The Autonomy‒Alignment Trade‐Off: Japan’s Evolving Defense Posture

Richardson, Lauren

doi:10.1111/aspp.12510

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 5 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The U.S.-Japan alliance serves as a cornerstone of Japan's security policy and provides a framework for bilateral defense cooperation, including the stationing of U.S. military forces in Japan. This alliance has been instrumental in maintaining stability and security in the region, deterring potential threats, and addressing shared challenges such as North Korea's nuclear program TESAM (Richardson, 2020).…”

Section: Japanmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thirty Years' Crisis: The Decline of U.S. Hegemony and the Rise of China

Türker

2024

TESAM Akademi Dergisi

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article examines the current global landscape, characterized by the decline of US hegemony and the rise of China, and draws parallels to Carr's "Twenty Years' Crisis." The implications of these shifts are explored, including the resurgence of realism, China's ascent as a global power, challenges to US leadership, and the potential risks of a global military conflict. The resurgence of power politics challenges the prevailing belief that it had diminished in the post-Cold War era. Territorial disputes and the pursuit of national interests by major powers such as Russia and China highlight the enduring relevance of realism. China's rapid rise as a global power echoes the emergence of the United States as a superpower in the past. Meanwhile, the United States faces challenges as its economic and technological superiority wanes, with China posing a significant threat to its leadership. In conclusion, the current global landscape, similar to Carr's "Twenty Years' Crisis," demands a holistic approach to understanding and addressing the complexities of our time.

show abstract

Section: Japanmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thirty Years' Crisis: The Decline of U.S. Hegemony and the Rise of China

Türker

2024

TESAM Akademi Dergisi

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…127 For now, though, the alliance has weathered the storm, and (so far) none of Tokyo's worst fears have come to pass, pointing to the alliance's fundamental strength. 128 In fact, the alliance remains key to the Indo-Pacific strategy and to countering China's growing military presence in the region. Tokyo has invested heavily in deepening military cooperation, for example through joint military exercises in the East China Sea, and trilateral exercises including Japanese, U.S. and Australian naval forces.…”

Section: Did Donald and Shinzō Make The Alliance Even Greater?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“Making the alliance even greater”: (Mis-)managing U.S.-Japan relations in the age of Trump

O’Shea¹,

Maslow

2020

Asian Security

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

President Donald Trump's "America First" policy questions the fundamentals of the global U.S.-led alliance network. Where other allies implemented hedging strategies, Japan's Prime Minister Abe Shinzō pledged to "make the alliance even greater," insisting that the bilateral ties were "airtight" and "stronger than ever before." However, Trump's approach to trade, détente with North Korea, and off-the-cuff remarks regarding nuclear weapons invigorated criticism in Japan: the U.S. is an unreliable partner and Japan needs to prepare for life after the alliance. We argue that Abe's embrace of Trump was successful in staving off the worst, maintaining stability at the cost of personal humiliation and certain trade and security interests. However, Trump's cavalier treatment of Japan has laid bare the realities of the alliance, potentially revitalizing a more autonomous discourse of alternatives to the current and often "humiliating" modus in alliance management. Alliance Adrift Redux? Donald J. Trump's 2016 electoral victory has become known in Japan as the "Trump Shock," 1 echoing the "Nixon shocks" of the early 1970s. Like Nixon before him, Trump has departed from the status quo on security and trade policy, pressuring Japan on market access and burden-sharing while making unilateral and dramatic shifts in U.S. policy toward regional rivals (for Nixon it was China, for Trump it is North Korea). But where Nixon's foreign policy was amorally realist, Trump's has proved more narcissistic nativist. 2 Since his 2016 presidential campaign, Trump's "America First" policy has threatened to unravel the fundamentals of the global U.S.-led alliance networks in Europe and Asia. 3 Where other allies responded with hedging strategies, Japan's Prime Minister Abe Shinzō pledged to "make the alliance even greater," 4 cultivating close personal ties to Trump and insisting that the bilateral relationship was "airtight" 5 and "stronger than ever before." 6 Some pundits have argued that the "Trump Shock" even represents a golden opportunity for Japan to step up and pursue leadership in securing the stability of the international liberal order. 7 This embrace of Trump, and the ensuing so-called "bromance" between the two leaders, has been lauded by both Japanese and Western commentators and analysts. 8 However, it is far from clear what results Abe's approach has yielded. Trump's withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement and tough approach to trade negotiations, sudden détente with North Korea, and off-the-cuff remarks regarding the prospect of Japan developing nuclear weapons have invigorated a sense of uncertainty among Japan's alliance managers, raising concerns as to whether the United States is a reliable partner and whether it is time for Japan to prepare for life after the U.S. alliance. 9 Thus, 4 years after Trump's election victory, and with the United States facing another divisive presidential election, in this article we take stock of Abe's response to the "Trump Shock" and assess the state of the alliance a...

show abstract

“…However, in 2014 Abe’s administration adopted a Cabinet Resolution lifting the ban on collective self-defence and implying that Japan will exercise the right under certain situations. For further discussion on the Japanese reinterpretation of the right of collective self-defence, see Easley (2016), Envall (2020), Fatton (2018), Hughes (2015), Liff (2017), Oros (2017), Pugliese and Patalano (2020) and Richardson (2020).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The EU–Japan Partnership in the Post-pandemic Order: What Comes Next?

López

2024

Journal of Asian Security and International Affairs

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

EU–Japan relations have been treated in the literature as a ‘normal relationship’ between two mature actors with a long history of promises, expectations and indifferences. However, since 2004, the EU has been considering its relations with Japan as a strategic partnership; that is, a powerful relationship that plays an increasingly central role in the international system. Recent changes in the EU and Japanese domestic and international environments show how both parties’ relations have shifted from a period of indifferences and low expectations to a new momentum of cooperation in facing common global challenges such as open trade, climate change, multilateralism or the recent pandemic. The main objective of this article is, first, to suggest a framework of analysis to better calibrate the EU–Japan relationship, and second, to understand recent trends in EU–Japan relations that have enabled the Economic Partnership Agreement that entered into force in 2019.

show abstract

The Autonomy‒Alignment Trade‐Off: Japan’s Evolving Defense Posture

Cited by 5 publications

References 5 publications

Thirty Years' Crisis: The Decline of U.S. Hegemony and the Rise of China

Thirty Years' Crisis: The Decline of U.S. Hegemony and the Rise of China

“Making the alliance even greater”: (Mis-)managing U.S.-Japan relations in the age of Trump

The EU–Japan Partnership in the Post-pandemic Order: What Comes Next?

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About