Japan as a Global Military Power: New Capabilities, Alliance Integration, Bilateralism-Plus (Elements in Politics and Society in East Asia)

"Japan is emerging as a more prominent global and regional military power, defying traditional categorisations of a minimalist contribution to the US-Japan alliance, maintaining anti-militarism, seeking an internationalist role, or carving out more strategic autonomy. Instead, this Element argues that Japan has fundamentally shifted its military posture over the last three decades and traversed into a new categorisation of a more capable military power and integrated US ally. This results from Japan's recognition of its fundamentally changing strategic environment that requires a new grand strategy and military doctrines. The shift is traced across the national security strategy components of Japan Self-Defence Forces' capabilities, US-Japan alliance integration, and international security cooperation. The Element argues that all these components are subordinated inevitably to the objectives of homeland security and re-strengthening the US-Japan alliance, and thus Japan's development as international security partner outside the ambit of the bilateral alliance remains stunted. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core"-- Provided by publisher Cover Title page Copyright page Japan as a Global Military Power: New Capabilities, Alliance Integration, Bilateralism-Plus Contents 1 Introduction: Japan’s New Military Profile 1.1 Making Sense of Japan’s Security Trajectory 2 Japan’s Shifting Strategic and Military Outlook 2.1 The Yoshida Doctrine as Grand Strategy 2.2 Global and Regional Challenges to Japanese Strategy 2.3 Japan’s Reformulation of Grand Strategy and Military Doctrine 2.4 The Abe Doctrine as Grand Strategy and Japan’s Multi-Layered Military Approach 2.5 Conclusion 3 Transforming Defence Doctrine and Capabilities 3.1 From Basic Defence Force to Multi-Domain Defence Force 3.2 GSDF 3.3 MSDF 3.4 ASDF 3.5 Space, Cyber, and Electromagnetic Warfare 3.6 Defence Expenditure 3.7 Japan’s ‘Strike’ Option? 3.8 Conclusion 4 US„-Japan„ Alliance Integration 4.1 The Evolution of the US-Japan Alliance from the Late Cold War to the 2000s 4.2 The US-Japan Alliance and the Abe Doctrine 4.3 Japan’s Deepening Integration with US Doctrine and Capabilities 4.4 First Island Chain Defence and Integrating Strike Capabilities 4.5 Conclusion 5 International Cooperation: Still Bilateralism-Plus 5.1 UNPKO: Towards a Zero Japanese Contribution 5.2 International Cooperation to Legitimise US-Led Coalitions and the US-Japan Alliance 5.3 International Military Cooperation as an Extension of the US-Japan Alliance System 5.4 Conclusion 6 Conclusion: Regional and Global Implications References Acknowledgements Japan is emerging as a more prominent global and regional military power, defying traditional categorizations of a minimalist contribution to the US-Japan alliance, maintaining anti-militarism, seeking an internationalist role, or carving out more strategic autonomy. Instead, this Element argues that Japan has fundamentally shifted its military posture over the last three decades and traversed into a new categorization of a more capable military power and integrated US ally. This results from Japan's recognition of its fundamentally changing strategic environment that requires a new grand strategy and military doctrines. The shift is traced across the national security strategy components of Japan Self-Defence Forces' capabilities, US-Japan alliance integration, and international security cooperation. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108975025