War Two.

In 2018, Putin and Abe agreed to accelerate peace treaty talks on the basis of a Soviet-era joint declaration.

Abe also reshaped not only Japan's military policy but also formalized the idea of Quad — a four-way alliance brining together India, Australia, and the US.

Quad was founded in 2007 but remained largely passive until 2017, when the leaders of Australia, Japan, India and the US agreed to revive the format in the face of what they perceived as common threats, such as the growing influence of China.

Despite geostrategic rivalry with China, Abe had pursued cooperation with President Xi Jinping.

First elected to parliament in 1993, Abe established the LDP as a dominant force through a series of wins at the National Diet, Japan's legislature.

However, Abe's political career was not far away from scandal, as his wife, Akie Abe, was linked to a cronyism scandal related to the sale of state-owned land to a private school operator.