Social Sciences
Today, April 4, APP director Mindy Kotler joined APP member Ms. Shihoko Goto of the Wilson Center Asia Program, Ms. Yuki Tatsumi of the Stimson Centers, and Professor Thomas Berger of Boston University on Huffington Post Live to discussion whether Japan is moving away from pacifism.
- Finally The Washington Post Speaks Out
Prime Minister AbeReflecting the increasing dismay and exasperation of the Obama Administration with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the Editorial Board of the Washington Post on Saturday, April 26th hectored Abe about his retrogressive views...
- A New Japan For A New Era
A New Japan for a New Era Cosponsored by Sasakawa Peace Foundation The Project 2049 Institute American Enterprise Institute Wednesday, January 4, 2012 2:00 p.m. ? 4:00 p.m. Location American Enterprise Institute 1150 17th Street, NW Washington,...
- Amb Mike Armacost To Speak In Tokyo May 28
U.S-Japan Relationship after Fifty Years A 50th Anniversary Symposium of the Japan-US Security Treaty hosted by APP member institution the US-Japan Research Institute will feature former US Ambassador to Japan Michael Armacost who is an APP...
- See General Tamogami For Yourself
In the previous post, Professor Penn mentioned the effect of former Air Self Defense Force General Toshio Tamogami's revisionist views on Japanese politics. He won a prize for an essay, Was Japan an Aggressor Nation, which concluded that Japan was...
- Okinawa Air Base In Focus
Mike Mochizuki, Asia Policy Point board member and soon to be a dean at George Washington University and Brookings scholar Michael O'Hanlon get to the heart of the Futenma dispute in an op ed in Friday's (December 18th) Washington Times. What...
Social Sciences
APP on Huffington Post Live!
Today, April 4, APP director Mindy Kotler joined APP member Ms. Shihoko Goto of the Wilson Center Asia Program, Ms. Yuki Tatsumi of the Stimson Centers, and Professor Thomas Berger of Boston University on Huffington Post Live to discussion whether Japan is moving away from pacifism.
Ms. Kotler was hesitant to characterize Japan as pacifist. The country has substantive defense forces. Even during the discussion of the postwar constitution there was a strong emphasis on maintaining self-defense. Today, Japan's defense forces are sophisticated and capable. It's Maritime Self Defense Force is a potent blue water fleet. What is true is that Japan has refrained from using its defense forces and has been a free rider on the United States. The "alliance" is a linguistic construct designed to legitimatize the American defense of Japan.
Today's Asia is economically and politically stronger than after WWII. Independent democracies with feisty publics exist. What is happening is threefold: 1) the United States no longer wants to carry the full burden of Japan's defense; 2) Japanese politicians want to test the American commitment to the country's defense; and 3) Japan's neighbors are asserting their own nationalism and question Japan's rhetoric of change.
The new Abe government, abjectly unapologetic about Japan's aggressive wartime past, worries its neighbors. It is not that the self-defense forces will get any stronger, but the Japanese leaders making the decisions are viewed as militarists with retrogressive views of Asian history and culture. The judgement of Japan's leaders is what worries many. Unilateral actions and militarist rhetoric further undermine trust. This is the danger ahead.
- Finally The Washington Post Speaks Out
Prime Minister AbeReflecting the increasing dismay and exasperation of the Obama Administration with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the Editorial Board of the Washington Post on Saturday, April 26th hectored Abe about his retrogressive views...
- A New Japan For A New Era
A New Japan for a New Era Cosponsored by Sasakawa Peace Foundation The Project 2049 Institute American Enterprise Institute Wednesday, January 4, 2012 2:00 p.m. ? 4:00 p.m. Location American Enterprise Institute 1150 17th Street, NW Washington,...
- Amb Mike Armacost To Speak In Tokyo May 28
U.S-Japan Relationship after Fifty Years A 50th Anniversary Symposium of the Japan-US Security Treaty hosted by APP member institution the US-Japan Research Institute will feature former US Ambassador to Japan Michael Armacost who is an APP...
- See General Tamogami For Yourself
In the previous post, Professor Penn mentioned the effect of former Air Self Defense Force General Toshio Tamogami's revisionist views on Japanese politics. He won a prize for an essay, Was Japan an Aggressor Nation, which concluded that Japan was...
- Okinawa Air Base In Focus
Mike Mochizuki, Asia Policy Point board member and soon to be a dean at George Washington University and Brookings scholar Michael O'Hanlon get to the heart of the Futenma dispute in an op ed in Friday's (December 18th) Washington Times. What...