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Securing Japan: Tokyo's Grand Strategy and the Future of East Asia
For the past sixty years, the U.S. government has assumed that Japan's security policies would reinforce American interests in Asia. The political and military profile of Asia is changing rapidly, however. Korea's nuclear program, China's rise, and the relative decline of U.S. power have commanded strategic review in Tokyo just as these matters have in Washington. What is the next step for Japan's security policy? Will confluence with U.S. interests and the alliance survive intact? Will the policy be transformed? Or will Japan become more autonomous?
Richard J. Samuels demonstrates that over the last decade, a revisionist group of Japanese policymakers has consolidated power. The Koizumi government of the early 2000s took bold steps to position Japan's military to play a global security role. It left its successor, the Abe government, to further define and legitimate Japan's new grand strategy, a project well under way-and vigorously contested both at home and in the region. Securing Japan begins by tracing the history of Japan's grand strategy from the Meiji rulers, who recognized the intimate connection between economic success and military advance, to the Konoye consensus that led to Japan's defeat in World War II and the postwar compact with the United States.
Samuels shows how the ideological connections across these wars and agreements help explain today's debate. He then explores Japan's recent strategic choices, arguing that Japan will ultimately strike a balance between national strength and national autonomy, a position that will allow it to exist securely without being either too dependent on the United States or too vulnerable to threats from China. Samuels's insights into Japanese history, society, and politics have been honed over a distinguished career and enriched by interviews with policymakers and original archival research. Securing Japan is a definitive assessment of Japanese security policy and its implications for the future of East Asia."
Richard J. Samuels demonstrates that over the last decade, a revisionist group of Japanese policymakers has consolidated power. The Koizumi government of the early 2000s took bold steps to position Japan's military to play a global security role. It left its successor, the Abe government, to further define and legitimate Japan's new grand strategy, a project well under way-and vigorously contested both at home and in the region. Securing Japan begins by tracing the history of Japan's grand strategy from the Meiji rulers, who recognized the intimate connection between economic success and military advance, to the Konoye consensus that led to Japan's defeat in World War II and the postwar compact with the United States.
Samuels shows how the ideological connections across these wars and agreements help explain today's debate. He then explores Japan's recent strategic choices, arguing that Japan will ultimately strike a balance between national strength and national autonomy, a position that will allow it to exist securely without being either too dependent on the United States or too vulnerable to threats from China. Samuels's insights into Japanese history, society, and politics have been honed over a distinguished career and enriched by interviews with policymakers and original archival research. Securing Japan is a definitive assessment of Japanese security policy and its implications for the future of East Asia."
296 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 5, 2015
Along with other classics like "Normalizing Japan," "Koizumi Diplomacy," and "Client State," this is easily one of the best books on Japan's security policy.
What distinguishes this book is its attention to historical details and its argument for the "Goldilocks" tendency in security affairs -- for Japan to be neither too hot, nor too cold in balancing the many relationships necessary to maintain security. While Japan will continue to hug the US tightly, modernize its military, and expand the power of the JSDF through ad hoc legislation, it will also look to engage its neighbors through multilateral diplomacy and institutional building.
Samuels argues that Japanese leaders were persistent rather than reluctant realists (p. 189), and that pacifism never played a dominant role in foreign policy making. Japan has always been realist, even if this realism is often expressed in contradictory terms. As Samuels states, hedging is a natural part of any realist grand strategy: “Since 1957, when the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued its first postwar diplomatic blue book, every formal statement of Japanese grand strategy has articulated mutually inconsistent goals” (p. 198-199). The co-existence of both an Asian-led economic community with a US-led defense community has clear advantages for Japan. Japan would be able to balance against the US and European powers with its economic power and China with its military power (200). Samuels suggests the Japanese have never been more democratic and more open about their defense policy debates than they are today (196)—the nature of democracies tends to be self-correcting.
One of the most important insights of the book is the Japanese sensitivity to costs of defense. Even after the 1976 NDPO and the 1995 NDPO when the sanctity of the alliance was reaffirmed, the number of ground troops, surface ships, and fighters were all reduced.
