Last Week: Japan-US Economic Relations• Structure: the international structure (e.g.,

alliance with the US) has constrained Japan’s ability to instrumentalize its economic power.

• Agency: In the Post-Cold War period, Japanese policy makers and negotiators have learned to use multilateral institutions to seek a solution more favorable to national interests.

• Norms: pursued developmentalism and economism to change from a devastated economy through a second-tier economy, to a challenger to the US economic dominance.

Unit 6

Japan’s Security Relations with the

United States

Prof. Glenn Hook

Aim

To apply the theoretical approach introduced to

Japan’s security relations with the United States.

Objectives1) to identify the relative importance of structure, agency

and norms in explaining the bilateral security relationship;

2) to demonstrate how structure, agency and norms can be used to explain different aspects of the security relationship with the US;

3) to illustrate how structure, agency and norms can be used to explain case studies, such as: Japan’s signing of the US-Japan Security Treaty in 1951 and its renewal in 1960, revision of the US-Japan Guidelines for Defense Cooperation in the 1990s, and Japan’s responses to post-9/11 US-led wars;

Interpreting the US-Japan Security Treaty

• History of the US-Japan security relationship: US-Japan

Security Treaty (1951) and its inequality is shown in:

i. US did not give Japan a written defence commitment in this treaty;

ii. US had the right to intervene in Japan’s domestic affairs through the use

of force;

iii. US had the exclusive rights to administer Okinawa and base its military

troops. The US did not need to consult Japan on the use of the bases.

Futenma base in Okinawa

Renewal of the Security Treaty

• US-Japan Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security (1960):

i. US could not intervene in Japanese domestic affairs –

reflecting Japan’s independence as a sovereign nation;

ii. Announced a clear commitment to defend Japan;

iii. Placed some restrictions on the use of US military bases in

Japan.

Protest against the 1960 US-Japan Security Treaty revision

Protest against the Abe administration’s new security policy in 2015

What is the purpose of the Security Treaty?

i. Keep Japan down;

ii. As the guarantor of peace and security;

iii.Conduit to pressure Japan to build the military up.

Impact of the US-Japan Security Treaty (1960):

• The role of the treaty has linked Japan firmly to US security

interests and norms

• The US-Japan security relationship has been at the core of

Japan’s security policy since the end of WWII;

• Bilateralism and anti-militarism - have always worked together

depending on the structure, agency and norms relevant to the

particular context.

Structure, Agency and Norms: US-Japan security relationship (Cold War)

• Structure:

i. Japan’s close association with the US;

ii. Japan was highly vulnerable to US pressure;

iii. Constant pressure from U.S. on Japan to contribute further to regional security within the context of US-Japan security relationship;

Structure, Agency and Norms:US-Japan security relationship (Cold War)• Agency:

i. Yoshida (1946-54)

ii. Kishi (1957-60);

iii. Ikeda (1960-4) and Sato (1964-72) administrations;

iv. Miki Takeo (1974-6);

v. Fukuda Takeo (1976-8), Ohira Masayoshi (1978-80), and

Suzuki Zenko (1980-2);

vi. Nakasone Yasuhiro (1982-7).

Prime Minister Yoshida vs. Prime Minister Nakasone

Structure, Agency and Norms: US-Japan security relationship (Cold War)

• Norms:

i) Anti-militarist norm remained important in mitigating the conservatives and checking the US pressure; ii) Competing pressures of bilateralism and anti- militarism varied depending on the administrations in Japan.

US-Japan security relationship

in the post-Cold War era Japan-US security relationship has been strengthened (NDPO 2010,

1996 Japan-US Joint Declaration on Security, and 1978 Guidelines for Japan-US Defence Cooperation):

• Expansion of Japan’s security role: i. Increased interoperability and joint weapons development combined

with a more proactive role after 9/11 (ATSML);

ii. Japan’s security role has expanded to providing support to US military during emergencies in ‘situations in areas surrounding Japan’ as well as support for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq;

iii. Tension over US bases in Okinawa – representative of the combined influences of domestic and external agency, continuing to be informed by norms of bilateralism and anti-militarism.

US-Japan security relationship in the post-9/11 era

1. US-Japan bilateral mutual cooperation was augmented (Theatre Missile Defence (TMD) project);

2. Japan actively participated in US-led war on terror but no

warriors sent; support for wars in Afghanistan and Iraq;

3. Japan’s cooperation with the US was reinforced by the

restructuring of the US military presence in Japan to enhance

interoperability of the two militaries;

4. US bases on mainland Japan and Okinawa – assurances from

the US to protect Japan’s administration of the Senkaku/Diaoyu

Islands (December 2012) if challenged militarily (e.g., by China).

Japan cooperating with the US militarily

Structure, Agency and Norms:

US-Japan security relationship (Post-Cold War)

• Structure:

i. End of bipolarity and an onset of multi-polarity;

ii. More pressure on states to contribute to global security;

iii. International events raised the level of threat to Japan and the

need for US to maintain a military presence in Asia.

Structure, Agency and Norms:

US-Japan security relationship (Post-Cold War)• Agency:

I. The left has weakened within the Japanese political system;

II. A conservative brand of revisionists from the Kishi faction (e.g.

Koizumi, Abe, Asō), interrupted only briefly during the switch to

Hosokawa and DPJ (Hatoyama, Kan, Noda) administrations;

III.A generational change within Japanese society and politics

which has weakened the culture of anti-militarism.

Prime Minister Abe vs. Prime Minister Koizumi

Structure, Agency and Norms:

US-Japan security relationship (Post-Cold War)

• Norms:

i. New post-Cold War environment introduced

internationalism norm;

ii. Internationalist norm along with bilateralism are challenging

the anti-militarist norms.

Conclusion • The general trend has been for a weakening of the

constraints on the Self-Defence Forces;

• The US pressure has decreased and Japan has shown

greater willingness to boost cooperation with the US

military;

• A weakening of the anti-militarism norm in shaping the

US-Japan bilateral security relationship;

• Reaffirmation of bilateralism despite Japan’s increased

tendency towards independence.