The Political Economy of Japanese Sanctions Towards North Korea
Domestic Coalitions and International Systemic Pressures
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2870508 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Christopher W Hughes (0000-0002-9355-0233, University of Warwick, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2006 |
| Volume | 79 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 455-481 |
| Publication date | 2006-09-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Pacific Affairs (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0030-851X • E-ISSN: 1715-3379 |
| Publisher | Pacific Affairs (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.5509/2006793455 |
| OpenAlex | W2065682269 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 9 |
| References cited | 7 |
Japan has often been dismissed by mainstream international relations and policy discourse as a bit-part actor in Korean Peninsula security affairs. If ascribed any role at all, it is seen as a secondary and submissive actor, generally bending to US strategy and international systemic pressures. This paper argues, however, that Japanese policy towards North Korea is now challenging these international systemic pressures, and threatening divergence with US policy. This is due to the fact that Japan's policy is increasingly driven by domestic political considerations that are rivalling or even superseding international influences in importance. In order to highlight these domestic dynamics, the paper utilizes domestic sanctions theory and a detailed empirical analysis of the Japanese policy-making process with regard to the imposition of sanctions on North Korea. It demonstrates that a "threshold coalition" has now emerged in Japan which is tipping government policy towards sanctions, irrespective of, or even in opposition to, international systemic pressures to desist from such actions. The paper highlights the changing disposition of a pluralistic range of domestic actors away from default engagement to default containment. The consequence of these aggregate domestic pressures is that the Japanese government is finding it progressively harder to converge with US and international strategy towards North Korea. Japan is thus set to augment its influence in Korean Peninsula security affairs by becoming a more obstructive partner in attempts to find an international resolution to the nuclear crisis
Economics · Economy · International trade · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sanctions · Economic Sanctions and International Relations · International Relations and Foreign Policy · Korean Peninsula Historical and Political Studies · Law
Japan’s Grand Strategy
Japan's New Security Agenda
How did the Japanese Public React to Kim Jong Il's Death
Why Is Inter-Korean Forestry Cooperation Hard to Accomplish
Why Help North Korea? Foreign Aid to North Korea and Its Determinants, 2002–2018
Japan’s Foreign and Security Policy under Abe
A security and peace mechanism for Northeast Asia
Constructing fear
The Forgotten Victims of the Atomic Bomb
Japan's Re-emergence as a 'Normal' Military Power
Using threshold models to explain international relations
The North Korean nuclear crisis and Japanese security
On the Effects of International Economic Sanctions, With Examples from the Case of Rhodesia
Trade Sanctions As Policy Instruments
Japan's International Relations
Japan's Economic Power and Security
| Citations per year | 0.47 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2007 - 2023 (17) |
| Highly cited | No |