Hugging and Hedging: Japanese Grand Strategy in the 21st Century

After decades of accepting US supremacy in Asia as the foundation of its foreign and security policies, finding the right distance between the U.S. and China is the most important strategic choice facing Japan today. “Getting it just right” with these two powers will require both military and economic readjustments. There is a great deal at stake in Tokyo’s recalculation. Japan, China, and the United States are, after all, the three largest economies in the world, together accounting for nearly 40% of global production. Each has a deep--and deepening--stake in the other two. The United States and Japan are China’s top two trade partners. The United States and China are Japan’s top two trade partners. And Japan and China are the top two U.S. trade partners outside of NAFTA. In security terms, the United States remains the world’s only hyper power, but China’s rapid (if opaque) military modernization is shifting regional dynamics. For its part, Japan annually spends over $50 billion on defense, no trivial sum despite its self-imposed cap on spending at 1% of GDP. Japan has an impressive navy and air force and has openly debated possessing strike cap abilities. Even the nuclear option reportedly has been discussed among members of the National Diet. In short, each of the three is a bona fide current or potential “great power”--viz., each has the ability to exert its economic, military, cultural, and diplomatic influence on a global scale in ways that could alter the regional and global balances

Changing faces of Japanese defense policy: Past and future

During the Cold War, Japan played a strategic role by contributing to the global containment against the Soviet Union. After the Cold War, Japan became more active operationally and better prepared legally. However, it did not play significant strategic roles in shaping the post-Cold War international order. The question now is whether Japan will play strategic roles in the future. Given the changes in the domestic political outlook, political capital necessary for redefining Japanese defense policy seems to be forthcoming. Japan could play strategic roles particularly in ballistic missile defense and U.S.-Japan defense cooperation.Japan, defense, security, Cold War, missile defense, Korea, United States,