JAPAN IN EAST ASIA: Changes in the 1990s and New Regional Strategy

Japan has undergone significant changes both in domestic politics and foreign policy since the end of the Cold War. They in effect have encouraged Japan toward greater participation in international security, re-vitalization of the US-Japan alliance, and a new strategy of East Asian community building. The new global strategy of the Bush administration and changing strategic landscapes in East Asia complicate Japan's coping strategy, but also provide an opportunity for Japan's new engagement strategy in the region.

Not quite the 'Great Britain of the Far East': Japan's security, the US-Japan alliance and the 'war on terror' in East Asia

Japan, in responding to US expectations for support in the 'war on terror', has displayed a degree of strategic convergence on global security objectives, thus prompting policy-makers and observers to dub it the 'Great Britain of the Far East'. This article argues, however, that Japan is far from assuming this role. For Japan, the 'war on terror' serves more as a political pretext for legitimating long-planned changes in military security policy that are often only marginally related to the US's anti-terrorism agenda. Instead, Japan has focused much more on using the terror threat rationale as a means to push forward its response to the regional and traditional security challenges of North Korea and China, even if at times it attempts to depict both as 'new security challenges' or as involving elements of counterterrorism. The final conclusion is that US military hegemony may be weakened by Japan's and the Asia-Pacific's potential divergence from the US global security agenda

Japan's Postwar Economic Diplomacy with China: Three Decades of Non-Governmental Experiences.

This dissertation analyzes the role of Japanese non-governmental actors and channels in postwar Japan-China trade relations. The conventional wisdom sees the relationship as dominated by the political framework of East Asian international politics. Japan-China trade, however, has been relatively consistent and substantial despite the volatile political environment. This continuity amid change is not fully explained in the literature on the relationship. This dissertation argues that Japanese non-governmental actors provided a source of such continuity. Reciprocity was the central principle of cooperation motivating these actors. This sense of reciprocity comprised a belief in the economic compatibility and a deep commitment to Chinese economic development. This sense stemmed from several factors: a belief in "Asianism," personal encounters with China, and guilt-feelings from the war. Their actions led to a pattern of "structural pluralism" in Japan's trade relations with China, providing flexibility in the relationship. In this structure, the Japanese government was also a source of pluralism, amounting to a "division of labor" with the non-governmental actors. Moreover, initiatives by these non-governmental actors produced several pro-China organizations in the early 1950s. In the 1960s, the pluralistic configuration of Japanese pro-China individuals and organizations led to two separate trade channels: friendship trade and LT-MT trade. This structural pluralism provides the key explanation for how the Japan-China trade relationship survived the turbulent 1960s. The legacy of this configuration remained important in the post-normalization period, in the form of trade organizations, individuals, and firms in the more general pluralist pattern of Japan-China trade. Japanese non-governmental actors, who acted independently of international strategic considerations, thus embodied continuity in postwar Japan-China trade. The dissertation, which draws on a variety of interviews and published and unpublished materials, thus provides a comprehensive analysis of the Japanese organizations and individuals who developed China trade from the early 1950s to the late 1970s. Its findings have substantial implications for our underst and ing of how nation states simultaneously pursue multiple goals and the important role of non-governmental actors.Ph.D.International lawCommerce-BusinessUniversity of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/161461/1/8712212.pd