Japan's Changing Political and Security Role

The end of the cold war and the recent Gulf war triggered not only a worldwide debate about the maintenance of a suitable international order under these rapidly changing circumstances but also an intense debate in Japan on how Japan could contribute to the maintenance of international order. While Japan's place in a multi-polar balance of power is far from clear, it would be useful to reassess Japan's current security policy and identify important issues bearing on Japan's future role for regional security. How is Japan likely to cope with a rapidly changing world? What sort of domestic and international political forces influence the future course of Japan most decisively? What are the implications of the internal political dynamics of Japan for regional security? This study examines these critical security issues which are increasingly looming large on Japan's security policy agenda for the 1990s and beyond.