Japan S Quest For A Permanent Security Council Seat

Japan has consistently been pursuing the goal of a permanent UN Security Council seat for 30 years. The book investigates the motives for this ambition, and how it has been pursued domestically and internationally. It is therefore a study of the inner workings of the Japanese Foreign Ministry as well as of the country's underdeveloped multinational diplomacy.

Japan has consistently been pursuing the goal of a permanent UN Security Council seat for 30 years. This book investigates the motives for this ambition, and how it has been pursued domestically and internationally. It is therefore a study of the interior workings of the Japanese Foreign Ministry as well as of the country's underdeveloped multilateral diplomacy.

Diploma Thesis from the year 2004 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Topic: International Organisations, grade: Distinction, University of Vienna, language: English, abstract: 1. Introduction “We, the Japanese people, [...] desire to occupy an honored place in an international society striving for the preservation of peace, and the banishment of tyranny and slavery, oppression and intolerance for all time from the earth. [...] We [...] pledge our national honor to accomplish these high ideals and purposes with all our resources.” (cit. in Hook et al. 2001:466) This excerpt from the Preamble to Japan’s Constitution that came into effect from 3. May 1947 clearly reflects Japan’s desire to regain a respectable position within the international arena. Defeated in battle and under allied occupation, it seemed as if Japan “would never again be able to play a major role on the world stage” (Linhart 1996:404). More than half a century later, circumstances have changed dramatically: not only has Japan recovered from its wartime devastation, it has also become a major economic power and risen to the status of key international player. Has Japan, in that sense, attained its goal and acquired an “honored place” in international society, as is stated in the Preamble to its Constitution? There are several means by which to assess Japan’s place on an international stage. With regard to the above question, however, the United Nations Security Council lends itself to being a foremost measure. This can be ascribed to three rationales: firstly, the Security Council can be argued as epitomising what might indeed be called an “honored place” in international society. Not only is a permanent Security Council seat highly elitist, it is also a “scarce international resource” (Hurd, cit. in Drifte 2000:95) that enhances a country’s prestige and confers it immense status. Secondly, the Security Council is endowed with the “primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security” (UN Charter, Art. 24); a function, that reveals remarkable parallels with the introductory quote which refers to an “international society striving for the preservation of peace”. Thirdly, it is overtly known, at least since the early 1990s, that Japan is pursuing permanent membership and that it has certainly tried to accomplish this “high ideal”, if not openly (“with all its resources”), then at least indirectly, from as early as the late 1960s onwards. (Drifte 2000:50)

This book places the discussion on reform of the Security Council membership in the context of its primary responsibility at the helm of the UN collective security system.

The twentieth century is as remarkable for its world wars as it is for its efforts to outlaw war in international and constitutional law and politics. Japan in the World examines some of these efforts through the life and work of Shidehara Kijuro, who was active as diplomat and statesman between 1896 until his death in 1951. Shidehara is seen as a guiding thread running through the first five decades of the twentieth century. Through the 1920s until the beginning of the 1930s, his foreign policy shaped Japan's place within the community of nations. The positive role Japan played in internation.

Japan's policymaking strategy in foreign and defense affairs changed dramatically in 2001 after Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi took the helm of the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party. Following a series of bland and short-lived prime ministers, Koizumi's infusion of fresh energy into a tired and opaque party has been compared with Tony Blair's successful revamping of New Labour in the U.K. Koizumi, however, had a weak power base in the party and limited diplomatic experience. How, then, was he able to exercise leadership? Tomohito Shinoda analyzes the prime minister's role in policymaking, focusing on the assistance he receives from the Kantei, or Cabinet Secretariat, the Japanese equivalent of the American president's White House cabinet. Since 2001, the Japanese government's center of gravity for foreign policy has shifted from the traditionally dominant Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Kantei, which allowed Koizumi to exercise a top-down style of decision-making. Through case studies and personal interviews with former prime ministers and cabinet secretaries, Shinoda looks at how Koizumi's new system operates on a practical level - how, for example, major post-2001 anti-terrorism legislation has been initiated and prepared by the Kantei-and compares its successes and failures with those of the U.S. system. With frank and engaging commentary by former officials, this book makes a unique contribution to the understanding of contemporary Japanese political affairs.

This book investigates the determinants of leadership in East Asia, emphasizing the significance of followership in the success and failure of leadership projects proposed by China, Japan, and the United States. While doing so, it answers a central question in the field of international relations: Why do potential leader countries succeed in obtaining potential followers in some instances, but fail to do so in other instances? Employing an inclusive leadership and societal approach, the book investigates how the leading countries motivate followership in East Asian economic and security dynamics. It analyzes how Chinese, Japanese and American leadership obtained acceptance from potential followers, focusing on the significance of domestic politics of potential follower countries in shaping their governmental preferences and generating followership. The book features empirical evidence in six case studies, covering topics such as the successful Chinese endeavor of South Korea joining the Chinese initiative for the Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank (AIIB), the failed US attempt to prevent South Korea from doing so, the US's success to convince Japan to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the failed Japanese strive for winning South Korea's support for Japan’s bid for a permanent seat at the UN Security Council (UNSC), the Chinese failure at obtaining the Philippines’ backing of the Chinese aspirations in the South China Sea (SCS) during the Aquino Presidency, and, finally, the Chinese success one the same effort during the Duterte presidency. The book will appeal to students, scholars, and researchers of international relations interested in a better understanding of leadership determinants in East Asia, Global Power Shift, foreign policy, as well as East Asian economic and security dynamics.