Though the book is now almost seven years old, many of its insights remain important today. What will Japan do in security affairs? It will hedge and balance: It will embrace the US, while extending security assistance to other Asian partners; It will balance the need for national self-esteem with the need to assuage the historical sensitivities of its neighbors; it will modernize its defense force with a close eye on the need for fiscal discipline in the shadow of ballooning government debt. In the many contradictions of Japan's defense posture we will also see a well-balanced form of realism.
What distinguishes this book is its attention to historical details and its argument for the "Goldilocks" tendency in security affairs -- for Japan to be neither too hot, nor too cold in balancing the many relationships necessary to maintain security. While Japan will continue to hug the US tightly, modernize its military, and expand the power of the JSDF through ad hoc legislation, it will also look to engage its neighbors through multilateral diplomacy and institutional building.
Samuels argues that Japanese leaders were persistent rather than reluctant realists (p. 189), and that pacifism never played a dominant role in foreign policy making. Japan has always been realist, even if this realism is often expressed in contradictory terms. As Samuels states, hedging is a natural part of any realist grand strategy: “Since 1957, when the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued its first postwar diplomatic blue book, every formal statement of Japanese grand strategy has articulated mutually inconsistent goals” (p. 198-199). The co-existence of both an Asian-led economic community with a US-led defense community has clear advantages for Japan. Japan would be able to balance against the US and European powers with its economic power and China with its military power (200). Samuels suggests the Japanese have never been more democratic and more open about their defense policy debates than they are today (196)—the nature of democracies tends to be self-correcting.
One of the most important insights of the book is the Japanese sensitivity to costs of defense. Even after the 1976 NDPO and the 1995 NDPO when the sanctity of the alliance was reaffirmed, the number of ground troops, surface ships, and fighters were all reduced.
Though the book is now almost seven years old, many of its insights remain important today. What will Japan do in security affairs? It will hedge and balance: It will embrace the US, while extending security assistance to other Asian partners; It will balance the need for national self-esteem with the need to assuage the historical sensitivities of its neighbors; it will modernize its defense force with a close eye on the need for fiscal discipline in the shadow of ballooning government debt. In the many contradictions of Japan's defense posture we will also see a well-balanced form of realism.
December 18, 2007
I posted a review of this book here.
February 23, 2023
A long, detailed history of Japanese grand strategy and international relations. Great primer, but the point gets a little bit lost with the plethora of detail.
November 30, 2012
Chiunque sia interessato a grand strategy e sicurezza interna in Giappone farebbe bene a leggere questo libro.
Dai libri di Hughes e soci ai paper informativi: a un certo punto tutti finiscono per citare Samuels. L'impatto della visione dell'autore sulla "messa in sicurezza" del Giappone e la cura con cui il fenomeno viene osservato decennio dopo decennio ne fanno non solo un libro irrinunciabile, ma anche un testo che ha influenzato profondamente la visione degli studiosi occidentali in merito.
Perché due sole stelline? Perché un libro di una cura e una completezza simili (senza rinunciare la dono della sintesi che evita il mattonazzo illeggibile)paga tantissimo la mancanza di un capitolo dedicato a quanto di rilevante (tanto) è successo dal 2006 a oggi. Senza un adeguato aggiornamento, questo tomo risulta datato e la tesi proposta dall'autore ne esce molto indebolita.
Samuels, facci un altro capitolo!
Dai libri di Hughes e soci ai paper informativi: a un certo punto tutti finiscono per citare Samuels. L'impatto della visione dell'autore sulla "messa in sicurezza" del Giappone e la cura con cui il fenomeno viene osservato decennio dopo decennio ne fanno non solo un libro irrinunciabile, ma anche un testo che ha influenzato profondamente la visione degli studiosi occidentali in merito.
Perché due sole stelline? Perché un libro di una cura e una completezza simili (senza rinunciare la dono della sintesi che evita il mattonazzo illeggibile)paga tantissimo la mancanza di un capitolo dedicato a quanto di rilevante (tanto) è successo dal 2006 a oggi. Senza un adeguato aggiornamento, questo tomo risulta datato e la tesi proposta dall'autore ne esce molto indebolita.
Samuels, facci un altro capitolo!
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August 4, 2013A superb read to anyone interested in current Japanese society and politics.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews