No abstract

No abstract

The Japan Engineering Groups (JEG) deployment to the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) from 2012 to 2017 exhibited consecutive aspects of “integration” and “robustness.” During the first two years, Japan’s method of “integration,” or the “All Japan” approach, fit well with UNMISS’s focus on statebuilding. It yielded various outcomes, not only in the restoration of facilities and infrastructure (e.g., road construction) but also in the nonengineering support provided to the locals (e.g., job training). With the outbreak of de facto civil war in December 2013, however, UNMISS’s top priority moved from statebuilding to Protection of Civilians (PoC), thereby intensifying inclinations toward “robustness.” Afterward, the JEG mostly focused on the construction of a PoC site, that is, a shelter for evacuated locals and internally displaced people. While security in South Sudan continued to deteriorate, the amendment to the Peacekeeping Operations (PKO) Act as part of the 2015 Peace and Security Legislation enabled the Government of Japan (GoJ) to assign the JEG to partial security missions, such as the “coming-to-aid” duty. In the end, however, the GoJ abruptly withdrew the JEG in May 2017, thereby discontinuing the series of SDF deployments to United Nations Peacekeeping Operations since 1992.

Here we will present two research questions: first, why did Japan suddenly discontinue a quarter-century history of troop contribution to United Nations Peacekeeping Operations (UNPKOs) in 2017; second, is there any possibility of resuming large-scale military deployment. Hypothetically, we will argue that Japan’s retreat from South Sudan in 2017 should be regarded not as the revival of old anti-militarism but as a recent tendency of reluctance among the Global North countries, concerning the personnel deployment to the UNPKOs. Since the start in 1992, Japan had deployed only the limited personnel contribution under the strict constitutional ban. To overcome this situation, Japan had tried to trace the global trends of “robustness” and “integration”: the former encourages more proactive use of arms for peacekeepers to remove obstacles for the UNPKOs, while the latter promotes peacebuilding-like military roles along with the cooperation with civilians. In the late 2010s, however, Japan could no longer accommodate the recent international trends, mainly due to the increasing insecurity in the UNPKOs today. Likewise, the other Global North countries had also become hesitant for the personnel contribution to the UNPKOs. We will argue that Japan’s retreat falls in the common trend among the Global North countries.