Japan S Re Emergence As A Normal Military Power

Is Japan re-emerging as a normal, or even a great, military power in regional and global security affairs? This Adelphi Paper assesses the overall trajectory of Japan’s security policy over the last decade, and the impact of a changing Japanese military posture on the stability of East Asia. The paper examines Japan’s evolving security debate, set against the background of a shifting international environment and domestic policymaking system; the status of Japan’s national military capabilities and constitutional prohibitions; post-Cold War developments in the US Japan alliance; and Japan’s role in multilateral regional security dialogue, UN PKO, and US-led coalitions of the willing. It concludes that Japan is undoubtedly moving along the trajectory of becoming a more assertive military power, and that this trend has been accelerated post-9/11. Japan is unlikely, though, to channel its military power through greatly different frameworks than at present. Japan will opt for the enhanced, and probably inextricable, integration of its military capabilities into the US Japan alliance, rather than pursuing options for greater autonomy or multilateralism. Japan’s strengthened role as the defensive shield for the offensive sword of US power projection will only serve to bolster US military hegemony in East Asia and globally.

Japan is on the verge of a sea change. After more than fifty years of national pacifism and isolation including the "lost decade" of the 1990s, Japan is quietly, stealthily awakening. As Japan prepares to become a major player in the strategic struggles of the 21st century, critical questions arise about its motivations. What are the driving forces that influence how Japan will act in the international system? Are there recurrent patterns that will help explain how Japan will respond to the emerging environment of world politics? American understanding of Japanese character and purpose has been tenuous at best. We have repeatedly underestimated Japan in the realm of foreign policy. Now as Japan shows signs of vitality and international engagement, it is more important than ever that we understand the forces that drive Japan. In Japan Rising, renowned expert Kenneth Pyle identities the common threads that bind the divergent strategies of modern Japan, providing essential reading for anyone seeking to understand how Japan arrived at this moment -- and what to expect in the future.

Providing for National Security: A Comparative Analysis argues that the provision of national security has changed in the 21st century as a result of a variety of different pressures and threats. In this timely volume experts from both the academic and policy worlds present 13 different country case studies drawn from across the globe—including established and newer states, large and smaller states, those on the rise and those in apparent decline—to identify what these key players consider to be their national security priorities, how they go about providing national security, how they manage national security, and what role they see for their armed forces now and in the future. The book concludes that relative standing and the balance of power remains important to each state, and that all see an important role for armed forces in the future.

While traditionally powerful Western economies are treading water at best, beset by crises in banking, housing, and employment, industrial growth and economic development are exploding in China and India. The world's two most populous nations are the biggest reasons for Asia's growing footprint on other global regions. The increasing size and impact of that footprint are especially important in the Middle East, an economic, religious, and geopolitical linchpin. The East Moves West details the growing interdependence of the Middle East and Asia and projects the likely ramifications of this evolving relationship. It also examines the role of Pakistan, Japan, and South Korea in the region. Geoffrey Kemp, a longtime analyst of global security and political economy, compares and contrasts Indian and Chinese involvement in the Middle East. He stresses an embedded historical dimension that gives India substantially more familiarity and interest in the region—India was there first, and it has maintained that head start. Both nations, however, are clearly on the rise and leaving an indelible mark on the Middle East, and that enhanced influence has international ramifications for the United States and throughout the world. Does the emergence of these Asian giants—with their increasingly huge need for energy—strengthen the case for cooperative security, particularly in the maritime arena? After all, safe and open sea-lanes remain an essential component of mutually beneficial intercontinental trade, making India and China increasingly dependent on safe passage of oil tankers. Or will we see reversion to more traditional competition and even conflict, given that the major Asian powers themselves have so many unresolved problems and that the future of the U.S. presence in the area is uncertain. Kemp believes the United States will remain the dominant military power in the region but will have to share some security responsibilities with the Asians, esp

It is widely recognised that the increasing importance of the US‒Japan alliance is strongly linked to emerging threats in the Asia Pacific, with China’s rise and the ambitions of North Korea having brought the two allies closer together. This book, however, seeks to question whether these factors are indeed the sole determinants of this enduring alliance. A pioneering study conducted through the lens of neo-Gramscianism, this book unravels the intricate political dynamism involved in the US‒Japan alliance. It provides an innovative attempt to link the concept of alliances to hegemony and thus examines Japan’s relationship to US dominance in the region. Building on existing scholarship, it also seeks to examine how Japan’s continuing dependence on the US, and the burden it places of citizens living near US military bases, may affect the durability of the alliance in the post-Cold War era. As such, this book presents an alternative theoretical tool in the field of international relations to analyse the political nature of the alliance, as well as US hegemony in the region. This book will be useful to students and scholars of Japanese Politics and foreign policymaking, as well as International Relations and Security Studies more generally.

Bringing together issues that are highly relevant to contemporary Japanese foreign policy, this comprehensive text analyzes the formation of the North Korea policy in the context of great power relations in East Asia.

Papers presented at the 10th Asian Security Conference, held at New Delhi on 4th February 2008.