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Long constrained as a security actor by constitutional as well as external factors, Japan now increasingly is called to play a greater role in stabilizing both the Asia-Pacific region and the entire international system. Japan's Security Agenda explores the country's diplomatic, political, military, and economic concerns and policies within this new context.

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party of Japan uses incremental changes to manage conflicting pressures over defence.This work focuses on the establishment of defence policy constraints through 1992. It discusses the various implications of using defence policy as a means of conflict management.

It is a well known fact that Japan spends only a small percentage of her gross national product on defense. What is not well known, however, is the fact that Japan's defense budget ranks among the top in the world and that her self-defense forces are considered to be amongst the best conventional armed forces in the world. Since empirical studies concerning Japan's military expansion are rare both in Japanese and English, the book takes up this neglected area. It examines Japan's military expansion and the decision-making of her defense policy between 1976 and 2007, focusing on the National Defense Program outline and the guidelines for United States-Japan Defense Cooperation. This book deals with how the bureaucratic politics model applies to the case of Japan's defense policy and demonstrates some similarities and differences between Japanese and United States decision-making.

Witnesses: Brett Burdick, Terrorism Program Mgr., VA Dept. of Emerg. Serv.; James Clapper, Jr., Vice Chmn., Advisory Panel to Assess Domestic Response Capabil. for Terrorism Involving Weapons of Mass Destruction, accomp. by Mike Wermuth, Rand Corp., and Paul Maniscalco, Sr. Emerg. Mgmt. Services, N.Y. City; John Eversole, chief, Chicago Fire Dept., and Chair, Haz. Materials Committee, Internat. Assoc. of Fire Chiefs (IAFC); P. Michael Freeman, Chief, L.A. County Fire Dept., and Chmn., Terrorism Comm., IAFC; Robert Fudge, Weapons of Mass Destruction Program Mgr., LA Office of Emerg. Prepared.; and Norman Rabkin, Dir., Nat. Sec. Prepared. Issues, and Stephen Caldwell, Assist. Dir.

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.

Based on extensive Japanese-language materials, this book is the first to examine the development of Japan’s Ground Self-Defense Force. It addresses: how the GSDF was able to emerge as the post-war successor of the Imperial Japanese Army despite Japan’s anti-militarist constitution; how the GSDF, despite the public skepticism and even hostility that greeted its creation, built domestic and international legitimacy; and how the GSDF has responded to changes in international and domestic environments. This path-breaking study of the world’s third-largest-economic power’s ground army is timely for two reasons. First, the resurgence of tensions in Northeast Asia over territorial disputes, and the emphasis recent Japanese governments have placed on using the GSDF for defending Japan’s outlying islands is driving media coverage and specialist interest in the GSDF. Second, the March 11, 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami has focused global attention on the GSDF as Japan’s lead disaster relief organization. This highly informative and thoroughly researched book provides insight for policy makers and academics interested in Japanese foreign and defense policies.

The latest edition of this comprehensive and user-friendly textbook provides a single volume resource for all those studying Japan's international relations. It offers a clear and concise introduction to the most important aspects of Japan's role in the globalized economy of the twenty-first century. The book has been fully updated and revised to include comprehensive discussions of contemporary key issues for Japan’s IR, including: the rise of China; reaction to the global economic and financial crisis since 2008; Japan’s proactive role after 9/11 and the war on terror; responses to events on the Korean Peninsula; relations with the USA and the Obama administration; relations with Russia, Central Asia and the Middle East; changing responses to an expanding and deepening European Union. Extensively illustrated, the text includes statistics, maps, photographs, summaries and suggestions for further reading, making it essential reading for those studying Japanese politics and the international relations of the Asia Pacific. A note on the cover: The cover illustration entitled 'Double Standard' is a Japanese manga penned by satirical artist Ichihanahana in November 2010 regarding rising Japanese nationalism, Japan-China tensions over the disputed territory of the Senkaku islands and the US presence in Okinawa. This manga demonstrates many of the key themes in Japan’s ties with China and the US, but also a number of other central features of Japan’s international relations as explored throughout this text.