Ideas, Intellectuals, and Institutions: National Security and the Question of Nuclear Armament in Japan. (Volumes I and II).

Abstract

Japan's return to the ranks of the world's leading industrial powers has given rise to questions about its future military course. Scholars of international relations have made a variety of predictions about the attractiveness of the nuclear option. Whether or not Japan will move to acquire its own nuclear deterrent is fascinating and important. It is important because a nuclear Japan would inevitably affect the regional and global balance of power, changing the nature of its relationship with the United States and neighboring nations. The question is fascinating because it leads us to a variety of empirical and theoretical questions that have not been systematically addressed: What are the domestic and international variables to consider? What arguments have been expressed? How much impact have these arguments had on the formulation of Japan's nuclear and national security policies? How are nuclear and National security policies formulated? Answering these questions would reveal: (1) How Japan is coping with the problem of nuclear proliferation; (2) How Japan's political system functions with respect to the issue of national security; (3) What foreign and Japanese intellectuals have had to say about the nuclear question; (4) Whether and to what extent intellectuals have influenced the policies of government; (5) How national security policy-making is conducted in Japan. Part I describes the evolution of Japan's nuclear and national security policies over the postwar period. It provides a background analysis of the intellectual context within which national security issues have been debated. Part II goes into the substance of the nuclear and national security debate in Japan. The arguments for and against nuclear armament are set forth. Although the overwhelming majority of analysts in Japan come out against nuclear armament, their reasons for doing so differ and the nature of the debate is such that no final conclusion has been reached. Part III assesses how much of an impact the security debate and the Japanese analysts have had on Japan's national security policies. The degree of direct influence is judged to be modest. In Part IV, the institutions and processes of national security policymaking are analyzed. Particular attention is paid to the foreign ministry and the defense agency. Other institutions analyzed are the The National Diet, the Liberal-Democratic Party and Japan Socialist Party, interest and voluntary groups, and the national press. An effort is made to develop the rudiments of a theory of national security policymaking.